Here you'll find invaluable, fundamental information about a player and, even more importantly, data about his current happiness and concerns. The screen is split into Overview and Happiness information.

#### Overview

This panel helps you to characterise an individual, going beyond a player's attributes to give more fundamental information that will help you select a transfer target or understand how a player will fit in with your team.
More or less every snippet of information will help you to understand the player and handle him better in your quest for Football Manager success - even details such as their language. A player who is drafted in from abroad and doesn't even speak a basic version of your home language is clearly going to find it harder to settle in, so it may pay to follow the lead of many real-life managers who draft in a handful of players from the same country. This is itself a risky policy, however, as it could lead to the development of a clique in your dressing room.
Find a player who's place of birth corresponds with the location of your own club and you'd expect to have a better chance of luring him to your side, for instance. Such considerations apply more directly to the Favoured Club panel, which will tell you if a player has an affinity for certain sides. You can select this information in the player search as a search parameter, enabling you to identify local boys (or club devotees) more likely to choose your club over a rival, thanks to their love of the badge.
The Favoured Personnel info is another crucial piece of information as you bid to man-manage your squad. Players who like you or other members of the squad/staff will be more likely to tow the line when all is rosy. However, if you are seen to be unfair in disciplining a player favoured by his team-mates you risk disaffecting an entire faction in your squad.
You should be cautious of releasing media comments slating rival managers too as players will often take their affinity for a beloved ex-manager beyond the time they are under his tutelage.
The last four snippets of information - scout reports, description, personality and reputation - directly flesh out the player's attribute details. These provide an invaluable at-a-glance assessment of the player in question, whether from the point of view of your scouts or in the context of his reputation.
The description summarises the type of player you are dealing with, a superb abbreviation of the factors you'll consider when it comes to signing him. Need a tenacious midfielder? Simply find a player whose description matches, make sure the rest of his 'CV' checks out, and you may have found your prime target.
The personality data is a vital clue to how a player is likely to influence your dressing room. A determined personality will doubtless inspire others with his grit, while an ominously 'Normal' personality may suggest that only legal restrictions have prevented him from being described in less than flattering terms. Such players may be the type who will unsettle your squad.
Finally, the reputation of a player will not only hint at the likelihood that he will sign for you, but give you an idea of their attitude if they were in your squad. A player with a big reputation is not going to take too kindly to languishing in the reserves, nor is he likely to suffer poor performances on the pitch by his team-mates - or thanks to your tactics - for long.

#### Happiness

You could have the best group of players on the planet and still win nothing if they aren't happy. And probably the toughest job you'll face is keeping your players in good fettle while also driving the club toward success. Bring in some players to provide competition for places and you may be doing the right thing from a footballing perspective, but some individuals will feel threatened and marginalised if they believe you are forcing them out of the side. And players who are unhappy, for any reason, are likely to perform way below par on the pitch.
The information you get here will differ slightly according to whether you or someone else has a player under contract, but in essence this data captures how settled a player is right now and any future plans he may have.

- General Happiness
This is the key factor, explaining the frame of mind a player takes into the game each time he plays. If this is good, you needn't worry, but if it's flagging you need to address the issues the player is raising or, in the extreme, end his unhappiness by facilitating a move away from the club. In truth, if a player becomes generally unhappy it may be too late to rectify the problem without a lengthy process of change to the individual's circumstances. The best Football Manager's identify concerns before they manifest themselves as unhappiness...

- Concerns
Barring drastic and dramatic changes in circumstances - such as a player being transfer listed or blasted in the press for a poor performance - his general happiness will only alter over time. To reflect this Slight Concern and Major Concern information is provided to enable you to manage a situation before it turns into a player becoming unhappy and unsettling your squad. Use this information to nip any problems in the bud.

- Future Plans
If a player is set to transfer at the end of the season, information will appear here. You should not devote valuable man-management time to a player who is set to exit your club at the expense of your stars who are staying put.

- Manager Promises
There will sometimes be an opportunity to make manager promises to an individual. Such 'deals' are outlined here. Failure to deliver on your solemn promise to a player is a sure-fire way to cause them to become unhappy and should be avoided for all but the best of reasons. Keeping a disruptive player sweet during a tricky league finale is one such good reason.

- Good Relationships
A player who gets on well with his fellow players is likely to be far happier. Such good relationships can easily be cemented over time to become Favoured Personnel. Be cautious if you see your players developing an affinity for those individuals who don't figure in your plans or are rotten apples. If you have to boot a player out of your club you'll want to minimise the impact of your decision on the rest of your squad.