How we’d love this to be good. We can imagine few things more enjoyable than playing a full, deep instalment of Sports Interactive’s terrific series on PSP. For a start it would mean that we wouldn’t have to lug a laptop around when we go on holiday. The unfortunate truth of the matter, though, is that Football Manager 2007 on PSP isn’t good, it’s barely okay.

Now we’re not so ignorant so as to compare the PSP version of the game with the PC one, but there are certain things we’ve come to expect from management games and they are just absent here. First and foremost is the impression that you’re actually in complete control of your team’s success. You buy players, sell players and choose the formation, but there’s very little else you can do to influence your side’s success on a game-by-game basis. The tactics screen is depressingly thin, offering you nothing but the bare minimum of options to alter your game plan and direct influence over players is limited to you selecting or dropping them. It says a lot that in many respects the awful Championship Manager is the superior game.

Where Football Manager 2007 succeeds though is in the aspects that are taken for granted by lesser developers. It’s clear that a lot of thought has gone into making the menu system as accessible and neat as possible. Within minutes you’ll be swiftly flipping through the menus as though you’ve been doing it since you were born. The transfer logic is fairly believable as well, which only ever adds to the enjoyment. Sure, Hargreaves joined United at the drop of a hat, but for the most part the deals reflect the real world transfer window quite well.

The new additions to the series also help the game to become ever-so-slightly better than its predecessor. The increased presence of the media, the enhanced commentary and the overhauled scouting system are noticeable improvements, so some solace can be taken from the fact that the handheld series is moving in the right direction.

However, this is still so far away from being the epic strategy game we’d so love to have on PSP. The lack of your involvement is woefully exposed, with the games and squad developments becoming routine so quickly it feels as though all you’re doing is tapping X to skip to the next screen. This is a disappointing effort, proving to be an uncomfortable fit for the PSP.

Aaron Asadi