## 🎩 MANAGERS ARE HERE

# PERSONAL COMPUTER SOCCER: WHAT'S NEW FROM 0.9829 TO 0.9844

The biggest change in these versions: AI-controlled clubs are no longer managed by a generic "COMPUTER". Every club now has its own manager, with a name, a face and a football philosophy.

### Every club has its own manager

- Every manager has a name, nationality, age, rating, contract and unique portrait. There are 382 different illustrations, ranging from old-fashioned suits and ties to club-coloured tracksuits and 80s-style jackets.
- The manager decides how the team plays:
- **Style:** high pressing, possession, wing play, direct football, counter-attacking, low block or balanced.
- **Marking and formation:** each manager has their own preferences.
- **As long as the manager stays in charge,** the team keeps playing that way. Change the manager, and the team changes too.
- Manager ratings make a real difference on the pitch. A good manager adapts to the squad, picks a better starting eleven, makes better substitutions and develops young players. A weaker manager sticks to their system even when it doesn't suit the team.
- The club screen now shows the manager above the squad. Click on them to see their full profile: career history, trophies, marking preferences and contract.
- HISTORY, CHAMPION and VIEW OPPONENT now also show who was managing the opposing team.

### A real managerial career

- **Boards are watching:** clubs assess their managers after matchdays 10, 19 and 28, and may sack them if the team is performing below expectations.
- **Contracts:** when a contract expires, managers renew if they've met their objectives, or leave the club.
- **UNEMPLOYED manager pool from day one:** there's one available manager for every 12 clubs, each with a previous club. Clubs can hire them to replace departing managers.
- **Ageing and retirement:** with AGEING, DEVELOPMENT AND RETIREMENT enabled, managers grow older and can retire from the age of 63.
- **Career history and trophies:** each manager keeps a record of their clubs, league positions, results, dismissals and trophies. Retired managers' profiles remain available.
- **NEWS › MANAGERS:** sackings, appointments, renewals, departures and retirements.
- **SEARCH › MANAGERS:** every manager in the save (employed, unemployed and retired), sortable by rating, trophies or age.

### Club managers and national team coaches: the same people

- AI national team coaches are now part of the same managerial system.
- When a national federation needs a coach, it can appoint an unemployed manager (preferably from its own country) or hire one from a club, which must then find a replacement.
- When a national team coach leaves the job, clubs can hire them.
- International trophies are added to their profile, and their time in charge of a national team appears in their career history, complete with the country's flag.

### 🏆 PCS Manager of the Year Trophy

- The December awards ceremony now features a fifth award, complete with its own trophy.
- The award considers how far a manager exceeded expectations, league position, points, trophies and promotion, adjusted to the strength of the league. Relegation counts against them.
- Managers must have been in charge for at least half a league season to qualify, and your own manager can win too.
- Previously held award ceremonies will also have this award added.

### 👤 Your manager now has a personal identity

- **Nationality, age and photo:** choose them when creating your manager. You can upload your own photo or select one of the game's illustrations.
- **Change them later:** from MY DETAILS, on your club's profile.
- **Ageing:** with AGEING, DEVELOPMENT AND RETIREMENT enabled, your manager grows older too.
- **Where they appear:** in AWARDS and on the club screen, with their flag, age and photo.
- **Your photo travels with your save:** it appears correctly on another PC or when using Steam Cloud.

### 🛠️ Managers are now in the editor too

- New MANAGER button in CLUBS. Edit name, nationality, age, rating, formation, style, marking and portrait (either a PCS illustration or your own image).
- Works with both new games and existing saves.
- Edited managers are included in patches, packages and Steam Workshop uploads.

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## ⚽ MATCH ENGINE: MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS

We've listened to your reports and tested every change across dozens of simulated matches to avoid breaking what was already working.

### Corners

- More patience and more players in the box: corners aren't taken until at least four potential goalscorers are in position.
- Headers and shots from crosses and corners now result in goals more often.

### Defending

- Near the penalty area, centre-backs stay closer together while the defensive midfielder protects the edge of the box.
- Defensive midfielders under pressure now choose simpler passes and lose the ball half as often.
- Defenders block shots (SHOT BLOCKED).
- Man-to-man marking no longer leaves the middle of the pitch exposed.

### Strikers one-on-one with the goalkeeper

- Their decisions depend on their ability. Top-class strikers wait for the goalkeeper to come out and try to dribble past them; average strikers are more likely to shoot.
- If a defender catches up while the striker is waiting, the striker takes the shot.

### Full-backs and wing play

- The full-back on the ball side pushes forward and overlaps the winger, who will sometimes pass the ball to them.
- Wide players deliver more crosses.
- Fixed a bug that sent full-backs and wingers to the opposite flank for one of the two teams.

### Tactics that make a difference

| Instruction | What it does now |
|---|---|
| Defensive or attacking mentality | Also adjusts the team's defensive shape |
| Low pressing | Now clearly different from medium pressing |
| Tempo | Fast or slow changes how long players keep the ball |
| Width | Makes the whole team play wider or narrower |
| Offside trap and high defensive line | Opponents now get caught offside |
| Marking | Tighter marking |
| Counter-attack | Looks for players making forward runs |

### Visual improvements

- Every player now has the same skin tone and hair colour on the pitch as in their portrait.
- Shirts with diagonal sashes, stripes, hoops or chequered patterns now appear as they do in the editor.
- Improved kit clash detection: the away team switches to its second kit when necessary.
- Smoother matches: less stuttering, especially on laptops, and no freezes when a goal is scored.

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## 📊 AND MORE

- **Head-to-head tiebreakers:** in Spain, Italy and Portugal, when teams are level on points, their head-to-head results determine their ranking, just like in real life. Thanks for pointing this out!
- **League logos from the editor:** now display correctly in installed packages and saved games.

Thank you to everyone who plays, tests and reports issues. Keep telling us what you find. ⚽