Guest writer Gaz Langston goes for the West Brom job...

Football Manager is a fairly new series, or so you would think... you'd be wrong however, as Football Manager is, when you get right down to it, as old as the hills. It used to be Championship Manager, you see; or, at least, the Football Manager team used to ply their trade on the Eidos footy management brand. Not surprisingly, this makes the two pretty big rivals - especially on PSP, where the latest editions of each have launched within a mere week of each other.

Why mention this? Well, because Football Manager Handheld (we'll call it FMH from now on) has as much in common with its Championship Manager past as it does its current Sega-published older brother.

Unmistakably authentic

Presentation-wise, it's all unmistakably authentic - everything looks almost identical to FM2006 on PC, apart from a few little tweaks to get everything to fit on the PSP's smaller screen.

Which is great, since even the most stalwart PC aficionado will immediately feel at home with the PSP build. The control system helps this transition, offering straightforward navigation through menus with the D-pad; Up and down cycling through, while quick presses of right and left transfer between screens. It's an uncomplicated interface and works about as well as could have been hoped for without a mouse and keyboard.

At first glance, jumping straight into FMH can feel a little like being in at the deep end, since all of the actions available are shown at the bottom of the screen. However, such is the simplicity of the menu interface that before long you'll be selecting players, changing formations and reading all the daily news without even thinking of which button to press.

Actually playing matches themselves are where the comparisons with Championship Managers of old come in - particularly with CM3, which FMH apes by offering only text-based commentary with which to follow matches. Gone entirely is the 2D game viewer, which leads to a more stat based experience - an omission some may bemoan, but an understandable one given the hard-to-follow nature of viewing games on the move.

Along with the game viewer, custom formations are also gone, which is admittedly a little more disappointing and less understandable. In the long run, however, it can be overlooked; the given choices are wide and varied, while the streamlined process of merely choosing one and going straight into a match serves to keeps the game moving at a decent pace. After all, this is a handheld release: anything as engrossing and addictive as the PC version would cause hours lost on trains, toilets and park benches, and nobody wants to live that way. Except maybe tramps. And tramps can't afford PSPs.

Thankfully, there are still many features in the game present from its older brother. You can, for instance, search and scout for players with your assistant giving advice on how the player would fit into your team, and how much you should offer in way of wages. Unfortunately, the option to offer up players in part-exchange deals is sadly absent, though you will find that clubs take more interest in a player placed on the transfer list. All in all, it's a system that offers a much better way of dealing with things than being forced to read through 12 news items only to discover that the likes of Grimsby Town aren't interested in signing a 39yr old Fernando Morientes who you just can't get off your books.

Perfect for portable

Such handholding can make FMH sound a little like FM-Lite, which on the surface, it is. But delve deeper and you'll see that there is still a huge amount of depth to the game.

Thanks to helpful news updates and a pretty sophisticated season model, there's never any reason in FMH not be feel completely in touch and absorbed by all ongoing developments. If a player is unhappy, transfers, loans and awards are underway, or managers are bitching at each other in the finest Fergie/Keegan fashion, an engrossing layer of detail is ever-present. It's also perfect for the portable format; presenting a useful way of catching up should your memory need refreshing following a lengthy break from the game.

Depth is also a superlative applicable to tactics - even despite the lack of custom formations. The Player Instructions screen offers a myriad of team and player settings, while the square and circle buttons (one for home, one for away) in this screen become your new best friends, acting as a handy shortcut. So, losing at half time in a home game? Go into Player Instructions and press square to switch between the different options. From there you can tell your podgy Scouse striker to run left, hold up the ball and shoot from distance whilst your taller, nimbler forward keep his passes and runs short; staying in the centre and looking for a rebound to tap-in.

This gives great scope for changing things round mid-game. You can, for example, bring on Nigel Quashie to play on the left, allowing you to push Kamara up front with Kanu and dramatically overturn two goal deficit in the last half an hour… Which at the end of the day is what football is all about, isn't it?

New presentation, old school gameplay

There does seem to be something of paradox with player placement, though. For instance, in the case of Quashie, he didn't arrive at West Brom until the January 06 transfer window - yet when the game starts at the beginning of the 05/06 season, he's already at the Hawthorns. Obviously Sports Interactive have gone for updated stats, but also realised that starting a season half way through would be more than a little offputting (especially for relegation-battling West Brom! - Ed). It's a slightly odd compromise, then, but an understandable one nonetheless.

Which also pretty much sums up the title as a whole. It boasts all the presentation and shine of the Football Manager series, while the gameplay is firmly in the old school. Its stat-based formula makes it easy to pick up and play, whilst the intricacies of the engine allow for long term play over many seasons. More than anything though, Football Manager Handheld offers the kind of satisfaction few other portable titles can "manage" (sorry) by allowing the player to realistically and believably mastermind the success of their chosen team. Which, like a final-day relegation escape, is absolutely priceless.

GAME's Verdict

• Feels like home
• Fast paced, addictive pick-up-and-play interface
• Beating a full-strength Arsenal 2-0 in the FA Cup...

• No game viewer
• Lack of custom-created tactics and formations is one major oversight
• Playing on a pad with a small screen takes some getting used to

Review by: Gaz Langston
Version Tested: PSP
Review Published: 11.04.06