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Exciting. Witty. Dynamic. These aren't the first words that spring to mind when you think about Trevor Brooking. I remember he scored a goal for England once but can't recall who it was against. Or when. Brian Clough once said of him: "Trevor Brooking floats like a butterfly, and stings like one."

But what about his role as soccer pundit? Well, Trev can often be heard making belly-achingly funny comments from the studio and the stands, many of which cause people to split their sides... Challenge Software has taken the very essence of the man and distilled it into this game in the form of match commentary work.

These pithy remarks not only convey advice on team tactic, but are also astonishingly faithful to the the ex-supremo's dialogue. Taking a random example from the game itself will give you some idea. At half time during one match England were beating Albania 2-1 and our Trev came up with this summary: 'England will be concerned with this performance. Albania's right wing looked great, and Albania have had the better possession.' Sparkling pearls of wisdom indeed.

Forget about Trev (he's not a major part of the game anyway) because behind the charisma lurks a half-decent strategy game. Once you've selected one of five skill levels, and entered your own name, the game loads six menu choices: play a match, coach the team, select the squad, examine the groups and the teams and an information screen. You can't play a match until you've selected your squad and decided on positions and substitutes; but first check out your opponents and fixtures. The in-game action is conveyed by a radio-style line-by-line commentary, with the minutes counting down at the top of the screen (much faster than real time). Information is given on goals, corners, free kicks, penalties and general possession - all the highlights of a normal footy game.

It's all very similar to Tracksuit Manager, except the presentation isn't quite so polished. If you enjoy text-based soccer strategy and you're patient with a sometimes awkward menu/selection system, there's more than enough depth to keep you occupied. There are some nice touches but there aren't enough of them to justify shelling out a tenner for it.

1. No sound effects or music.
2. No action sequences: strategy is totally text-based.
3. Has an occasional but nasty habit of crashing.
4. No frills: the selection screens are merely functional and look like something from ancient history.
5. Game is slow to calculate the consequences of your selections.
6. Much better alternatives already available.

1. Five difficulty levels.
2. The wide variety of teams, players and management.
3. If you get hooked, you'll stay hooked.
4. Nice in-game touches like the radio-style commentary.