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FM18: 5 Things To Do When Your Youth Intake Isn’t Great
It’s youth intake day, and it hasn’t lived up to your expectations. You’re disappointed. You start having a little panic. Never mind not getting a 16-year-old wonderkid from just down the road who you can fire straight into your starting 11, there isn’t even anyone in your eyes that looks good enough to develop and […]
Letou Decide: The Loan Rangers
Congratulations to Jordan Ayew, who takes his rightful place in the Premier League team of the week after his two goals against West Ham United at the weekend. Today I’ll take a look at our contracted players outside of the club, those out on loan. The majority of these were loan deals made prior to […]
Tempo10 – Very Superstitious
Mike and Samo take community contributions this week with your superstitions! Is it weird to always have an Icelandic player in the squad? Mike and Samo have the final word on your superstitions, and whether it is reasonable or crazy talk.
Canary Corner – Part 14
Welcome back. Norwich’s European adventure got off to a reasonable start in part 13, but if previous updates are anything to go by we quite often start our endeavours well before they go tits up in the second part of the season. As it is, we just need a draw with Sporting Lisbon and our […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter Three: Don’t Change A Winning Team
Afternoon folks, we’re back for another chapter of Beating Nuno and I hope you’re as excited to read it as I am to write it. No? Well, you should be! We’ve got a double-header this time so you’re in for a right feast of football as we take a look at how my Football Manager […]
Letou Decide: Scouting Report
If Stoke City vs. Burnley were a WWE wrestling match, I’m fairly confident it would be generously described by legendary commentator Jim Ross as ‘bowling-shoe ugly’. That’s not a compliment, folks. I went on a scouting mission last night to the Britannia Stadium to see this battle of the brutes and I’ve handed my notepad […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 20: Aiming For Back-To-Back MLS Titles
Ah the playoffs, welcome once again. Our date in the latter stages of American soccer’s biggest stage has been an absolute certainty since my arrival, so much so that they might as well scrap our 34 league matches and just give us knock-out ties. Whilst I may sound over confident, I assure you I’m taking […]
Parità dei sessi 1: Prologue and index of chapters
Too long, didn’t read? Scroll to the bottom to skip the prologue and go straight to the links to the newer chapters. Welcome to Sassari on lovely Sardinia. This is the hometown of one of the greatest football teams in Italy: ASD Torres. This is a club that’s won seven Italian championships—as many as Roma, […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 2: Vorsaison
Guten tag! In the previous update, I gave a brief overview of MSV Duisburg and promised we’d get into an overview of the team. Pre-season has been completed, and I’ve been able to come up with some opinions on the players I’ve got at my disposal, I’ve settled on my preferred starting eleven, and I’ve […]
Letou Decide: West Ham United vs. Swansea City Match Review
Thank you to all who joined us for live coverage on @TheHigherTempo of our trip to the London Stadium to take on David Moyes’ West Ham United. The result was what I thought at the time was an impressive 2 – 1 triumph and three valuable points but according to BBC London 94.9, I appear […]
Inept International Manager: Ep. 7
Click here to find previous episodes of the Inept International Manager When we last left Louis Henrik, he was dealing with the news that Australia have not (yet) qualified for the upcoming 2018 World Cup after a 7 – 3 play-off victory over the superstars of Uzbekistan. It’s really something a competent international manager should […]
Chronicles of a Chancer: Part 5
Bronze-Wig Making a Mountain out of a Mole Hill: Part 5 ‘Hi, how can I help you today?’ ‘Hi, yeah. I ordered an item from your website last week and it still hasn’t been delivered yet.’ ‘I can only apologise, sir. What item did you order?’ ‘A fuck-off massive box of Pickled Onion Space Raiders. […]
Letou Decide: West Ham United vs. Swansea City Preview
Later today, Charlie Tango’s Swansea take on David Moyes’ West Ham United and the Hammers are up in fifth in the Premier League. I’m pleased for Moyes, I didn’t appreciate the way he was treated at Manchester United (this also applies for Roy Hodgson at Liverpool) so to see him reclaim his reputation back is […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 19: History Is Made (Again)
Josh Challies, Atlanta United icon. In this area, I’m THE man. I’m what Bill Shankly is to Liverpool, what Matt Busby is to Manchester United and what Herbert Chapman is to Arsenal. Except there’s one major difference – I’m not finished. So, why am I on top of cloud nine? Well… That’s right, we’ve done […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 2nd March
The press are buzzing about this weekend being André Ayew’s return to the London Stadium as he was a West Ham United player prior to his transfer over to Swansea in January for £18.5 million. Personally I’m not too worried about André, not only does he seem to be fairly level-headed, he has his brother […]
The Deep Lying Podcast #125: The Deep Lying Pirates
You see, Ed and George didn’t come up with a very original password for their Soundcloud account leaving themselves open to all kinds of piracy. So, being true to my roots I managed to get my way in, talk James Jones of footballfancast.com into coming on board and we now have complete control of your […]
FM18: 5 Things To Do When Taking Over In The Relegation Zone
Earlier this year, I was fortunate to be asked to take over from Stuart Reid in the #LetouDecide project here on The Higher Tempo in association with Swansea City and their shirt sponsor Letou Sports and become FM18’s version of Red Adair. When I parachuted in, Swansea were deep in the relegation zone in 19th […]
AFC Bournemouth: Cherry Picking Episode Four
I’ve been able to draw many conclusions from the early stages of this Bournemouth save. Firstly, that the team’s defending on a virtual platform mirrors the Cherries’ back line in reality, and secondly that my start to the Premier League campaign is something that Eddie Howe can only dream about, in the times where he’s […]
Letou Decide: World Update
Today I’m going to take the opportunity to take a look around this particular world. As we all know, things happen so quickly that not everything gets the proper coverage. It’s the age we live in, with new channels on television 24 hours and even sports news channels. Let’s look at the headlines… Following his […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter Two: Slick September
Football is a funny old game, isn’t it? Sometimes it can kick you in the bollocks when you’re already down and other times it can be the shining light you need which keeps you going. I’ll level with you, neither of those things happened in the month of September in my quest to beat Nuno, […]
Making Blackburn Rovers Great Again – Episode #3
In game week 34 of the Football League, a Danny Graham double lifted Blackburn Rovers to the top of League One, which can only mean one thing. My ‘Making Blackburn Rovers Great Again’ series has inspired the team. But instead of soaking the applauds for my virtual and now real achievements, I instead remain focused on the Championship campaign […]
Letou Decide: Youth Intake
Happy Youth Intake Day! The youths have arrived with their trousers hanging halfway down their backsides so the top of their underwear are showing, using language like ‘chillax’ and referencing their ‘rents’ (parents). I’m just delighted they’ve managed to prise themselves away from Netflix or online FIFA games. My Head of Youth Development Tom Wallis […]
Tempo10 – Squad Management
Inspired by some great listener questions, Mike and Samo shelved their original topic and instead tackle squad management. The discussion takes to Samo’s Continental successes and Mikes, well, misfire. Then the guys milk over how to integrate new players and advice on squad registrations. Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and the Slack channel […]
Canary Corner – Part 13
Hello and welcome to Season 5! Part 13 might be considered unlucky for some but we’re hoping for quite the opposite, as Norwich go looking to secure a place in the Champions League group stage whilst proving that last season’s fourth-place finish was no fluke. It probably was. So how do you prepare Norwich for […]
Vive la Révolution Part XV: Une autre grande décision
Catch up on the story so far… “It’s not a decision to take lightly. It’s not as easy as just going ‘we will go pro then’. We’ve worked very hard to maintain our levels despite being amateur. Yes, we finished a disappointing 9th in the league. But we did get to the Coupe de France […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 27th February
Thank you Francesco Guidolin. Thank you Troy Deeney. Thank you Kiko Femenía. Thank you Watford. That might be a strange way to open today’s piece and my personal 100th piece on Tempo so you may need to read yesterday’s Letou Decide article to understand that Watford played Newcastle United on the Monday Night Football game […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 18: New Era Dawns For Soccer In The USA
Well, it’s finally happened. The MLS is waking up and it’s no longer a sleeping giant. We’ll start with the positives- the league actually allowed me to postpone fixtures due to international absences, which gave us a 21-day gap in the summer. Bliss! Remarkably, five of the eight players called up were part of the […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter One: New Beginnings
So here we are now, the first part of the season. For those of you that missed the prologue to this story, essentially, I am going up against Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo on a game by game basis to see if he can be matched or even beaten. Before we get down to the […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 1: Einführung
The international adventure in charge of the USMNT didn’t go to plan but after a couple of months of soul searching and tactical self-discovery… Okay, that’s a load of crap. I was moving and working, not playing FM18. Anyway, I’m back after a spell tinkering with Hearts on a personal save to give a go […]
Letou Decide: Swansea City vs. Stoke City Match Review
Welcome to another week of the #LetouDecide project here on The Higher Tempo. This weekend our Swansea side played well to defeat Stoke City but I’m a little miffed that the press are referring to a ‘rearguard action’, which is a tad unfair considering that I thought we were Stoke’s equal. Stoke have been flying […]
Inept International Manager: Ep.6
Click here to find previous episodes of the Inept International Manager It’s time. It’s time for Louis Henrik to lead his Australia team out for the first time and judging by the four journalists that turn up whenever he has a press conference, the reaction has been mild at best. There’s been problems with Henrik’s […]
Football Manager Stories: Mo, America and Fylde
Football Manager is quite the personal story for some. A few of us write about our stories, but this is a recent phenomenon for a lot of us. We all have stories untold, that are lost in the mists of time. These stories were not. Mo Yattara I could ramble on about my time at […]
Chronicles of a Chancer Part 4: A New Dawn
Bronze-Wig Making a Mountain out of a Mole Hill ‘Hi Mum, I’ve got a new job.’ ‘Thank goodness. Thank the Blessed Lord Jesus and his eternally weeping eyes and all loving heart. You’ve finally given up that ridiculous notion of being a football manager–’ ‘Erm no, Mum, no, I’ve actually moved to a new club.’ […]
Letou Decide: Swansea City vs. Stoke City Preview
Before I have a look at the expected formation for Stoke City, I’ve actually just been given some good news. Both Wayne Routledge and Renato Sanches will get through 60 minutes of action and Leroy Fer could play if required. Considering I wrote Fer off completely, that’s a comeback on the scale of Lazarus. Stoke […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 17: The Next Steps – Fourth Season
Welcome back to Atlanta. This post comes a little sooner than I would initially plan for but I decided to talk you through some things, then showing you how we’ve managed to do in the first exchanges of the season. Firstly, a little perspective. The year is 2020 and Atlanta, for the second time in […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 23rd February
It feels like I’ve spent all week in the medical bay, monitoring and checking in on injured players. Wayne Routledge came through another 45 minutes in midweek in an U23 draw with Brighton & Hove Albion but both him and Leroy Fer are only fit enough for the bench tomorrow according to what I’m told […]
FM18: 5 Things To Signal You Need A New Save
Remember when you first started your Career Save? You had your pad and pencil ready for notes, you researched the team and their history, you even named the save “Hadjuk” because you knew this was the one? How quickly the gloss can start to fade from a save even if it’s not going badly. Here […]
Vive la Révolution Part XIV: Consistently inconsistent
Catch up on the story so far… “Inconsistency is the one area in which we are consistent,” I said to the media. And it was true. We are still very much the club that could beat top of the table and then lose, like we seem to always do, to the side sitting bottom. And, […]
AFC Bournemouth: Cherry Picking Episode Three
Welcome back to the south coast, where I’m attempting to steer AFC Bournemouth away from the drop and to a respectable Premier League place this season! At the end of the last episode, I’d written that I was happy with the start of our league campaign. But, on further reflection, I have no idea why. […]
Letou Decide: A Dearth Of Right-Backs
I knew it was coming. Today I must make a decision on the right-back position for Stoke City this weekend. I can’t put it off any longer. Kyle Naughton was injured at the hands of those League One hoofers and cloggers at Portsmouth, which was particularly unfortunate as I was only giving him an hour […]
Beating Nuno – Prologue
Wolverhampton Wanderers are flying at the moment. It’s the best football that Molineux has seen in years, decades and perhaps longer. I’m a Wolves fan so it is a joy to behold at the moment, however, unlike previous seasons, it posed an interesting question, could I do better than the actual team? In any normal […]
Making Blackburn Rovers Great Again – Episode #2
It’s a Tuesday afternoon. I find myself strewn across the sofa with various crumbs and stains on my shirt, endlessly skipping through Netflix as we so often do. I decide to take my search for mild entertainment to Sky where I’m greeted by an omnibus of one of my favourite programmes – Premier League Years. […]
Letou Decide: Stoke City’s Season
This weekend we will be visited by Stoke City for a 5:30 pm kick off and we’re back on television. It seems every week the TV stations are calling us to help boost their ratings. I’ll do the usual match preview on Saturday but it seems like a good a time as any to take […]
Tempo10 – The Loan Market
We’ve got the perfect line up over at Tempo Towers so don’t often delve into the transfer market. What are your options if you have to though? This week Mike and Samo discuss the merits of playing the loan market. Does it depend on the level you’re at or can any team be improved with […]
Canary Corner – Part 12
Welcome! It’s the end of season 4 and if you’ve stuck with me through the good and bad at Carrow Road then I am very grateful. You are the Darel Russell of the operation. If you’re new to these parts, well, I guess the summary is we had no money and we got promoted. Then […]
Vive la Révolution Part XIII: Les possibilités qu’il vous manque dans la vie
Catch up on the story so far… “Let me get this right. Every single one of you in this room said we would get relegated. And now you are suggesting we bottled getting promoted? Seriously? Do you understand what we achieved this season? Can you actually comprehend what we did? Yes, we were close to […]
Letou Decide: FA Cup Draw Reaction
Those who joined us last night on @TheHigherTempo will have found that we have drawn Reading in the FA Cup Quarter Final. The draw is an interesting one because the only team I really fear is Arsenal but the Premier League leaders are chock full of fixtures. They contest the Carabao Cup final this weekend […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 16: The Club World Cup
My geography skills aren’t great so if you ask me about Atlanta, I don’t know much. What I do know is we’re the football capital of North America. The Falcons? Nope. We’re the biggest club in the city- and we’ve now got a chance to make our name known to the world. Now let’s be […]
Bringing Back Brum Episode 11
FM18 Birmingham City | Bringing Back Brum | Ep 11 Not Again!! | Football Manager 2018 Welcome to a current series on my channel where we try to return Birmingham City to the Premier League, after 4 managers in just over 12 months stability is key. In Episode 11 we travel across the city to […]
Letou Decide: Swansea City vs. Portsmouth Match Review
Turning up for training this morning feels like making a funeral march. I knew selecting Kyle Naughton was a risk in the FA Cup tie against Portsmouth, I just knew it. I had planned to only play him for a half hour before replacing him with young Mael Davies. Kyle took a big hit from […]