The 'fun' element of FA Manager can't be underestimated, though. All the icons can be lit up with help bubbles, and tactically you're not given the opportunity to mess with the formations on offer. You simply choose the team, pick the formation and get on with the match.

Sadly, it's the match feature which lets FA Manager down. Do the makers really think we have such an attention defect that we simply have to see graphical action? The poor PlayStation just can't cope with the amount going on. There's written commentary at the bottom of the screen, stats in the middle and action at the top. Brian Moore commentates at the same time, and every single feature is out of sync with the others. This means that sometimes you'll have Brian Moore pronouncing a goal five seconds before you see it happen on screen, sometimes the stats tell you first, and so on.

And while we're on the subject, most of the halves are taken up with no written or spoken commentary at all, while you're treated to about five different sequences of players tackling each other. Great.

Yet you'll still look forward to the matches to see how your team have done. You'll still play it all night long, simply because FA Manager doesn't require hours of tinkering for success. Buy the right players for the right positions and you'll do well - it's that simple. Like Football Manger on the Spectrum all those years ago, it's genius is in how easy it is to play. And as Alex Ferguson himself might say, it's doing the simple things right that matters.