Now our chums at Codies are having a crack at this football management lark and - ye gods! - it would appear they've had a taste of beginners' luck! Will Evans sits behind the manager's desk and checks out the field of play.

Code Masters
£3.99

It's good to see that everyone's comments on footy management games have sunk into at least one company. Y'know, things like good presentation, graphics, ease-of-use and an interesting match.

Code Master's First Division Manager's many features are accessed from a main, graphically attractive screen. The scene is your office and to access a section of the game you click the pointer on the appropriate piece of office equipment telephone for phone calls, filing cabinet for records and secretary to go to match (a bit odd that one, never mind).

Yes, you're the manager of a first division soccer side, with the option of a superleague. You have to take your team to the top of the league, with the possibility of a cup win or two along the way. There are loads of features: buying transfers, team formations, real players, choice of club name, coaching advice, physic and phone calls to your bank manager and, of course, the match.

MATCH COMMENTS

Ah, the match. That's always a proving point in management games. What format does it take here? Weeeell, It's a small picture of the players (bird's eye view) at the top of the screen to show you where the ball is and a running commentary at the bottom. Doesn't sound too good but it works surprisingly well and creates a great atmosphere.

Your team's performance can be improved by following the training tips your coach provides - just pick up the phone and give him a call. There's also a neat feature whereby you can call up the bank manager (he's ever so friendly) and ask for a loan of £25,000 at a very reasonable interest rate.

MAKING IT FUN

Many hours can be spent buying cruddy players and training them, or, if you like, you can buy world class players straight off. Much hilarity ensued when we put names of the CRASH team in the team: Nicko was the prime candidate for goalie because he'd fill the net and any player called Lloyd Mangram seems to do uncannily well.

Make no mistake, for all its gloss and features First Division Manager is still a strategy-oriented game at heart. But Its very, very good and even if you haven't fancied one before this could be the one to get you playing football manager games.

WILL [85%]

First Division Manager is a very good footy game (and unusually there isn't 'Simulator' at the end of the title). All the functions are easily accessed from the manager's desk - there's even a radio on top of the cabinet to switch on a jolly little tune! Even though the match is little more than a running commentary along the lines of 'so-and-so passes the ball to someone else', I found the game very absorbing. First Division Manager gets a big thumbs up from me: I'm over the moon, Brian.
MARK [86%]

CodeMasters
£2.99 cass
Reviewer: Linda Barker

Right, I'm fed up with Football managers getting all the attention. I mean, they're not exactly the most glamorous bunch of blokes in the world, are they? I think somebody should write a computer journalist sim instead.

Well okay, so might not sound very exciting - but then what's so thrilling about managing a football team? And whoever thought of turning it into a computer game in the first place, eh? (Steady on, Lind. Ed) Blimming daft.

Anyway, the game, First Division Manager, like a trillion others, has one of those desk screens with a computer, filing cabinet, door, telephone and radio. The radio's a nice little touch at first (but it soon becomes incredibly annoying), and the filing cabinet's good too, even if the bottom drawer's stuck. All the info in the top drawer and on your database (if used correctly) will pull your team into the first division. so keep checking players records, keep your bank manager sweet, keep your players fit and have a good chat with your scout now and then. As long as you keep a tight rein on everything then you should get to the top. And that's the management side basically - and would you believe it's actually fast, easy and (dare I say it?) fun!

So where's the catch? Well, it's the arcade bit - it's crap. There I was, having great fun playing about with my icons, opening and closing drawers, picking up players for nothing, hanging up on my bank manager and turning the radio on and off. Then, I had to go and play a match. And it was awful! Absolutely terrible. Whilst loads of little ants moved very jerkily about the screen, the names of the players and what they were doing appeared beneath. This went on for ages. Eventually I let my mind wander and ended up staring at the trees outside. Then I lost the match, got very annoyed and went back to my desk. Through no fault of my own the morale of my wonderful team was at an all-time low. I put my head in my hands and sobbed uncontrollably. Then I turned the radio off.

CodeMasters
£3.99

If you want to play boss of a football club this is the game to do it with! First Division Manager has (more or less) everything a management game should have: tons of features and statistics, and it's illustrated with graphics and accompanied by a soundtrack! Absorbing!