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Everyone reckons they can do it better. "A three-four-three formation against Rovers? Has the manager signed a suicide pact?" "Kelly in goal? Why don't they just send the opposition invitations?" Yep, anyone could be a football manager. It's just a case of picking the right team, buying the right players and keeping the bank manager happy.

Er, well no, actually, but that's what you believe if you thought playing Jimmy's Super League was anything like being a real football manager, because these are the only factors you have control over in the game.

The league of the title is a fictitious European affair that encompasses the cream of European football teams, plus Arsenal, Having chosen your team, you're given a set of players from which to choose your squad. Players have five attributes: skill, stamina, speed, aggression and morale. You can't alter these by training your players (because there isn't a training element in the game) but they do change during the game depending on how well the team is doing, injuries, whether you give into the players' demands to up their wages, things like that.

You can phone up your bank manager for a loan which you have to pay off at a fixed rate per week. The money can be used to buy new players and also goes towards paying wages. The transfer market is completely bizarre, with some peculiar fluctuations in prices - one minute players will be a few thousand quid, and the next a couple of hundred - so you're never sure when to buy or who's going at a bargain price.

When you're satisfied with your team you play the game. You get to see half the field but the only time you see any action is when someone takes a shot at goal, though I use the word 'action' in the loosest possible sense; most of the matches I played were nil-nil draws, and I've seen more animated graveyards than the graphics here. The rest of the time, the action is related via text in a panel. There's only one move per minute of game time, which equates to a second in real time. If this all gets a bit too yawnsome, you can whizz through it and just watch the goals at the press of a key.

After the match you get to see where you are in the league and how much dosh you've made. The amount seems pretty arbitrary; you can lose a couple of thousand pounds or make a few hundred million.

Why such a difference? Don't ask me. But it's darned annoying when you lose a vast amount and go bankrupt for no apparent reason.

The main problem with Jimmy's Super League is what it *doesn't* offer. There's no training schedule and you can't change player's positions (although in one of the matches I played, my goalie came out and took a shot at goal!). There's no Save facility so you can't play the league over a number of days (unless you never turn off your C64, which isn't very eco-friendly, or safe). It's not bad and what it does, it does competently enough but it's too inflexible. A footie sim for people who don't like to think too hard... I'll avoid obvious jokes about Graham Taylor.

1. Dead easy to use.
2. At least it isn't all text and dull stats tables.

1. On the other hand, the graphics are pretty bog-standard.
2. You have control over very few variables.
3. Earnings and prices fluctuate wildly.
4. Becomes very samey.