Sitting somewhere between the accessible LMA Manager 2003, and the statistical overload of Championship Manager 02/03 comes EA's Total Club Manager, with all the fun of running a team from the comfort of your living room.

Pick a team from the 50 leagues on offer, including an astounding 30,000 pro players. Raise that unknown team from the French second division to the dizzy heights of European glory, or just plump for the Premiership side of your choice like everybody else does.

Menus are the staple diet of footy sims, and there's more on display here than in a square mile of Chinatown. But the user-friendly interface makes a daunting task relatively accessible, as the level of detail here is phenomenal, allowing you to fine-tune every aspect of your team.

Set individual training regimes and team talks with all the players and adjust their personal skill levels, as well as the customary tinkering with formation, tactics and transfer market throughout the season. You're rated on a points system, which is affected by your squad's performance, and both the team and fans' morale. The decision to fine a player after a hotel-wrecking rampage, or giving the wrong answer to a reporter all have a significant effect on morale, thus affecting your overall rating. There's a huge amount of freedom on the practical side of things too, from the stadium to the club's marketing.

As befalls many football management sims, the relentless menus and stats can overwhelm the actual excitement of the season. And this is where the most intriguing feature of Total Club Manager 2004 comes into play. Pick a team for your next fixture, and just jump to the end of the 90 minutes for a predetermined evaluation of your performance.

Alternatively, watch a 3D rendered, accelerated version of the match, issuing tactics and commands via the D-pad, in a bid to change the outcome. The most interesting thing, however, is the Football Fusion option. If you own FIFA 2004 you'll love this. Arrange the fixture, then pop in the FIFA disc. All the match details will be there, so just play out the match then swap discs again for the result to be included in TCM, massively expanding the playability of the game. Clever eh?

The rendered matches do take an age to load, and the graphics (based on a very basic FIFA engine) aren't great, but otherwise TCM is a pretty innovative way to move a rapidly stagnating genre. Liquid Football.

1. Very user-friendly
2. Football Fusion is a fantastic idea
3. Realistic match engine

1. Long loading times
2. Match graphics are pretty poor

Power
Long loading times and poor graphics disappoint, though there is a staggering amount of info here.

Style
Simple menus and great interviews. Jon Motson and Ally McCoist provide commentary too.

Immersion
Very easy user interface and every possible option under the sun for meddling managers.

Lifespan
Millions of possible permutations and stats will keep you going all season... until next year's version.

Verdict An impressive and accessible management sim that thanks to Football Fusion is elevated above its contemporaries.