After being furloughed from work, I had the idea to stream me playing Championship Manager 01/02 each day at noon.
Part of the reason was to give me a focus, but the other was to have a look at how streaming worked.
With CM 01/02 set up on my Android tablet, I wanted to stream via Twitch, and to do that needed to make use of a go between app – Omlet Arcade.
After getting the technology sorted, it was time to play.
I had a few options in mind to play – I was using the ODB with the 3.68 patch installed – and so put a Twitter poll up to get my first team.
Who should I manage in the first save on #champmanat12?
Vote below (or leave your suggestion in the comments!)@champman0102 @cm0102legends #cm #cm0102
— James | Sporting Loft (@SportingLoft) April 2, 2020
So Queen’s Park it was.
The opening day went OK. I had a 250k bid for one of my centre halves, a massive amount of money for the Scottish Third Division, but ended up rejecting it off the advice of one of the few viewers of the stream, who just happens to be my best mate.
Struggled a little bit results wise, and also had a problem where I was unable to make substitutes due to the restrictions of playing on Android. I had selected Helium and not Cuprum through the emulator, so that needed rectifying for the following day.
The headline act of day one was Scotland international Kevin Kyle signing for one of my league rivals on loan!
Kevin Kyle in the Scottish Third Division?!
Definitely missed the boat on this one. East Fife going to be one to watch.#champmanat12 pic.twitter.com/WTkYM6HGu5
— James | Sporting Loft (@SportingLoft) April 2, 2020
Day two brought an encouraging start to the season, and some movement in the transfer market. A hat-trick for Dave Menelaws the highlight, especially as it came against Kevin Kyle’s East Fife.
Day 2 results: L 0-4 v Albion, W 1-0 at Montrose, D 0-0 v East Stirling, W 3-0 at East Fife all in the league.
In LC, W 4-1 v Morton then L 0-2 v Clyde. In LCC, L 0-1 v Peterhead (aet).
SOLD: Crozier to Millwall 100k; Ferry to Cheltenham 50k. pic.twitter.com/rCCokrzjls
— James | Sporting Loft (@SportingLoft) April 3, 2020
But it quickly went downhill. A horrendous day three had me on the back foot, conceding early goals left right and centre, and really struggling to make any progress.
One drawback of using Android is the inability to draw arrows on the tactics screen, which of course can be quite useful when you’re in a bit of a slump.
A very bad hour of CM…#ChampManat12 #cm0102 pic.twitter.com/DgWl5nXmQJ
— James | Sporting Loft (@SportingLoft) April 6, 2020
Now don’t get me wrong, in my 20+ years of playing Champ Man, Football Manager and before that Premier Manager, I’ve had slumps. I’ve had dreadful sessions. In fact, dreadful sessions are quite common.
The trouble was, I just didn’t know where to turn next.
Part of me wondered whether the goalkeeper was the issue, but we were conceding that few goals, it surely wasn’t that. It was surely a lack of goals a the other end?
Frustration is basically out-shooting every single team we play, but not scoring goals.
As well as conceding early in almost every match.
Seen some people say "is it the keeper" but he's conceding just over one a game. Plus hard to find an alternative 🙁#ChampManat12 #cm0102 pic.twitter.com/qjIe8SPjLL
— James | Sporting Loft (@SportingLoft) April 7, 2020
I did at least manage to start shaping my squad a bit better, shipping out some deadwood, and also attracting decent fees for players that weren’t getting in my team.
Despite that, the costs of playing at Hampden Park were already taking their toll. I had, somewhat ambitiously, picked Queen’s Park as an option thinking the stadium would enable me to compete with Rangers and Celtic in the future.
What I hadn’t thought of, was how difficult it was going to be to get there in the first place!
Finances on their backside even though I've raised £200k+ from player sales.
Caven/Martin both 36yo CBs; Menelaws scored once in 17 apps; Crozier avg rating 5 and an AMRC.#ChampManat12 #cm0102 pic.twitter.com/Mb9QfNny4k
— James | Sporting Loft (@SportingLoft) April 7, 2020
By day five, I was losing the will to play. My woe on the pitch was compounded when Richard Sinclair, the £20k valued centre half who I had rejected £250k off Palace for, agreed to leave on a Bosman to Sheffield United, gifting me a paltry £20k in compensation.
Another thoroughly miserable hour on #cm0102.
Sinclair, who we rejected 250k off Palace for, is going on a Bosman for a measly 20k.
Ground maintenance (as expected) killing the finances.
Bottom of the league.
Formation & team instructions recommendations please?! pic.twitter.com/XFLijfRDSV
— James | Sporting Loft (@SportingLoft) April 8, 2020
So what have I learned from the experience?
- Huge admiration for streamers and YouTubers, and how they build their audience (I barely managed to get one person watching over the five days)
- I’m useless at CM
- As much as the Android tablet play is fantastic for being on the move, the restrictions relating to tactics raise questions over whether you can truly manage a save well on it (a solution to this could be to pre-load a tactic via PC and then transfer it to your tablet for game play)
Will I stream again? Who knows. I thoroughly enjoy doing it, but without an audience, it just isn’t the same.
