After success of Kick Off Dino Dini went a step further and prepared another revolution - he took the Kick Off engine as a basis and made a completely different game that introduced a completely new concept to players. Instead of playing as a whole team we now were able to play as a single player in career mode.
First of all as experienced player we join one of the lower divisions team in England, where as player-manager we try to raise the club to the top. As player we still take part in the matches, but this time we only control our own player and we have to count on team-mates to do their best. Comparing to Kick Off the players have different skills, to we have to spend some time finding out which of the players available are the best for our tactics or reach out for new players via transfer market.
As manager you dealt with the team selection, tactics (through editor), substitutions, transfers, you could order extra training, etc. Seems easy to grasp, but also as manager you had to deal with the board of directors, who could block your expenditures or fire you if the team does not perform well.
Although very similar to Kick Off Player Manager was completely different game, yes there was an option to control the whole team during the matches, but the apart from that rest was a completely new quality and concept of the game. As player you did the same, but the elements of managerial job made all the difference in the world.
Player Manager gameplay video
