As a stripped down version of a PC sim, it plays well – tactics and substitutions are easily performed with a drag of the finger, all the while accompanied by the familiar creeping sensation that all your tinkering will ultimately count for nothing. Matches kick off with the minimum of ceremony, your overpaid prima donnas rendered as radar blips that are accompanied by text commentary. Portable versions of both Football Manager and Championship Manager have always been slightly clumsy retreads of their PSP incarnations, and it's encouraging to see a game being built from the iGround up, taking full advantage of the touchscreen – players can be dragged across the pitch, their icons floating millimetres above the finger so as to not to obstruct the view, and access to your mailbox, squad and upcoming fixtures is never more than a couple of clicks away. If it's good enough for a set of furious cartoon birds it's good enough for Gareth Bale. It's to Eidos' credit that it's stripped everything down this year and given us a much cleaner interface – and this time we're in landscape. The game that first made hulking great databases sexy first hit the iphone in 2009, sporting a decidedly goofy old-school interface, coupled with the use of a rather unwieldy portrait orientation.

Championship Manager 2011 is the third title to hit iTunes in as many years.

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