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Football Manager has done very, very well over just about every format possible (just how well you'll have to decide if you want to enter the competition that comes with this game).

They've finally got their act together with a version for the C16 now, and about time too. But is it up to scratch or are they likely to be seeking re-election in the lower leagues of the Commodore market? My honest opinion is that they need to buy a few players now if they are to avoid a relegation struggle.

It doesn't matter who you are, Liverpool, Everton, Man. U or Bristol City [Yaay! - Ed] you always start from scratch. If you couldn't bear to manage one of these clubs don't worry, you can enter your own. I'll stick with the Hammers which is, rightly, one of the standing options.

It's a shame though that you can't enter your own players. Believe me, you're going to end up with some right donkeys, I can tell you. Just take a look at some of the old men you end up with. Some of these guys are drawing their pension Thursday and turning out for you two days later. It's criminal. Anyone remember Trevor Cherry? He played for Leeds when they were a great club - that's how long ago he played!

No messing though, I felt that a little updating could have been done because some of your team aren't exactly big names these days, and let's fact it, on a game as simple as this, it's only a matter of a bit of text editing.

Faced with a team like that, you'll want to do a Spurs and buy as quickly as possible. Whether the choice you'll get is any better I'm not sure. I was never offered anyone special en route to the Second Division (that's as far as I've got). Naturally, it's all down to the money so the first temptation you're offered at the start of the season is an option for a loan. What happens if you end up like Swansea isn't clear to me so far though, because I've always been quite careful with my money. [You can say that again - Ed]

Add that to the fact I didn't get offered one player one season I was in the Fourth and you'll understand my miserliness.

Each game you play, you'll be confronted by a screen with information as to the strength of your team. The number of players playing, rating in defence, midfield and attack. Other important factors include energy and most importantly, morale. Morale counts for a lot believe me. If the lads do bad, then it's time for misery rating, which seems to give teams with similar ratings elsewhere that edge over you.

All this is displayed on screen, and, assuming your squad is strong enough you'll be able to make up for deficiencies by juggling players around. Skill ratings for each team member are displayed along with their energy rating (which depletes over the number of games they play) and their status (playing, injured or dropped). Quite why player's skill rating changed from one season to the next (Bryan Robson fluctuates from 1-5) defeats me though.

The seasons get longer as you progress up the leagues, but I was a bit disappointed to find out that not only were the fixtures exactly the same, but that you played home and away consecutively against each side.

Another notable omission in the C16 version is the lack of any arcade representation of the games. Instead all you get is a bulletin message like Saturday's vidiprinter and a sound every time a goal is scored like the kettle's boiling over.

For all these criticisms Football Manager is as good as its other machine counterparts, even if it's less polished. Nevertheless, after what has been a very good run for the game after a few seasons in the first division I feel it could have been updated and improved without too much effort by Addictive (And we wouldn't want the software houses going to any trouble for us, would we?).

Overall a fair conversion but let's face it, it's a game of two halves and I've got a feeling Gremlin's new footy game, might come through to steal a win. Back to the studio and the rest of the day's results.