Manage Southampton on Football Manager 2026

[Edmonton Saint]

I‘m sure I remember years back that MLG ran a short lived SaintsWeb online game of Football Manager, where 20 of us were managing a premier league team each ?  Was fun, but I guess lag/latency was much worse back then and it was a nightmare for it to run smoothly .

[HKsaint]

I think Will Still is also playing.

[Willo of Whiteley]

Started playing FM24 a few days ago, started a new save with Southampton, so far too by 15 points, still with about twenty games left mind so could still turn very Saintsy in that time.

FM is a game I can play for a long time, and then I’ll have a few days off or go on holiday and not play it again for six months.

It’s not a game that is worth forking out money for every year.

It sounds like the features are significantly different this year to two years ago (the one I’m currently playing), but it still doesn’t warrant that £50 for me; it’s something I’d probably consider next year.

I think in the last twenty years I played: Championship Manager 2005, Championship Manager 2007, FM12, FM16, FM18 and FM 24.

CM7 was amazing because that was the first time it included National League’s North & South, and my old school teacher played part time for Eastleigh. 😂

[Matthew Le God]

 

 

[Matthew Le God]

Release date 4th November

[It's There]

I’ve not played FM. Is it worth the money and I will I get stressed managing Saints?

[Matthew Le God]

1 hour ago, It's There said:

I’ve not played FM. Is it worth the money and I will I get stressed managing Saints?

Play the free demo and find out

[Disco Stu]

1 hour ago, It's There said:

I’ve not played FM. Is it worth the money and I will I get stressed managing Saints?

If you're married and you care about your marriage, I would not recommend it.

[Matthew Le God]

You can play FM23 and FM24 saves on FM26 

[sotonjoe]

On 13/08/2025 at 18:40, Matthew Le God said:

At a SEN school

Obviously

[skintsaint]

Should be £40, or if you want the women’s game removed…£90.

[Colinjb]

On 10/09/2025 at 18:57, Matthew Le God said:

Play the free demo and find out

According the my extensive internet searching (5 seconds on a search engine) there isn't going to be one. 

So, Who should I trust? 

[Matthew Le God]

On 10/09/2025 at 17:21, It's There said:

I’ve not played FM. Is it worth the money and I will I get stressed managing Saints?

 

On 10/09/2025 at 18:57, Matthew Le God said:

Play the free demo and find out

 

1 minute ago, Colinjb said:

According the my extensive internet searching (5 seconds on a search engine) there isn't going to be one. 

So, Who should I trust? 

There has been for numerous recent FMs. He didn't say FM26, he said FM.

Here is the FM24 free demo... https://share.google/jgm48acg9msvaZfhH

[Colinjb]

1 minute ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

There has been for numerous recent FMs. He didn't say FM26, he said FM.

Here is the FM24 free demo... https://share.google/jgm48acg9msvaZfhH

Considering I own it, no point in downloading that! This is the one a demo is really needed for, I strongly expect my PC will not run it very well, if at all. A demo would let me see for sure.

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, Colinjb said:

I strongly expect my PC will not run it very well, if at all. A demo would let me see for sure.

Does your PC meet the min specs?

No demo has been yet been confirmed for FM26. But free demos is something Sports Interactive have made available over numerous recent years for people to try the game out at no financial risk.

You could even buy the game on Steam, play it in mid October on early access and as long as you don't keep it for more than 2 weeks and play for over 2 hours you'd get a Steam refund if you didn't want it.

[Dr Who?]

I used to love Soccer Boss on my Spectrum. So easy to play. You picked your best players on a rating 1-9 and fitness 1-100. Very simple. 

I will be getting FM26 when it comes out for sure. Might need to get a decent laptop. What other platforms will it be on? 

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

I keep seeing Netflix advertising that I can play it on Netflix.

I'm too old to understand what that means.

[Holmes_and_Watson]

4 minutes ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

I keep seeing Netflix advertising that I can play it on Netflix.

I'm too old to understand what that means.

Your club gets taken over by Tom Hanks to rival the Fox version of FM26, where you get taken over by Ryan Reynolds.

[Matthew Le God]

7 minutes ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

I keep seeing Netflix advertising that I can play it on Netflix.

I'm too old to understand what that means.

Netflix subscribers get FM mobile as part of their package for no additional cost. 

[Matthew Le God]

22 minutes ago, Dr Who? said:

I will be getting FM26 when it comes out for sure. Might need to get a decent laptop. What other platforms will it be on? 

FM26 Console (Xbox/PS5) and FM26 Mobile (Netflix subscribers only) on 4th November, with FM26 Touch (Nintendo Switch) on 4th December. Further information on FM26’s availability on other platforms will be revealed in the coming weeks. 

[maysie]

2 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

FM26 Console (Xbox/PS5) and FM26 Mobile (Netflix subscribers only) on 4th November, with FM26 Touch (Nintendo Switch) on 4th December. Further information on FM26’s availability on other platforms will be revealed in the coming weeks. 

I assume the console version (I have an Xbox s), will still be a heavily dumbed down version of the PC version?

I get it on Xbox game pass, but I'm tempted to get the PC version and dive in full geek.

[Matthew Le God]

 

[Matthew Le God]

 

 

[Barsiem]

Can you confirm MLG that McCarthy has a passing rating of 1 in the newest version?

[Matthew Le God]

On 23/09/2025 at 22:34, Barsiem said:

Can you confirm MLG that McCarthy has a passing rating of 1 in the newest version?

It'll be low, but not that low.

[Matthew Le God]

 

[Willo of Whiteley]

Looking forward to buying FIFA tomorrow so I can sell half our squad.

[Matthew Le God]

 

 

[Matthew Le God]

Significant changes to tactics outlined in this blog

https://www.footballmanager.com/fm26/features/possession-out-possession-fm26s-new-tactical-evolution?utm_source=social&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=tactics

 

[Marsdinho]

17 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Significant changes to tactics outlined in this blog

https://www.footballmanager.com/fm26/features/possession-out-possession-fm26s-new-tactical-evolution?utm_source=social&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=tactics

 

Argh....white text on a black background!

[skintsaint]

33 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Significant changes to tactics outlined in this blog

https://www.footballmanager.com/fm26/features/possession-out-possession-fm26s-new-tactical-evolution?utm_source=social&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=tactics

 

So same as CM01/02 then ...evolution. 😅

[Matthew Le God]

4 minutes ago, skintsaint said:

So same as CM01/02 then ...evolution. 😅

Some frog species lost teeth over 200 million years ago, but some modern frogs (like Gastrotheca guentheri) re-evolved them 😉 

[Saint_clark]

16 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

Some frog species lost teeth over 200 million years ago, but some modern frogs (like Gastrotheca guentheri) re-evolved them 😉 

We're gonna miss you when you're gone Sir Attenborough. 

[Tommy]

After the way they’ve fecked the last two years this will be the first version since the very first I’ve not purchased on release day. I’ll await to watch the content creators and see what the vibe is before I hand over money again. 

[Matthew Le God]

Just now, Tommy said:

After the way they’ve fecked the last two years this will be the first version since the very first I’ve not purchased on release day. I’ll await to watch the content creators and see what the vibe is before I hand over money again. 

Those who pre order (including content creators) will be playing it circa 2 weeks before release day. 

You could also try the free demo to see if you like it.

[Tommy]

Release day I was meaning the beta day. 

[Gloucester Saint]

@Matthew Le God will there still be FM Mobile versions?

[Matthew Le God]

7 hours ago, Gloucester Saint said:

@Matthew Le God will there still be FM Mobile versions?

Yes, but you can only get it if you have a Netflix subscription. Comes free as part of that. 

[revolution saint]

15 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Those who pre order (including content creators) will be playing it circa 2 weeks before release day. 

You could also try the free demo to see if you like it.

There's no free demo as far as I can see.

[Gloucester Saint]

7 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

Yes, but you can only get it if you have a Netflix subscription. Comes free as part of that. 

Cheers MLG, still have Netflix so that will work then.

[Matthew Le God]

6 hours ago, revolution saint said:

There's no free demo as far as I can see.

All recent FMs have had free demos. 

Here is the FM24 one... https://share.google/K9Cz3GO08kys9xtcp

 

[revolution saint]

3 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

All recent FMs have had free demos. 

Here is the FM24 one... https://share.google/K9Cz3GO08kys9xtcp

 

So there’s no free demo available for fm 26 yet. 

[Matthew Le God]

31 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

So there’s no free demo available for fm 26 yet. 

Not yet

[bugenhagen]

32 minutes ago, revolution saint said:

So there’s no free demo available for fm 26 yet. 

If I remember correctly, the free demo is never out before the game. It normally comes with the release date, not the early access.