The Higher Tempo Press
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#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.48.2 | Which contracts to renew?
(Editor: Yeah, we screwed the numbering up) 4 JAN 2017: The window opens tomorrow. Over the month or two the questions, what will the squad look like (a) in the second half of the season and (b) next season, have gradually become clearer as I’ve gone about the business of renewing contracts with Hapoel Ashkelon […]
#FM17 | The Alphabet Challenge | UE Santa Coloma Day 1
The first thing that struck me as being strange about Andorra wasn’t how inept the footballers were as I drove past them in the chairman’s car. It wasn’t how the ‘training grounds’ seem devoid of any greenery, almost as if it was done on purpose. It was how cold it was. I went on holiday […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #7 | Injuries
The transfer window has closed, and after an early exit in the FA Cup, we focus all our efforts on catching Arsenal in the race for the Premier League title. We picked up a vital win over the Gunners in January which made up for our embarrassing defeat to Brighton. Marco Asensio arrived from Real […]
#FM17 | Player Profiles | Marco Asensio
Welcome to the review of Marco Asensio. Marco is a highly rated CAM from Real Madrid who has emerged in recent years. But can he reach the level of players like Isco and James Rodriguez? Could he do even better? In this video we take a look on how he develops at Madrid and see […]
#FM17 | Inside the Lab | An Experiment on Positional Suitability
It is something which has been bugging me for the last few editions of Football Manager, a player’s positional suitability. Are stats enough to get a good performance from them, or does their knowledge of the position count for something. I mean Messi could do a job anywhere on the pitch right? What if your […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.48 | All good
I’m glad I wrote that previous blog post. After writing there that it would be realistic to expect Hapoel Ashkelon FC’s board to agree to an increase in the number of coaches, I thought ‘Why not now?’ They agreed to an extra coach to ‘allow for greater specialisation’. Which in fact is exactly what we […]
#FM17 | The Alphabet Challenge | Job-seeking
Job-hunting is hard. Job hunting for a job as a football manager is even harder. Job hunting for a job as a football manager without any coaching badges and only having played football at a Sunday League level (although I’ll have you know that I was voted Player of the Season for Corinthian Casuals on 2 […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #6 | Transfer Time
Despite our unbeaten streak being ended in December, Liverpool still enjoyed a strong month heading into the January transfer window. We picked up wins over both Manchester clubs but suffered disappointing losses to both West Ham and Sunderland. January could be an important month in the title race as we face league leaders, Arsenal, at […]
Sheffield United | Blades Of Glory #12 | Winner Takes All | Lets Play #FM17
Welcome to Episode 12 of my Sheffield United FM17 save, today it’s the big one can we secure promotion to the Sky Bet Championship join me as we continue our adventure on Football Manager 2017 Hit the LIKE button for more Football Manager 2017 content! ✔ Remember to like & subscribe! And thank you for […]
#FM17 | The Celtic Way | 2016/17 Part 1
Squad At first glance the squad I took over was bloated, particularly in midfield. But let us start at the back in goals we had a solid shot-stopper in Craig Gordon and reasonably good back-ups. Injuries to the centre backs meant calling both Eoghan O’Connell and Jamie McCart up to the first team – both […]
#FM17 | Back in the USSR | Part Four
You don’t get a great deal of free time managing in the Ukranian First Division, there are two games a week to get through, training sessions to endure and a chairman who keeps dropping in forcing to you try his latest batch of home-brewed vodka. Still, during a rare spare moment, I find myself wandering […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.46 | Offer I can’t refuse?
On New Year’s Day, the board make me an offer: I can have a higher budget for wages and transfer if I agree to raise the ambition for the season above the current level of fighting bravely against relegation. We’re fourth. Though survival isn’t in the bag, it looks achievable. So it’s tempting to accept. […]
#FM17 | Creating a Recruitment Model | Part Two | FMAnalysis
Hello, welcome back to the second part of this series looking at creating a recruitment model within your club on Football Manager. If you haven’t already then I would advise that you take a minute (or eight) to go and read the first part of this series where we looked through the initial steps that […]
#FM17 | Plugged into the Mainz | A Spark
Welcome all. When Harold Strulz president of Mainz announced that he would shortly be celebrating the appointment of a new manager, there was much talk and excitement in the German city of Mainz. Situated on the River Rhine. It’s known for its old town, with half-timbered houses and medieval market squares. In the centre, the Marktbrunnen is […]
#FM17 | The Islanders XII
OSU! I had one job in pre-season. One job. And that job, my friends, was to lock Ren in a cupboard and make sure he didn’t leave the club. Was I successful? Well, he is still here. He is not under contract, he is on one of those month-to-month rolling ones. Does that feel insecure? […]
#FM17 | Player Profiles | Facundo Colidio
Welcome to the review of Facundo Colidio, a young striker who plays for Boca Jrs in Argentina. He is just 16 with bags of potential, and in this video we will take a look at Colidio at various stages and see if he can reach the potential he promises. We will look at how he performs over […]
#FM17 | Blades of Glory Episode 11
Here it is folks, a brand new episode of Blades of Glory! In Episode 11 we play a double, yes that means two, live com against Port Vale and Bradford City. Exciting, huh?
#FM17 | Back in the USSR | Part Three
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to greatness. Let me show you the Messiah, the liberator of Okhtyrka football: Yuriy Chonka. There’s magic behind those beautiful blues, less than a month at the club and he’s already a fan favourite. He’s charmed his way to the Vice Captaincy and if I’m completely honest with […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.45 | Success Factors
The end of the calendar year finds Hapoel Ashkelon FC in fourth out of fourteen in Israel’s Premier League. After 17 games, we’re 16 points ahead of Hapoel Tel-Aviv, the higher of the two teams in the relegation slots. After 26 games the league divides into two. The best way for us to avoid relegation […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #5 | Congestion
Liverpool are well and truly in the race for the title following three months without a loss. Arsenal is setting the pace for the league and have only lost once; they will be tough to catch but another good month in December could put us into contention. December is a tough month for us regardless […]
#FM17 | Taste The Feeling | Episode 16 Part 1 | Silkeborg 21/22 Season
Transfers: Jose Cedeno: Was backup at Silkeborg last season, making 14 starts. He’ll be awarded with a starting position this season where he can hopefully kick on a bit! Ibrahim Frimpong: Was bought for peanuts (50k) and now gets his shot. He’ll be around the first team and hopefully has a good season. Rabie Issad: Did […]
#FM17 | Hartlepool United | The Triumph of the Pass | Introduction
Recently, I’ve been reading a lot. Reading Jonathan Wilson’s revised and updated Inverting the Pyramid. Reading Marti Perarnau’s Pep Confidential. Reading Chris Anderson & David Sally’s The Numbers Game. And, reading lots, and lots, and lots of posts from the #wearethecommunity tag on twitter. All of these sources have inspired and challenged me in terms […]
#FM17 | Back in the USSR | Part Two
When I think of the great managerial debuts, my mind wanders fondly to memories of Alan Curbishley’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United with West Ham in 2006, it can recall Jose Mourinho’s 1-0 triumph over United in ’04 and it can even remember Steve Clarke’s emphatic start to life at West Brom with their 3-0 […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.43 | Staying on, staying on, staying on
6 Dec 2016. Well, blow me down. Another occasion for an unscheduled blog post. The Hapoel Ashkelon FC board must have enjoyed our 5-1 defeat of Haifa because they’ve offered a new contract. I made a half-hearted and unsuccessful attempt to get them to extend it beyond the end of next season. After 26 matches, […]
#FM17 | The Islanders XI
OSU! I am back with news from the island of Okinawa. How are my Japanese japes going? Well folks, it is the end of the third season and our first in J2. A reminder – we were predicted to finish bottom by a mile. We are spending a mere fraction of every other club in […]
CM9798 tackles FM17 | Part 6 | Look for the Rainbow in Every Storm
Part 6 is here! Which means another episode of me trying to learn the modern game, with “trying” being the optimum word. Last time out I couldn’t win at home and fell out with all the players over Jesus Gamez. They all hate me, but we showed a strange resilience to beat Man City in […]
#FM17 | Back in the USSR | Part One
You know that feeling when you’re halfway through something that seemed like a good idea when you started? You’ve taken up all of the floorboards downstairs to deal with the draft and suddenly you’re sitting in a room, without a floor, but with the realisation that you’ve actually no idea what you’re doing, why you’re […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #4 | Unbeaten
We are well and truly on our way up the table after our disappointing start to the season. We are now unbeaten in seven games, including ties against Everton and Tottenham. The Reds are starting to climb the league and put pressure on the top four after our streak. The board wants Europa League qualification, […]
#FM17 | The Celtic Way | Another 2016 Death – Dealing with the Grief
Loss. It happens to us all. For whatever reason, a cup of coffee over the laptop, the dreaded ‘save could not load message’ or in my case – saving over my Celtic save with my f*****g Feyenoord one. Why did I not learn from last year and set up a rolling save. I took it […]
#FM17 | Creating a Recruitment Model | FMAnalysis
Football Manager is a game that appeals to people across the globe precisely because you can make it as complicated and life like as you want. There are some amongst us who will choose to use the in game editor to make their ‘jobs’ as easy as possible and ensure that they win every trophy […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #3 | Derby Day
What a journey it has been already. My first month as Liverpool manager was one to be forgotten as we lost all four of our fixtures. But the lads were able to bounce back in September, picking up three wins from three and not conceding a goal. October is a tough month for us as […]
#FM17 | The Last King of Scotland 3:1
The Last King of Scotland A Hibernian Tale: Part 3:1 Extract from the Managers diary: ‘I’m going to do it y’know, Garry.’ ‘What’s that, Gaffer?’ ‘Invite Sheafy round for a lamb hotpot with the wife.’ ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea–’ ‘Yeah you’re probably right. He probably prefers beef.’ Garry shakes his head. It’s […]
#FM17 | The Alphabet Challenge | Introduction
#FM17’s been out for a while now and I may speak for a few people here but I’ve really enjoyed it. There’ve been subtle improvements to the game which I’ve quite enjoyed. However, as of late, I’ve gotten rather bored of the game. My Club and Country save with Beitar Jerusalem and Israel was incredible […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.42 | Where did that come from?
4 Dec 2016. I was going to leave the next post until the end of the calendar year, but yesterday’s match has prompted me to publish early. Hapoel Ashkelon FC’s began December where we’ve been for most of the season so far: solidly mid-table – way above everyone’s expectations, including my own. Our Premier League […]
#FM17 | Guide | Valencia CF | Football Manager 2017
First, my native language is Indonesian so I hope that you can understand my English 🙂 Many of you may confused to choose which club is suit enough for you. Or maybe you want challenge yourself to maximize club with experienced players and potential players for the future. I would suggest Spanish side Valencia. If […]
#FM17 | Plugged into the Mainz | A Tactical Approach
So, after reading several blogs over the past few months I now understand more what the FM community means when they say they are “Bored!” or “Same Old Read!” or “Not My Thing!” for a lot of the content out there, and in that I include my current Oxford United save which is very much […]
#FM17 | Crisis Management | The Nuclear Option
A particularly vicious feature of FM is its ability to inflict a downward spiral of results. Things got from bad to worse – you lose games, give away penalties, miss penalties, have players sent off and suspended. Players get tetchy or sulky. Morale plummets. Over the years I’ve come to the conclusion that the best […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #2 | The Resurgence
I’ll be the first to admit it, and my Facebook would not let me forget, August was a disaster for me. I was given a baptism of fire in the league with my opening two fixtures against Manchester City and Arsenal. Losses against top opposition could be excused, but back-to-back defeats to Rotherham and Southampton […]
FM17 | Guides | 5 + 1 players to watch in Slovak league
After an article about interesting players in the Czech highest division I decided to put together also players from Slovak league currently know as the Fortuna liga due to a sponsorship arrangement with bet company. As you maybe know the highest Slovak football league was formed in 1993 following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The record […]
#FM17 | Burnley | Hope (part 2) Season 2 VI
Thanks for coming back to the final part of our second season together. No quote to start us off this time, I want to avoid setting the tone for this update, it will appear later. If you want to catch up fully please do so HERE but a short summary follows. When we last met we […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.41 | Teams work
Eitan Sharon accepted our offer to become Hapoel Ashkelon’s first ever Head of Sport Science. I invite the freelance photographer the club uses, so we can do a press release. Ashkelon News will probably cover it. We do a team photo the way teams of players do: front line squatting, backline standing. Then we do […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #1 | Pilot
Football Manager has been out for a few months now and while I have played around with some simulation saves, I am yet to get into the game. My first save was riddled with long-term injuries meaning I soon lost interest and ended up abandoning my save. With the game updating to 17.2, I have […]
#FM17 | The Islanders X
OSU! Thanks to @FM_Grasshopper for giving me that phrase, my life hasn’t been the same since. So, the J2. Whatcha got, eh? How will my team of babies fare in the next level up in Japanese football? We will be playing teams that spend money on players and everything. Some of our opponents will be […]
#FM17 | RSC Anderlecht – Going Dutch 1.0 | Introduction
Skinny: I take over Anderlecht, who are struggling following a merger between the Dutch and Belgian leagues. Can I save the famous purple and white from relegation? Football Manager has changed for me in recent years. As a teenager to a university student, I had all the time in the World to play football manager. […]
#FM17 | Forward Asia S2-3 | Surviving on Instinct
It’s halfway through Celebest Villa 2000 FC’s inaugural season in the Indonesian Super League, and so far they are – just – exceeding expectations, keeping just above the relegation zone. How would they fare in the second half of the season? Indonesian Cup After approximating a reasonable definition of a professional performance in the first […]
#FM17 | The Hapoel Hope 1.40 | What makes a goalscorer?
Hapoel Ashkelon FC’s third league match, home to Bnei Yehuda, brought our first win, 2-1. Besides the points, two aspects delighted me. First, having thrown away a one-goal lead, we had the resilience to come back and score again. Second, Matan Hozez, who I’ve blogged about before [29 Dec 2016]. Another goal, again taken with […]
#FM17 | Taste The Feeling Episode 15 Part 2 | 20/21 season
Antwerp’s January Transfers: Moataz Abdel Rahman: I always seem to find an incredible Egyptian striker in my FM saves, hopefully Rahman will be my FM17 incarnation. The small fee and high finishing makes the low mental attributes worth the risk. Jack McBean: Bought as I’m expecting a bid for Zivkovic over the […]
Book Review | The Men Who Stare at Goals
An interesting characteristic of Football Manager (FM), and of its predecessor, Championship Manager (CM), is that the game generates a good deal of writing. Much of this appears, naturally, on forums and blogs. But in addition there have been a number of books — for example, the “Johnny Cooper” books by Chris Darwen (the founder […]
#FM17 | Burnley | Hope (part 1) | Season 2V
“There are really only two positions one can take in life: hope or fear. Hope strengthens, fear kills.” For the first time in months we have hope. After an awful run at the end of 2017, our win over Southampton in our last game had left us just three points from our aim of 17th […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.39 | Goalkeeper Paranoia
At Hapoel Ashkelon FC I will follow my usual policy regarding goalkeepers (GKs), which can be summed up in the formula GK ≥ (T + 1), where GK = number of goalies and T = number of teams. If for example I’m managing a club with a senior squad, reserve squad, and youth squad, for […]