If there's one game genre that is best on PC, then it's the management games. The mouse is and remains the best instrument to guide you through the many menus and stats and to finally get your team to national or European glory. The Xbox360 controller unfortunately fulfills this task with a lot less success.

Not that there are any problems with the controller as such - I find the 360 button holder one of the best ever - but the controls need quite some getting used to, to say the least. It's like you need to learn to swim all over again as at the start you literally drown in the infinite spreadsheets. A nice swift point and click is no longer a possibility, and it takes quite some hours before you're familiar with the somewhat long-winded quick functions, tab keys and such.

The controls are also too sensitive. I may have the finesse of a starving caveman, but the amount of times the cursor unwillingly moves is really annoyingly high. Also the scrolling isn't alwys as fluid and the desire for a slick mouse remains present. It's like you want to satisfy a lady but every time start raking next to the jackpot.

Another thing that immediately gets noticed is the sloppy interface. Where the game on PC has a nice and easy overviewable impression, on the TV screen it all looks a bit less clear. But undoubtedly my 9 inch oldtimer tube may have something to do with that.

So, the controls suck and the interface is sloppy, but still this Football Manager hits the right spot. The game is an almost straight port of the PC version and as such the gameplay stands as a house. Those that know a little of the soccer game and are looking for the depth of a retired Thai whore need to doubt not one second to indulge on the feast.

The hanging out with players, supporters, clubs, press and management, the determining running lines, attack patterns and tactics, the search for talent and opportunities, the building on a mentally strong, talented and balanced team: it are just a few of the many tasks as manager. Tasks that as usual take up a huge amount of time and are good for two or three double lives.

That you still have to look at the result of your hard work in 2D may be a thorn in your next-gen eye, but the flat view of a game does remain nicely viewable and the A.I. of your opponent is of a high level. It's ridiculously weird how 22 tiny dots can create such an experience and it's touching to see how your instructions and training work pay off on the field.

Why X360 owners have had to wait half a year for Football Manager 2008 is a small mystery. Why it was decided to not release it right before the new season is also weird. As small gesture to make up the player lists have been updated and as such you can count f.i. on players like Luigi Pieroni and Vlcek for Anderlecht at the start of the season. This is one of the few differences with the PC version and it remains unfortunate that players can no longer be searched by name. You'll have to look for your prey through the clubs.

Those that in the end think Alex Ferguson is an amateur shit manager can always start up an online competition on Xbox Live. A nice addition that, for as far as I could test it, works flawlessly.