The Higher Tempo Press
Latest Posts
Some advice and tips for new writers from fellow writers who have already made a lot of mistakes…
One of the best decisions I made was to begin to write about Football Manager, it has let me to talk to some great people in the community and to follow a dream of becoming a football writer on the side. After reading Iain Macintosh’s Everton save and listening to episodes of the Deep Lying […]
A Guide to the Wide Playmaker
While my last role piece was about the Poacher, a role that most people are probably somewhat familiar with because of real football, this one is about a role that does somewhat exist in real football but most people would probably struggle if they had to describe what exactly a Wide Playmaker is. This piece […]
Unrelenting hairdryer 3.5
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness…we had everything before us, we had nothing before us. My third season in charge of Hapoel Ashkelon FC did not go according to plan. We got locked into a grim cycle: introduce […]
False Hope
Last time out when I came to you last time out I did join Melbourne City F.C. who did win the league last season with me at Wellington Phoenix finishing 2nd. Though this season I did think that I would be walking the league but as you read on it wasn’t the all so rosy. […]
How to choose the best player role for your number 10
Pure Number 10 players are the kind of species that we, football fans, love to admire. The number 10 position it is indissolubly linked with skills, vision, and creativity. They are the players people buy ticket for, the ones that can turn a match around. Kempes, Totti, Baggio, Zidane, Bergkamp…you don’t need to be their age […]
To Dare Is To Do #4
Tottenham Hotspur FC | To Dare Is To Do | #4 – Real Deal | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to a brand new series to the channel, Tottenham Hotspur To Dare Is To Do. In today’s episode we take a look our results so far and we travel to Spain to take on […]
Must be somewhere out of here (said the joker) 3.4
It’s starting to annoy me that we’re so isolated. I don’t mean socially isolated. I wondered whether, since Karen and I are neither Jewish nor Muslim, it would be hard to fit in. But in fact, that’s not proved a problem. Probably because so many people here are immigrants themselves or offspring (or grand-offspring) of […]
Blackpool look ahead to the new League One season
Blackpool will return to League One next season following their final day victory at home to Gillingham. On the back of their relegation into League Two the previous season they hired rookie coach Bruce Parker to take control and he went on to surpass expectations and bring home the title. After much speculation about him […]
Living Libero Loca
As manager of a national team I find myself with a lot of spare time between friendlies and tournaments. Sure, some of this time is filled up with attending league matches, meetings with the KNVB and filling Big Franks food trough, but it still leaves me twiddling my thumbs trying to find things to do. […]
The Kosovo Journey 2019 Pt. 2
July The usual July custom began of requesting a national report of every player eligible for Kosovo so that I could sift out the good newgens. 550 eligible players this time around. The latest World Rankings have us dropping back outside the Top 100 to 106th. The draw has been made for the European Qualifying […]
The Taste the Feeling Slack Q+A
If you are reading this and not already part of the FMSlack group then you are missing out on one of the best ways to be part of the football manager community. Slack has several advantages over Twitter in the way it is a real time conversation and it almost unlimited in its character count. […]
Tough life surrounded by pretty women in Wroclaw 3.3
What do you if you’re the board of a club, like Hapoel Ashkelon FC, that made a loss last year, equivalent to 20% of turnover? Develop some acumen? Look for savings? Put some energy into attracting sponsorship and selling hospitality? No, none of that. You organise a training camp in a foreign country (Poland, for […]
Welcome to Melbourne
Last time out I wrote about our heroics of finishing 2nd in the A-League which was something that I wouldn’t have imagined in my wildest of dreams. I knew that as I finished 2nd in the league with Wellington who were a side who were destined to perform poorly and finish bottom I would be […]
To Dare Is To Do #3
Tottenham Hotspur FC | To Dare Is To Do | #3 – Turkish Delight | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to a brand new series to the channel, Tottenham Hotspur To Dare Is To Do. In today’s episode we take a look our results so far, the new additions to the squad and we […]
In/Out Madness Article 5.0
Welcome back to Brexit Means Brexit with your host: Roy Walker! … Ok, not really, but it caught your attention, didn’t it? Last time, we looked at the second half of the season, and finished off just after Celtic had competed the treble by beating Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final. A lot has happened […]
A comprehensive review of AS Monaco’s Thomas Lemar
As with many of his AS Monaco teammates Thomas Lemar is hot property at the moment. The 21 year old French attacker has shone whether deployed centrally or on the left hand side for the team with perhaps the most deadly attack in Europe at the moment. Having made his first team debut at Caen […]
Reviewing strategy 3.2
After my first season in charge of Hapoel Ashkelon FC I decided that the strategy for club development would be ‘buy-low and retain’ (BLR). After a year, how has that strategy fared? Pretty-well, I think. We’ve had some notable success with players we’ve bought under that rubric. Examples include: Name Position Age now League apps […]
Episode 20 Part 1, The 23/24 Season for Silkeborg
Transfers: Alejandro Gines: The LB was bought as emergency cover for the clubs last season. Now’s the time where he’s called into use as we don’t really have many good options for LB, will most likely be a regular starter. Christopher Moloi: The first addition from the new scouting set-up. Whilst I have some doubts […]
Pedro Caixinha: The Diamond Rule Tactic
Pedro Caixinha was appointed Rangers boss last week and the Portuguese manager is already under pressure to produce winning performances to boost their hopes of European qualification this season. Even further scrutiny has been placed on Caixinha as he was hired under the cloud of Mark Warburtons sacking/resignation at the club last month and many […]
The top four prospects in the Ajax youth system
The fact that the youth academy at Ajax Amsterdam (Ajax) is named De Toekomst is indicative of the ethos that the club is build around. De Toekomst translates to English as The Future. Ajax have a reputation around the world as perhaps the premier developers of young talent, the list of players that have come […]
Proper Football Men: Come Hull Or High Water
This is the second FM17 experiment I have written for Tempo, if you’d like to see the other please click my author name FMAdventure above – here you will also find any other pieces I have written for Tempo and links to my social media pages. ======= Anyone who watches Gillette Soccer Saturday will be […]
Managing upwards as well as downwards 3.1
So here’s a good way to fill the gap between my second season in charge of Hapoel Ashkelon FC and the next – announce a loss. Not just a small loss, either: one that equates to about 20% of turnover. This, despite my efforts. I wrote, when the board set the budget for last year, […]
Dundee United March On 2.3
It’s episode 3 of the new season and the atmosphere at Tannadice could not be better. We’ve just beaten our city rivals Dundee 4-0, and in the final days of the transfer window signed Hibernian striker Jason Cummings after he won our second poll of the series. Now, we move onto a match against another […]
Nothing Compares 2 EU
Well, that’s it – the season is over. It’s time to put away your Paddy Power app for the summer (other betting companies are available), kiss the missus goodbye, and get ready for another “ladz” holiday in Ayia Napa. Don’t let the fact that you’re 34 year old project manager with a receding hairline ruin […]
Totally Rad
Zdravo and welcome to Belgrade, capital city of Serbia, where I have been appointed the new boss of FK Rad Beograd, Rad for short. Rad are one of the most successful clubs in Serbia but have been experiencing something of a dip in form in recent years, experiencing relegation twice since the start of the […]
The Islanders XXI
OSU! Calm yourself, this is not another standard update on how things are going. Oh no. Following a chat with the Tempo writers in our Slack channel last night, I have been doing some thinking which has led to me garbling my thoughts down on “paper”. I admitted to the guys that The Islanders was […]
Rising Through The Ranks
Welcome to a brand new FM17 save, where I shall be challenging myself to ‘rise through the ranks’ of the Holland national teams, this means that I will begin my career with the Dutch under nineteen’s and aiming to progress to the under twenty-one’s and finally end up with the senior squad. Zeist, the home […]
Rooney vs Lukaku
Romelu Lukaku broke Everton hearts this week when it was revealed that he currently has no desire to extend his stay at the Toffees despite having a contract that still has two years to run. As such the rumour mill began to grind out potential destinations for the Belgian striker – one such club was […]
How to Press in 3 different ways on FM17
Pressing has been a part of football for a long time now but especially in England it wasn’t a big topic of conversation before managers like Klopp, Pochettino or Guardiola arrived. I present you three ways you can go about creating a Pressing System in FM17. There are probably more options but I opted for […]
County Pressing
Guess what rhymes with ‘counter’ yah you heard it here first- ‘county’. So this started off in the #tempowriters channel of FM Slack and all the writers there were curious about how Klopp would fare at Notts County just because County sounded something like Counter so grab a coffee and read on. It’s amazing how […]
Finding Mandžukić, a Brief Guide to the Wide Target Man
The 2014 version of Football Manager was a little revolution in terms of possibilities offered for teams’ tactical set-up. Eight new roles were introduced. While FM users explored to the fullest the new horizons open by the False 9, the Shadow Striker or the Complete Wing-Back, very few dared to look into the opportunities offered […]
The Kosovo Journey 2019 Pt. 1
January The UEFA U21 Championship Qualifier Groups were drawn. We’ll expect to finish above Faroe Islands and possibly also push Finland for what we expect will be 4th place. The latest World Rankings have landed and we’ve dropped another place. February The latest World Rankings give no change for our position. March The latest Rankings […]
What would happen if all the top six had N’Golo Kante?
What if N’Golo Kante played for all Premier League teams in the top six? Heralded as the lynchpin in the heart of Chelsea’s midfield, N’Golo Kante has been at the forefront of the club’s resurgence. After a dismal campaign in 2015/16 that saw the Blues finish 10th in the Premier League, the Frenchman has proven […]
Beating Expectations
I know that I have been gushing through the seasons here at Wellington but that’s how I have been enjoying my football. Last time out I spoke about our good run in the league which did result in us finishing in 7th, this time it’s a much bigger achievement. Transfers The transfers this season weren’t as many […]
Making sense of data and players’ injury records
In a post (17 Jan 2017) on my Hapoel Ashkelon save I outlined my fitness policy. My thinking is that being at or near the bottom of the injury table makes it easier to finish at or near the top of the league table. I described one of my fitness principles as follows: ‘Avoid acquiring […]
Following Aitor Karanka’s sacking would Nigel Pearson, Guus Hiddink or Steve Agnew be the best Middlesbrough manager?
News broke this morning that Aitor Karanka had been relieved of his position as Middlesbrough’s head coach. Without a league win since December, Boro find themselves languishing 19th with 11 games left to play. Steve Agnew has temporarily been placed in charge, with himself, Nigel Pearson or Guus Hiddink being viewed as the bookies’ favourites […]
What Happened Brex’t…
… Ahem. Last time, we covered pre-season, our quest to qualify for the Champions League Group Stage, and our activity in the transfer market. A lot has happened since then, and this time I want to update you on how we have fared domestically and in Europe, and how the young British talent drafted into […]
The Islanders XX
OSU! Remember me? I’m that guy over on the Island. Yeah, Japan. That’s right. Been a while, hasn’t it? Last we spoke we had just finished our first season in the J1 and it had gone quite well. Then life got in the way, and “work”, if you can ever call dicking about writing about […]
End of second season 2.17
In my second season in charge of Hapoel Ashkelon FC, we finished in the same position (6th) as last season, with exactly the same number of points (number). Since the target set by the board was again to ‘fight bravely against relegation’, I guess that can be judged a success. But does it also mean […]
To Dare Is To Do #2
Tottenham Hotspur FC | To Dare Is To Do | #2 – Bridge Too Far ??? | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to a brand new series to the channel, Tottenham Hotspur To Dare Is To Do. In today’s episode we take a look our results so far, the new additions to the squad […]
Malcom
Welcome to the Player Profile of Malcom, who plays for Girondins de Bordeaux in France. Malcom is a young Brazilian winger which has the potential to be a quality player in the future. But what level will he actually reach? Will it be top level or will it be just below that? In this player review […]
Wellington Second Season Syndrome
Last time out it was the end of the first full season at Wellington Phoenix at here it will be about the second season at Wellington. As always it will be the same routine of transfers, competition reviews and a look at the squad. Transfers This season we did have a bit more money to […]
Magyar adventure 2.16
Each season, after each team has played each other twice, the Israeli Premier League divides into two. The top six compete in a mini-league to decide who qualifies for Europe. In my second season with Hapoel Ashkelon FC, as in the first season, we made the top six. And, again as last year, we then […]
A Kolnoscopy Challenge 5:2
A Kolnoscopy Challenge The Bundesliga Tale: Season 5: 2 Extract from the Managers diary: ‘A dark room with mahogany features, dim lighting and leather furniture could mean only one thing…therapy. At the age of thirty I’m contemplating my life, my work and my future. Expressing my doubts, my anxieties and my failings. ‘I left Scotland […]
The First Transfer Window
Brexit Means Brexit: Pre-Season & Champions League Qualifiers After an idealistic manager took charge of the best team in Scotland and vowed to adhere strictly to the rules of a hard Brexit, what happened next? In my last post, I introduced myself and gave you a brief overview of what I wanted to achieve. This […]
To Dare Is To Do #1
Tottenham Hotspur FC | To Dare Is To Do | #1 – Meet The Team | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to a brand new series to the channel, Tottenham Hotspur To Dare Is To Do. In today’s 1st episode we take a look at some of the players, fixtures, tactics and staff ahead […]
Venceremos 2.15
Interesting how writing a blog changes your perception. Having explained in recent posts that Hapoel Ashkelon FC are in a mini-league for European qualification but have no realistic chance of qualifying, I found myself writing that we had ‘nothing to lose’. Writing that brought the fact home to me. It made me think, apart from […]
Episode 19, FM’s biggest scouting network?
Now with the addition of Coca Cola Sunderland and having had a season to shape the back-room it’s time for an overhaul of our scouting system. Last season we relied on the scouting network we already had in place, but now it’s time to refine our scouting system. To start with we need to know […]
Beyond the Stats
The Irish & the Intangibles To follow me on social media, check out my profile at the end of this post and to see what else I have written click on my name. Football Manager is the most realistic simulation of football that we can immerse ourselves in. While FIFA is beginning to seem more […]
August, Season Two
Since I’ve arrived here in the Ukraine 13 months ago, I think I’ve settled in ok: my apartment now has running water, we’ve had some success on the field and the chairman and I usually see eye to eye. Since our start to the season has been excellent, I was looking forward to reading the […]