The tumultuous intrigue of medieval Europe? The delicate diplomacy between hostile alien races? Pah! The offices, changing rooms and dugouts of a mid-table League Two team are where the real tactical geniuses are born. And that headless shouting man above can mean only one thing, Football Manager is back for a new season, offering an improved line-up of enhancements and features.

Sports Interactive are promising over 1,000 improvements for the upcoming sequel, which they say will be the most realistic simulation of football management yet. Not that they'd claim anything else.

The developers list the following as highlights of the upcoming release:



An improved 3D Match Engine

A tactical overhaul

More realistic transfers and contracts

More sophisticated board interaction

More complex interaction between staff, players and rival managers

A revamped news system

An enhanced user interface

Evolution for Classic mode

Additional community features

Extensive tech improvements

New features are also being added outside of the simulation, including cloud saving, Steam Workshop support and a Linux port.

Football Manager 2014 is due out for Windows, Mac and Linux sometime before the end of the year. Until then, fans of menus can get there fill from the work-in-progress screenshots below.