14 years later, Football Manager cover star "Manager Man" has retired
UPDATE: Manager Man "deciding what his next career move will be".
UPDATE: I asked Sports Interactive to explain its decision to ditch Manager Man as the cover star of Football Manager and studio boss Miles Jacobson sent over the following statement. Strap yourself in, it's a rollercoaster!
"It's a big year of change for us as a studio - we've taken the opportunity with moving to our fantastic new office in the Olympic Park to make many changes, such as bringing in our first COO, putting a better structure in place, changing some of our practises as part of what we call SI 3.0 - and a release in Germany for the first time too.
"So with all that going on, it seemed the perfect opportunity for us to have a think about our branding and try and be as fresh with that as we are being with the other changes in the studio, hence the new logo and a point of view perspective for the key art and pack shot.
"Fans of Manager Man shouldn't be worried though. He's currently sitting on a beach in Santorini, sipping on a delicious cocktail, deciding what his next career move will be. He's likely waiting til Xmas to get a new job - the bonuses for keeping clubs up for experienced managers will likely tempt him back in."
ORIGINAL STORY: 14 years after appearing on his first Football Manager cover, Manager Man has retired.
Manager Man - who we only ever saw from the nostrils down - has been the cover star of Football Manager since 2004's Football Manager 2005. Here are a few examples:
Developer Sports Interactive has for Football Manager 2019 decided to go with a manager's eye view of the pitch as the gaffer and players head down the tunnel ahead of a big match. Here's how it looks:
FM 2019 also brings with it redesigned logos and the addition of the Bundesliga licence for the first time. All three versions of the game - Football Manager 2019 (for PC and Mac), Football Manager 2019 Touch (for PC, Mac, iOS and Android) and Football Manager 2019 Mobile (for iOS and Android) - come out on 2nd November 2018. There's no word on a Nintendo Switch version yet.
So here's to you, Manager Man. We'll never know the colour of your eyes, but we do feel intimately familiar with your open mouth.