The Higher Tempo Press
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#FM17 | The Jamie Vardy Managerial Challenge | Part 2
Those that have read episode one of this series will know that I took over at Dover as my first management job in this rags to riches story. Although the club was 23rd in the league with no wins from their first 12 games, I saw potential. The club was predicted to finish 7th in […]
#FM17 | Hull City | A Tactical Crusade | Episode 2
It’s my second day in charge and I’m still here! To be honest I thought I was either going to freak out and resign the minute I saw the state of the player’s health, or the board was going to realise that they had brought in the wrong man and sack me, would still have […]
#FM17 | Player Profiles | Gianluigi Donnarumma
When it comes to top wonderkids to buy goalkeepers are rarely the first position that you think of. Well, Gianluigi Donnarumma may make you rethink your transfer plans. Italy has a very good track record of producing quality keepers but Gianluigi Donnarumma is already a top keeper. At just 17 years old he is number one […]
#community
I have not been around the #wearethecommunity for long, I honestly wasn’t sure that people wrote much about football manager. To find out that not only were a lot of people writing, but people actually read what you have written, it opened my eyes. I am new to writing about FM having only starting with […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.64 | Squad assessment: We happy few
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers” Henry V, Acy IV, Scene 3 Following what I heard was David Pleat’s habit – deciding, at the end of the season, which players should be classed as winners and which as losers – I look at the winners we’re left with (we’ve already shipped […]
#FM17 | International Management | The Kosovo Journey | 2016
You’ve hopefully read my introductory post by now so without any further blagging or bluffing let’s catch up with International Manager’s diary… July I’m welcomed to the Kosovo National set up. The FA break the news to me that they don’t expect me to get beyond the qualifying stages for the World Cup 2018. I […]
#FM17 | A Kolnoscopy Challenge
A Kolnoscopy Challenge The Bundesliga Tale: Season 4: Intro Extract from the Managers diary: ‘Garry? You there mate? Hellooooo. This is the fifth message I’ve left now, Gazza. Where are you? Gaz? Gaz. GAZ!!!’ Bright blue skies stretched as far as the eye could see. The sun blazed overhead with an intensity of heat […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.63 | Hi ho silver lining
I once heard David Pleat say that, when he was manager of Luton Town, he would go through a list of his squad at the end of the season and divide them into winners and losers. As the play-offs ground on, I found I could make that decision with increasing ease. Playing a sequence of […]
Sheffield United | Blades of Glory #18 | Bood In Da Hudd | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017
Sheffield United | Blades of Glory #18 | Bood In Da Hudd | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017 Welcome to Episode 18 of my Sheffield United FM17 Save. Today we take on Huddersfield Town who are currently top of the Championship. Can we reverse our poor current run of form? Join me as we continue […]
#FM17 | Back in the USSR | Part Ten
When I arrived in the Ukraine back in June, there were a number of things I never thought would happen. At the top of that list was falling in love with a Ukranian winger, but perhaps an even more surprising event is agreeing to extend my stay for another 12 months. There’s no time to […]
#FM17 | Player Profiles | Johannes Eggestein
Welcome to the Player Profile of striker Johannes Eggestein Johannes Eggestein is a young striker who plays in Germany for Werder Bremen. At the start of the game he is tipped to become a world class talent but is this expectation justified? In this video we follow him over the course of a few years to […]
#FM17 | Hull City | A Tactical Crusade | Episode 1
As a new and undeveloped (another word for crap) manager I tend to find myself bowing to the whim of the tactical genius that is my assistant manager, sticking the players I have in a formation they are adamant will win us games, of course, this ultimately fails and I find myself down the job […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.62 | All Mike Ashleys now
Here’s an idea that I find interesting but my sons find ridiculously boring. Staff holidays. On FM managers can take holidays but other staff can’t. ‘Yes, I know you were looking forward to spending the half-term break with the family, but I need a back-up right back and I have a hunch that Albania’s the […]
Sheffield United | Blades of Glory #17 | Steel City Derby | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017
Welcome to Episode 17 of my Sheffield United FM17 Save. Today we take on arch rivals Sheffield Wednesday in the Steel City Derby! Can we collect the 3 points and grab those all important bragging rights? Join me as we continue our adventure on Football Manager 2017 Hit the LIKE button for more Football Manager […]
#FM17 | The Celtic Way | 2017/18 Part 1
Transfers First in was my two pre-contract signings. Lovre Kalinic who looks good enough to be my long-term number one battling it out with Craig Gordon the next couple of years. Young Matt Knox joined from Livingston and was sent to Morton for the season to continue his first team development. David Henen cost us […]
#FM17 | The Ultimate Journey | Welcome To Ajax CT
After a break of 4-5 days I’m back to bring you The Ultimate Journey. If you did read last blog post then you would be aware that we were offered by two clubs-Wits and Ajax CT. Well most of you would have recognised which one we did finally end up at. Club History Well for starters the […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.61 | Ending up in smoke
I’ve been using a rare day-to-myself at the start of the close season to devise a development strategy for Hapoel Ashkelon FC. I established this morning that neither a youth development strategy (YDS) nor a buy-low-sell-high (BL,SH) strategy would work. But here’s an idea. How about a synthesis, combining what’s best from each strategy? I […]
#FM17 | Taste The Feeling Episode 17 | England here we come..
According to our current 5 year plan it’s now time to add a club in England. We’ve successfully implemented our footballing network so far, and this is the next and most important step for our plan for world domination of the footballing world, so it’s vitally important we get this right. Therefore the choice of […]
#FM17 | Forward Asia S3-2 | Confederation of Dunces
As players from around Indonesia continued to relax on the beaches in their off-season break, the poor souls at Sriwijaya continued what was effectively their pre-season as the Asian Confederations Cup rolled around. First in line was a trip to Hong Kong to face South China. Your humble correspondent confesses to only knowing of this […]
#FM17 | The Islanders XVII
OSU! So, who’s excited about the start of the J1 season then? I bloody well am, this is looking very promising indeed. Those of you just catching up, we finished second in J2 last season which meant automatic promotion. Considering the bookies were tipping us for relegation, it was quite the achievement. The #ArgSt17.2 played […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.60 | Beyond youth development
So the question I’ve been asking myself, now that my first season at Hapoel Ashkelon FC has come to a close, is: what’s my strategy for developing the club? I’ve devoted today, which I’m spending alone, to figuring out the answer. I spent the morning specifying the reasons why I didn’t want to pursue a […]
#FM17 | Back in the USSR | Part Nine
Four months on your own in the Ukraine, in winter, is exactly how it sounds: long, cold and, because Yuriy went off on holiday, lonely. I kept my self sane by painting a red hand onto a spare football and talking to it but, when Mitre stopped replying, I decided to have a proper look […]
#FM17 | FM Sessions | 3 – Derby Day, Strange Results and Transfer Decisions
Well well well, here we are again and ready for the third instalment of my Dundee United career. And we may only be approaching the end of August, but with games coming thick and fast we’ve got a lot to catch up on. This time last week, we were preparing for our crucial Betfred Cup […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #S02E02 | Record Signing
Pre-season has ended and many new faces have arrived at Anfield. Our summer revamp is well underway as we look to mount another challenge for the Premier League title after coming so close last year. The board have backed us financially which can fuel our quest for glory. Our pre-season preparations are over, and it’s […]
#FM17 | 15 Scottish players you MUST sign!
I’m not an expert at many things. When it comes to Football Manager though, I like to think that I know Scottish football. I’m from here, I live here, and I’d much rather watch or go to a Scottish football match than have to view one from our TV money laden neighbours down south. However, for […]
#FM17 | The Jamie Vardy Managerial Challenge
I’ve always liked a challenge. I don’t know why, but it’s always been there for me. Maybe it has something to do with being a Newcastle fan, from down south. I like to prove people wrong, but ultimately fail. My normal FM saves start with me joining a team in the lower leagues and then […]
#FM17 | Five things I do before every pre-season
Hello everyone, I put together five things I do before every pre-season in all my saves in Football Manager for a couple of years. We all love to buy and develop players, hire new staff members, make our tactics better, build a new stadium, win the league and cup trophies. I’m the same. But there are […]
#FM17 | The Islanders XVI
The final whistle went at the FC Ryukyu Stadium and the full house went crazy. The players from the island side gathered from the reaction from the stands that they were promoted, but were they promoted as champions or merely runners up? Of course, there was no such thing as merely runners up when it […]
CLASSIC CHAMPIONSHIP MANAGER | Save Our Dons | EP2 | August ’01
In 2004, Wimbledon FC became Milton Keynes Dons after relocation in 2003. This relocation was announced by the Don’s board in August 2001. I must travel back in an alternate reality and stop this from happening. If you missed the first instalment of ‘Save Our Dons’ please catch up here: We didn’t learn much in […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.59 | A little Scandinavian jazz
Last weekend Karen went to a concert in Tel-Aviv. It meant I had a day to myself. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I bought in supplies: Lebanese coffee; A3 paper, which I find good for planning purposes; and a Nicaraguan cigars to smoke on the balcony. I don’t often smoke, […]
#FM17 | International Management | The Kosovo Journey
I’ve been playing Football Manager since the big FM/CM split, prior to that I had brief stints as ‘assistant’ to my brother or being placated by being allowed to manage any one of a number of very low rated English Division Three sides. One thing I have never been able to get into is management […]
#FM17 | Back in the USSR | Part Eight
Things haven’t been going well. We’re frustratingly inconsistent and it’s beginning to become annoying. Things have got to change and fast. We’re up against Ternopil next, they’re in 16th place and have only won twice all season. I think we can all see where this one is heading… We’re away from home, so I stick […]
Sheffield United | Blades of Glory #16 | Jose comes to Town | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017
Welcome to Episode 16 of my Sheffield United FM17 save. Today we take on Manchester United in the 3rd Round of the EFL Cup! Can we get the better of one of the greatest teams in history? Join me as we continue our adventure on Football Manager 2017 Hit the LIKE button for more Football […]
#FM17 | Player Profiles | Niklas Süle
Welcome to the Player Profile of Niklas Süle. Niklas is a very promising young defender who plays in the Bundesliga. He already has impressive technical abilities and incredible physical stats, but how much can he improve? Is he worth the massive fee that he commands? In this profile we take a look to help give you guidance […]
#FM17 | Valencia | The Fallen Bat Rises
Valencia CF are one of the most successful teams in Spanish Football. They have won multiple Spanish League, Cup and European titles in their history including a fantastic spell between 1999-2004 where they also reached two Champions League finals along with two La Liga titles, a Copa Del Rey title & a UEFA Cup. Unfortunately, […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.58 | Attack! Attack! Attack, attack, attack!
[I have selected a soundtrack (‘All out attack’) to be played whilst reading this post] The play-offs for European places didn’t go so well for Hapoel Ashkelon FC. Of the six teams in the mini-league, we finished sixth, winning only one game. It’s rather tarnished the season: I wish the league could have come to […]
#FM17 | The Ultimate Journey | Sacked?
Let’s have a recap of the last post, we attended a board meeting with our club owner John Comitis over our future at the club. I was swift in making his intentions clear he demanded 8 points from the 15 available. So What Happened? Game 1 VS Polokwane FC 3 points in the bag is […]
#FM17 | The Alphabet Challenge | C | Job seeking | Day 1133
Having spent the entire season in hiding from the psychotic chairman of Jorge Wilstermann, Julio Cusicanqui, he decides to go back to England and try to get a 9 to 5 job at some small financial firm. He’s been applying for jobs all over the world by to no avail; he has not managed a […]
#FM17 | Player Profiles | Lincoln
Welcome to the Player Profile of Lincoln. Brazil has a long track record of producing top quality, exciting young players and Lincoln is the next to emerge. But can he reach the levels or Ronaldinho and Neymar that have gone before him? Or will he get lost in the rain forest of Brazilian football? In […]
#FM17 | Forward Asia S1-3 | Champions League “Glory”
Furious at my decision to jump ship and abandon Celebest for title winning Sriwijaya, my laptop packed in and refused to let me have my way. It thought it could stop me, but you can’t stop this train! It’s back, and I’m back, and South Sumatra has an average manager amongst its ranks now. I […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.57 | Anthem for doomed youth intake
What candles may be held to speed them all? Not in the hands of boys but in their eyes Shall shine the holy glimmers of goodbyes (From ‘Anthem for doomed youth’ by Wilfred Owen) Early March brings a new intake of youth candidates to Hapoel Ashkelon. The Head of Youth Development (HYD), Avi Nimni, […]
#FM17 | The Alphabet Challenge | B | Jorge Wilstermann Day 717
It is the end of the season. Jorge Wilstermann have absolutely stormed away with the LFPB Close title, and with it, have won the overall league. Their ascent from when 7th at the end of the Opening Stage has been nothing short of remarkable. However, Iyer’s relationship with Cusicanqui has been rocky for a while. […]
#FM17 | The Ultimate Journey | #AgarwalOut Already?
What are the #AgarwalOut banners already out at the Cape Town Stadium? How come he’s on the verge of getting sacked so early? Performances Well I will be quite blunt and say that my time here at Cape Town hasn’t been the greatest and I will be hoping that we are able to turn the […]
Sheffield United | Blades of Glory #15 | Tricky Trees | Let’s Play Football Manager 2017
Welcome to Episode 15 of my Sheffield United FM17 Save, today we take on Nottingham Forest in 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 watching my content, […]
#FM17 | FM Sessions | Welcome to Dundee United
Here we go – welcome to Dundee United Football Club. In a very tightly contested poll, Dundee United pipped AC Milan by a single vote to become the lucky team opening their doors to our first foray into management. It might not be France or Italy, but Dundee is Scotland’s sunniest city, so I make […]
#FM17 | Hapoel Hope 1.56 | Sweeperless
I’ve made a bold decision. One that anyone who has followed my career (in the parallel universes of FM14-16) will find hard to believe. I’ve decided to abandon my much-cherished sweeper formation. That’s a bit like Pulis announcing that, for West Brom, it’s tika-taka from now on. Or Keegan deciding to focus on defence. It’s […]
#FM17 | Hartlepool United | The Triumph of the Pass 1.3
No messing, I’m going to dive straight in. First thing to say, excitingly, is that Hartlepool now have a senior affiliate. And it’s only bloody Manchester City! The deal is that I can loan their players without paying their wages, that there will be a pre-season friendly each year, and they’re giving me £70,000 per […]
#FM17 | Taste The Feeling Episode 16 Part 3 | Antwerp
Transfers: Before I get into the incoming players, I’ll first tell you about the enormous amount of out-going players. Despite under-achieving last season our players were hot property with Joshua Onomah moving to Swansea for £6.25m (and a 20% sell on clause). Richairo Zivkovic kicked up a stink about leaving and I couldn’t get rid […]
#FM17 | Liverpool #S02E01 | Transfer Special
The new season is upon us. After a short holiday, I am back at my beloved Liverpool preparing to mount another challenge for the Premier League title. Last season, we came so close only to fall at the penultimate hurdle which gave Arsenal their 14th league crown but secured second place in the standings and […]
#FM17 | The Last King of Scotland 3:3
The Last King of Scotland A Hibernian Tale: Part 3:3 Extract from the Managers diary: ‘Garry, I’ve got some bad news for you, mate.’ ‘What’s that boss?’ ‘I’m going to leave in the summer.’ Silence. ‘Resign, Garry. I’m quitting and leaving. As of now.’ Garry jumps up and starts dancing. From nowhere he pulls out […]