Were you a fan of the old football simulation, Championship Manager?

If so, you might remember Nii Lamptey:

Even Pelé himself said it. Nii Odartey Lamptey, player of the tournament ahead of Alessandro Del Piero and other future stars in the Under-17 World Cup of 1991, would be ‘the next Pele’. The world’s most famous footballer had first seen him play in the Under-16 finals in 1989 and after two sightings gave his verdict: ‘Lamptey is my natural successor.’

With 38 senior caps for Ghana by the age of 21, a sensational first season in Europe after making his debut aged 15, and an even better season as top scorer for PSV Eindhoven while still a teenager, Lamptey looked as though he might prove Pelé right. It was not to be, though, and surely Pelé would never have said any such thing had he known of the horrors the boy had already suffered in his childhood. And nobody could have predicted that, far from becoming a world-class superstar, Lamptey would suffer personal tragedy as he was shunted from country to country, continent to continent, in his unfulfilled career. Only now, at the age of 33 and with new goals in his life, is Lamptey prepared to talk about the pain and sorrow he has endured.

(Although, as we were to find out, Pelé was a rubbish pundit: he predicted Colombia to win USA 94 and suggested Nicky Butt was player of the tournament in 2002.)

Top four games of the year

Becuase I can’t think of five:

1. Football Manager 2008 (this game has a reserved slot every year in my list).
2. Call of Duty 4 (might be double up as a useful piece of propoganda, but from a gaming perspective it is very good).
3. Halo 3 (this had to be here).
4. World in Conflict.