Football Manager, consisting of pages of dry stats and a game of football you never actually influence directly, must seem a real peculiarity for those outside looking in. Yet there's a reason why year-on-year, football fanatics spend countless hours helplessly glued to it: its absorbing mix of...

Easier menu layout; Seasons are quicker; Good match-day vibe; More agency in matches; Meetings less boring

La nuova stagione di Sports Interactive ha finalmente inizio e Football Manager 2015 è pronto a tenerci nuovamente impegnati per centinaia di ore coi suoi database abnormi a suon di gol e, si spera, vittorie.

Rimane il miglior gestionale sul mercato; Nuovi menù ottimi; intuitivi e molto veloci; Solito database abnorme ed aggiornato

Nessuna vera novità di rilievo; il gioco è sempre il medesimo; Alcune perplessità su statistiche varie e motore fisico/grafico; Prezzo assurdo

Trying to be too clever too early will cost you your job, and that's something you'd do well to understand before starting your managerial career in Football Manager 2015. It started a month ago, myself and others suffering London's public transport for nearly two hours to visit Victoria Road, the...

Scouting system is more advanced and more realistic; Tactical and tracksuit manager options give you more control; Improved visuals and animations; Huge database of players; staff; and competitions

Challenge mode remains unchanged from previous years; Not enough choice when it comes to colour scheme customisation

It's that time of year again when football fans across the world, put on their suits and sit in the hot seat and raise their team to glory. Yes, its Sports Interactive latest release of Football Manager 2015.

Assertive: The Sports Interactive lads have had a solid pre-season, I think Football Manager 2015 can really crack on for top honours from here.

could present itself as the best way for soccer newcomers to learn its ins and outs.

Struggling to break into the first eleven, but has a few new tricks

There's a new Football Manager to deprive us of sleep and distract us from our daily duties. How glorious. And during the busiest month of the year. Even better.

Giving the RPG aspects of your manager career more of a spotlight is a nice move; Brilliant database and research as always; Caters to all levels of armchair managers; Scouting and training have gotten welcome tweaks; Tons of tactical options

3D match engine still has ways to go until it looks anything like the real game; Injury frequency appeared inflated (especially when using the 3D match engine); Not a great deal of innovation to be found

It was two years ago when Football Manager 2013 splashed onto the scene with its Classic Mode, a genius addition that was aimed for newer people or older fans that might have given up on the series, either because of complexity or time constraints.

I didn't really know what to expect with Football Manager 15 other than it was going to be terribly inaccessible to me, the guy who's never once thought about dipping his toe into the virtual fantasy football pool.

+ Returning fans will of course love it; + In-game emails really draw you in; + Captures the "I don't know what I'm doing" of real football managing

- Terribly inaccessible to newcomers; - Menu is pretty boring to look at