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For fans the Football Manager game can be all consuming with dinner times missed and hours wiled away staring a computer screen.

It can give the armchair football supporter the chance to put their theories on tactics to the test, and see if their acumen in the virtual transfer market is better than their own club's manager.

For partners who don't get "that football game", which allows you simulate running a football team, it can be as infuriating as an addiction to reality TV or a serial shopping habit.

The man to blame or praise depending on your position is Miles Jacobson who helped grow the game from it's early incarnation as Championship Manager in the mid 1990s to the game played by hundreds of thousands for an average of an incredible 252 hours each year.

We caught up with Watford fan Miles to ask him about the game and to share some tips on how to make your virtual managership a success.

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Who compiles the stats for the teams?

When we first started doing proper research it was 20 years ago and we went to a bunch of fanzine writers - because this was before the Internet was popular - and got them to give their unbiased views on the clubs.

We asked them because they were the only outlet that wasn't coming from the clubs' press officers or local press.

The first game that we did was in 1994 and we had a couple of kids in Crewe's reserves Danny Murphy and Neil Lennon who ended up becoming pretty good.

That gave us the buzz and made us want to get it all right so we started building a global network and as of now we have over 1,300 scouts around the world in 51 countries and regions.

They are going out and watching players at first team, reserve and youth team level week in week out.

They are predominately football fans but we do have some people who work at clubs but it's primarily fans.

(Image: PA)

Is there anywhere you don't scout?

In the football league we have scout at pretty much every game down to Conference level and a few non-league scouts at lower levels.

In some other countries we might only have a scout to cover the whole country but they are gong to watch a variety of teams play so it's a pretty good network.

MORE: Six tips to make you a Football Manager master.

How many players do you have in the game?

At last count our database had over 650,000 players and staff from around the world which includes players who have retired from the game and might become coaches in the future, including chief executives and chairmen, and around 350,000 active players.

We claim to have the largest database in football because it is. The players have over 250 attributes and those aren't just playing attributes they are mental attributes as well because we try and model player personalities.

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How do you make it realistic?

Just like real-life It is quite possible now to have a player in the game with all the potential in the world but to never get there.

The game in real life is littered with examples of just that sort of thing – players who who were destined for great things but at the age of 22 are still not playing in the first team.

Are the scouts professional?

Most of them use their work for us to help them get other jobs.

There are people we have been working with us for a very long time who are now the chief scouts at Champions League clubs.

It's a good thing to have on your CV.

Lots of our scouts do become scouts in real life but the main difference between our scouts and real life scouts is that real lift scouts tend to leave the ground on 75 minutes.

You can always tell a real scout because they leave before the game is finished to try and get home early.

(Image: Alex Livesey)

Do players ever have an opinion of their FM profile?

I think all of them do.

Any examples?

We don't change player stats because they ask us too unless they can actually prove that we are wrong.

We have had incidents of players having a race with another player in training and record it to show they are faster than their team mate.

We had a situation last year where a player had broken into the first team in real life but couldn't get into the team in the game and that was a data issue so we altered that to correct it before the game came out.

If someone turns around and says they are good enough to get into a team we will ask the researcher and if they say he's not then he'll stay in the reserves.

Anyone who you've apologised too?

Harry Kane.

We did always have him as all right but I have personally said sorry to him because there was a long period where he was on loan at other clubs and we didn't think he was going to reach the heights that he has done.

I met him at the London Football Awards and he is known for playing a lot of computer games and I said 'we get 0.5 percent wrong, you were one that we got wrong', and he said to me one of the reasons he was trying so hard was to make sure his stats were better in the game.

He's been a revelation for a lot of people and was just a late bloomer and was probably suited better to playing Premier League football than Championship football which is rare and usually the other way.

Do you think the game is useful to real life?

We have partnerships with football clubs and some managers have admitted they use it to find players.

The beauty of FM is while you are playing you are not just learning about football it can also be used for business studies and is used by the League Managers Association for training the next generation of managers.

Also agents will try and talk up a player too and attempt to generate interest in them and if they are rated highly in our database they are likely to get scouted but it's not a good idea to talk someone up too much or you won't be taken seriously.

It's the case that scouts will say to managers that players are rated highly in the game as a short cut of getting them to watch themseleves.

Who tests the game to make sure it's up to scratch?

I do. Also we have over 1,000 players who help test the game and get it a month before it comes out and it's important to get feedback from them.

(Image: Football Manager)

Do you ever make improvement based on what fans say?

Well I get 4,000 suggestions and I read them all.

They can be everything from asking if the user interface can be improved by moving a button on the screen. With stuff like that we speak to usability experts which are companies who watch people playing the game and use technology to track where their eyeball is on the screen

There was one year where we had the continue button in the bottom left of the screen and we were asking people to play it and they struggled and it turns out bottom left is the worst place.

Someone asked for a 'draft' to be included in one game mode so we put that in and someone who saw a player doing a particular trick and asked for that to be included.

You don't have any really young players, why is that?

We don't have any players younger than 16 because we are forbidden by child protection laws but without doubt if there is a wonder kid out there who is younger we will have watched them a few times.

Given the level we go down to – level six, which is Conference level north and south, it would be highly unusual for a player not to be playing at that level.

People talk about Jamie Vardy and how he came from nowhere, he didn't come from nowhere he was still playing at a better level than 99 per cent of people who play football in the UK every week.

(Image: Getty)

We've heard a lot about how it can cause marital strife, has that ever happened to you?

It's pretty easy for me, I have a long term girlfriend, and I can just turn around and say 'well it's work darling' so I have the benefit of being able to do that.

I probably play a few thousand hours a year but then I am pretty obsessive and haven't missed a minute of Watford this season.

It's a game you play while you are doing other things, you could be listening to music or have the TV on in the background and can talk to people while you are playing.

There are lots worse hobbies lets be honest and it can save you money.

Depending on where you shop it costs between £25 and £35 and that is a night out at the pub and you are going to have many nights in.

(Image: PA)

What personally has the game given you?

I'm not really that flash so things like cars don't really impress me. What's it's done really is made me the luckiest bastard alive.

I start work the minute I wake up and finish the minute I go to bed but I get to make computer games about football for a living and that beats having a proper job.

I am able to help charities like War Child and SpecialEffect, which uses video games and technology to help people with disabilities, and music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins.

I can also go to football and call it work and get to meet amazing people – David Beckham asked me where I got my Christmas jumper from so I am fashion icon.

At the end of the day I am still a short bloke from Watford with most of the mates I grew up with and have been incredibly lucky to do something for a living which I love.

I started off working in a burger bar and if I hadn't done this I might still be there.

(Image: Getty Images)

Everyone wants the name of a wonder kid, give me one?

I'll give you two.

The first player that I try and buy in the latest version of the game is someone who won't join me for a year and that's a goalkeeper called Simone Scuffet.

And one player who is a outfielder is Breel Embolo who is a young swift attacking midfielder and he has been linked to Manchester United and Arsenal in the last couple of weeks.

What's next?

Well as well as Football Manager, Football Manager Mobile and Football Manager Touch we are launching Football Manager Online, at first just in Korea and then in China.

There a lot of other people making football management games so I will never reveal what is going into our next game until it is there and working and ready for sale.

Suffice to say if we have no more new ideas we have enough already for the next four games.

We are not going to suffer writers block, there is a lot of evolution and revolution.

Miles' Top Tips for playing Football Manager

Concentrate on Player Roles

In recent years, football has seen a dramatic shift in focus away from team shape and formation towards individual player roles and duties. This shift in mentality is something which has also evolved in the latest editions of Football Manager. So, when building your team’s tactics, take the time to assess which player roles best suit each individual player.

For instance, a wide player with excellent finishing attributes, but less vision and flair would be more effective playing as an Inside Forward than as an out-and-out Winger.

At the same time, make sure you have the right balance of duties set. A team with too many players assigned to the attack duty may be good going forward, but will most likely also be horribly exposed to counter attacks. Finding the right balance between attack, support and defending duties can be crucial to finding on-field success.

Adapt your tactics throughout the season

Think of all the best managers in the modern game – they never stick to a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to matches. Likewise, the best Football Manager players pay attention to match preparation and ensure their team is comfortable with a variety of approaches and tactics. That way teams can set out differently for each individual opponent, with the players fully prepared to carry out the instructions given to them by their manager.

Use your scouting network

In FM16 scouting is more realistic than ever, allowing you to really make the most of your scouting network. When you request a report card on a player, your scout will give you a top line review of a player, but won’t be able to give you the full run-down of his strengths and weaknesses until they’ve seen him play a few times. Once you’ve found a player you may be interested in signing, assign one of your scouts to watch him play for up to three matches or three months. This will allow them to completely evaluate the player and more accurately report on his attributes, thus minimising any risk for you should you decide to sign him.

Keep abreast on squad harmony

An important - but often overlooked - aspect of management is keeping your players happy and together. Countless managerial regimes have been undermined by splits in the dressing room so make sure your on-field performances don’t become negatively affected by off-field unhappiness.

For instance, it takes time for players to settle into a new club. Avoid bringing too many new faces in at once – it will only lengthen the time it takes for the squad to become settled.

It’s not just new signings you have to consider though. However many players you have in your squad, you’ve got to keep them all happy. Failing to keep a promise to a player will almost certainly anger them, but may also upset their locker room allies, leading to a group of unhappy players knocking on your door to complain. If you let things get really out of hand, you may even find you have a mutiny on your hands with the whole team confronting you about your behaviour.

Don’t try to do too much too fast

It can be tempting, when joining a new club, to try to completely reinvent the wheel and get started straight away on imposing your philosophy and playing style on the team. However, this can cause some teething problems, dragging out how long it takes you to settle into your new job.

When joining a new club, one of the first things you should do is fully assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current players. To begin with, play a style and formation which suits them. Then, gradually impose your ideals and start to bring in your own players. Making these changes steadily will reduce the risk of a slow start to your tenure because players are struggling to understand your methods.

Stats, stats and more stats

Sports Interactive’s partnership with the leading sports statistics provider, Prozone, has seen a wide-reaching revamp of the in-game match analysis tool, adding lots of useful functionality whilst also providing managers with more detailed statistical information than ever before.

This means that, whether you subscribe to a “Moneyball”-like philosophy or not, there is plenty of information to be gleaned from analysing your team’s performances. Keeping tabs on at least a few key statistics could shed light on that final tactical tweak you need to either turn your fortunes around or refine a title-challenging formation.

Read more: 11 tips to make you a top FM boss