The Higher Tempo Press
Latest Posts
Earning Our Stripes Teil 12: Es war eine hart umkämpfte Schlacht.
Guten tag! Welcome back to Dirk van Oortveld’s quest to survive in the Bundesliga with MSV Duisburg and get them into the upper echelons of European football teams! If you want to catch up on what’s happened previously, check out this link here. Folks, it’s been a hard fought battle to make it to the end, […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 11: Junges Blut
Guten tag! Welcome back to Dirk van Oortveld’s quest to survive in the Bundesliga with MSV Duisburg and get them into the upper echelons of European football teams! If you want to catch up on what’s happened previously, check out this link here. Today’s date is March 6, 2019, which means it’s time for my favorite […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 13: Vorbereitung auf die zweite Staffel
Guten tag! Welcome back to Dirk van Oortveld’s quest to survive in the Bundesliga with MSV Duisburg and get them into the upper echelons of European football teams! If you want to catch up on what’s happened previously, check out this link here. The 2019/20 preseason has been wrapped up, and we’ve got a bit of […]
Letou Decide: Swansea City vs. Chelsea Preview
Tonight Swansea City host Antonio Conte’s Chelsea and the initial signs as I look at a preview are not good. I don’t like teams that have lost their last game, unless they’re on some sort of long bad run (as Manchester City were). An emotive sort like Conte will demand a response and that’s never […]
Urwin’s Unemployment Challenge | Chapter 7
Welcome back to chapter seven of English manager Nicholas Urwin’s unemployment challenge. He is pursuing his third season in Malaysia and we pick up at February 2020 in which Urwin is managing newly-promoted side Negeri Sembilan in the first tier. A high intensity pre-season full of fixtures every few days saw the new members of […]
Letou Decide: Swansea City vs. Chelsea Match Review
Well, that didn’t quite go to plan, did it? I dismissed the Chelsea game out of hand, we’d be lucky to get a beating of less than three goals with Hazard, Morata and Fabregas on the prowl and that would at least protect our goal difference. What I didn’t expect was Chelsea to be completely […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 20th April
It’s a big one this weekend, on Saturday afternoon we travel to Wembley to face Gerardo Martino’s Everton side. I want the FA Cup. More than that, I think we’re in with a hell of a shout of winning it! The teams left in are ourselves, Everton, Stoke City and Crystal Palace. None of the […]
Rangers’ Ojaria tops the list of hot prospects to look out for in the SPL in 2018/19 according to Football Manager
Football Manager is such a phenomenon in the football industry that even current managers of professional clubs use the scouting database to hunt for talent across countries and even continents. Sam Allardyce is famous for his support of statistics and in the past has revealed he used FM’s database to build initial data on a […]
Brexit Bournemouth Part 22
There’s a few points of interest to take care of before we get down to the analysis and transfer portions of the summer of 2020. The first thing of note is that Steve Cook is the only one of my players to make it into the Premier League Team of the Year. Seems a little […]
Scouting at the World Cup
The World Cup is an incredible month for many reasons. First of all, it is four-and-a-half weeks dedicated to the beautiful game. It is the only time in your life when you will be salivating over your morning cornflakes at the prospect of Morocco taking on Iran only a few hours later. There is also […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 17th April
We take on Chelsea tomorrow night so that means that the press are back. The real story is that I’m planning to field a complete reserve side to preserve our fitness for Everton at the weekend but I’m not going to say that out loud. Before we do a grip and grin, there is news […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 28: World Cup Prep & Squad Selection
This came around very, very quickly. It seemed like only yesterday that I finished my campaign with Atlanta United, suffering heartbreak in my final match as my dominance came to a close with defeat in the MLS Cup final. Time has probably gone quickly due to the fact I took a three-month holiday in game […]
Parità dei sessi 7: Mathletes into battle
There’s a fist-sized hole in the door to the Torres dressing room. Inside, goalkeeping coach Virgilio Cottu (personality: temperamental) was fuming. Nine goals conceded in three games. Not counting that crazy 4-3 loss against Matara, that’s as much as the rest of the season combined. New to the series? Click here for the prologue and […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 10: Die Dinge könnten besser laufen…
Guten tag! Welcome back to Dirk van Oortveld’s quest to survive in the Bundesliga with MSV Duisburg and get them into the upper echelons of European football! If you want to catch up on what’s happened previously, check out this link here. I was trying to come up with an interesting way to sum up the […]
Letou Decide: Swansea City vs. Tottenham Hotspur Match Review
Ladies, gentlemen, boys, girls, children of all ages, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Charlie Tango and I am the greatest Football Manager of all time. That might be hyperbole but the sentiment stands, having just governed a Swansea City victory over Tottenham Hotspur. After the game the press were quick to […]
Inept International Manager: Ep.13
Not talking, this matters. Wait, I can’t do that. Very quickly here’s a FIFA World Cup update. After Australia beat Italy and the last embers of my nerves were frayed, Spain drew their game with Uruguay with a Desmond. Denmark are off the mark in our group with a 1 – 0 win over Ghana […]
Urwin’s Unemployment Challenge | Chapter 3
Welcome back to chapter three of English manager Nicholas Urwin’s unemployment challenge. He continues his journey in Malaysia and we pick up at July 2018 in which Urwin is managing second-tier side Negeri Sembilan who are currently in 8th and underperforming. After a 5-2 defeat in his first game in charge, Urwin is looking to […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 29: Bumper World Cup Special & Series Finale
Here we are then, the World Cup. It’s 2022 and, like most Football Manager saves, the tournament has been moved away from Qatar. In this save, we instead head off down under to Australia. Our first group match is against Gabon, ranked 42nd in the world, before a tight clash against Serbia- ranked one place […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter Thirteen: Four Games To Go
Quite eerie this is. Chapter thirteen being released the day after Friday the 13th. Surely I couldn’t have planned it to happen like this, could I? I’ll let you be the judge of that. Jokes aside, it would’ve been written up sooner but I’ve only just about finished celebrating Neves’ goal against Derby in real […]
Chronicles of a Chancer: Part 11 A Year in Review
Bronze-Wig We Made a Mountain out of a Mole Hill: The Review So, I want to explain in a bit more depth the quality of the squad and how I’ve built a team of back-to-back title winners and how we competed with other top teams from around the world. Money: When I first joined Braunschweig […]
Letou Decide: Swansea City vs. Tottenham Hotspur Preview
Colour me shocked, last night I attended Leicester City vs. Huddersfield Town and it was a brilliant game! Leicester have not sat back on their laurels having had a bad start to their season, they’ve splashed some serious cash on Luis Alberto from Lazio, Marouane Fellaini from Manchester United, Joshua Brenet from PSV, Ricardo Esgaio […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 9: Der Beginn der Bundesliga-Saison
Guten tag! Welcome back to Dirk van Oortveld’s quest to survive in the Bundesliga with MSV Duisburg and get them into the upper echelons of European football teams! If you want to catch up on what’s happened previously, check out this link here. In the previous update, we made it through the preseason ahead of our […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 13th April
Before we begin, there is some good news I’d like to share. Swansea’s Under 23’s played a friendly last night against MK Dons Under 23’s and while they lost (it was only a friendly), Wayne Routledge continued his encouraging return from injury by playing the first half. Meanwhile, the Under 18’s were in action away […]
Episode 131 – Pep and his half-time team talks
Chris of ronniedog.media (@tenpotatoesfm) and James Jones of footballfancast.com (@jamesjonesfm) talk about what happens at halftime on FM18. With Pep leading twice in the last week, there is no doubt that he told City “not to be complacent” rather than aggressively reminding them that “they must do better”. As ever, there are a few ‘tips’ […]
Cherry Picking – Episode Ten: the Real Madrid clash
Before kicking off our new season, I thought I would take a look at our fixture list, to see some of our upcoming contests could could decide whether any form of European challenge would be possible once again. It was extremely sobering, but in a very good way, to see fixtures against the likes of […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 12th April
For today’s Swansea City update in partnership with shirt-sponsor Letou Sports, I’ve taken a walk over to look at the Under 23’s. The manager of our development squad is Cameron Toshack and the truth is, he’s not doing a brilliant job. I know that sounds harsh coming from somebody who will probably oversee an FA […]
Farewell to Pittodrie #4 Time to go Again
With third place in the bag in a solid but unspectacular first season, could we match that feat again whilst losing the expiring loan deals of three first-team players? As always, see snippets and teasers on my Twitter account – @FM_Henke. If you want to catch up on the series then head over here! Youth […]
Wonderkids; Virtual vs Reality: Class of 2007
A New System When Football Manager 2007 was released in November of 2006, it brought with it sweeping gameplay changes. Pre-Match Team talks, no more re-gens with recycled stats from the greats, a new youth training system that would allow the development of your own wonderkids, and scouting had been completely overhauled too. Record sales […]
Canary Corner – Part 20
The middle part of any season is often the most crucial. It can really determine how a season is going to pan out and decide how likely it is there will be trophies or whatever success you crave at the end of it. In this update, I came very close to doing something I haven’t […]
Making Blackburn Great Again – Episode #7
There’s no feeling quite like that of the opening day of the Premier League. Across the nation, there be optimism and enthusiasm running rife through the streets as football fans make their way to see their beloved teams. And this remains true for the start of the 2019/20 Premier League season, where newcomers Blackburn Rovers […]
Letou Decide: Àngel Rangel
Today may be a sad day in South Wales, as I announce that at the end of the season, Àngel Rangel will move onto pastures new in the form of Major League Soccer and LA Galaxy. Rangel has been with Swansea City practically as long as I can remember, in fact, it’s eleven seasons now […]
Tempo 10: Move aside Tony Pulis
Pulis-Ball is dead. Long live Mike-Ball. Mike and Samo return this week to discuss anti-voetbal. Mike discusses his favourite footballing vintage (Stoke 2010) and how he intends on improving Dutch football with this as his base. Follow Mike (@ accordingtoFM) and Samo (@ FMSamo) on Twitter to follow their own Football Manager saves. For more […]
One Vision Part VIII: It’s the hope that kills you
The Premiership. The 90s. Real football. Class kits. Liverpool fans who can still remember when they last won the title. David Beckham only sponsored by Brylcream and yet to meet Posh Spice. Liam and Noel still talking to each other. And, of course, West Ham United at the Boleyn. Enjoy! * Wanna see the league […]
CM01/02: Canary Corner – Part 19
After the narrow failure that was the end of season 6 (part 18 for those keeping score) I couldn’t leave it there. Of course, there’ll be a season 7. There’s life in these Canaries yet. Unfortunately there is more than life in most of our rivals – in fact, there are millions of pounds and […]
Letou Decide: League Table Update
In the press conference after the win over Bournemouth, I was very disappointed. All the questions were about individuals, be it goalscorers Tammy Abraham and Jordan Ayew, or Àngel Rangel. The question about Rangel, I’ll cover in tomorrow’s offering of the Letou Decide project. I was disappointed because the league position, earned by the whole […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 27: America’s 2022 World Cup draw
As I start this piece, I haven’t actually finished with Atlanta United but the World Cup 2022 group stage draw is the perfect place to introduce the final part of my journey across the pond. It’s fair to say I’ve dominated domestic football in the United States over the course of my five years in Atlanta, whilst […]
What to do after an unexpected promotion?
It’s an exciting time during those all-or-nothing matches leading up to securing promotion. When that final whistle blows and the pandemonium brakes lose in the stands, it tempting to lean back, kick your feet up and enjoy a cool drink and break after a long campaign. After all, nobody was counting on you to do so […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 8: Vorbereitung auf die Bundesliga
Guten tag! Welcome back to Dirk van Oortveld’s quest to take MSV Duisburg into the Bundesliga and get into the upper echelons of European football teams! If you want to catch up on what’s happened previously, check out this link here. In the previous update, we witnessed MSV Duisburg’s successful push through the promotion playoffs to […]
Letou Decide: Bournemouth vs. Swansea City Match Review
Thank you to all who joined us on Saturday afternoon over on @TheHigherTempo as our friends at Ronnie Dog Media provided live coverage of Swansea’s awesome 2-0 victory over Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth. For the first time since taking over as Swansea City manager, FA Cup games against lower league opposition aside, I felt we bossed […]
Inept International Manager: Ep. 12
Click here to find previous episodes of the Inept International Manager Today marks Australia’s first game in the World Cup against Italy and there’s no other way of saying this, as I write this and my cursor hangs precariously over the pause button… we’re winning. There are just three minutes of added time left and […]
Farewell to Pittodrie #5 Trouble in Pittodrie
With a solid pre-season completed, we enter the season full of optimism. It would be hard to maintain standards with a weaker squad but were we up to it? As always, see snippets and teasers on my Twitter account – @FM_Henke. Tartan Army on Tour Our run was ended 4-0 away at Trabzonspor. Rangers beat […]
Urwin’s Unemployment Challenge | Chapter 2
Welcome to the second chapter of the career of young English manager Nicholas Urwin. January 2018 is where we continue the journey and Urwin is finding it difficult to put a run of results together with Virton currently sat in 5th position. Urwin has picked up the French language to a basic understanding and has […]
Tempo10 Questions With… TN_TheNorthman
Tempo10 questions return this week with Paul. Paul, otherwise known as The Northman, is a well-known member of the FM community and comes on to join Mike and Samo in a much-anticipated podcast Mike and Samo interview Paul with topics surrounding youtube, twitch and much, much more. We also want to hear from you so […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter Twelve: Premier Bound
Bloody hell. I’ve just about recovered from that Wolves game last night. I mean, what are the chances? One penalty fair enough, but two? Christ almighty, my heart was working triple time. To be fair, they were both penalties so there were no gripes surrounding that, it was just an incredible game. I won’t go […]
Chronicles of a Chancer: Part 10 Swimming in Silverware?
Bronze-Wig Making a Mountain out of a Mole Hill: Part 10 ‘And Braunschweig will play…’ The same baldy-headed bastard who’d drawn the Champions League Group stages fumbled his hand around the bowl for the first round of the knockout stage. After being drawn into the group of death I made sure to be present during […]
Letou Decide: AFC Bournemouth vs. Swansea City Preview
Later today my Swansea team face Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth and I’m tense, as I always am at this time before a game. There’s a lot to play for, most notably ninth place in the Premier League and three points closer to safety from any lingering relegation fears. AFC Bournemouth are a strong team under Eddie […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 7: Wir werden befördert!
Guten tag! Welcome back to Dirk van Oortveld’s quest to take MSV Duisburg into the Bundesliga and get into the upper echelons of European football teams! If you want to catch up on what’s happened previously, check out this link here. Readers, I come to you with some fantastic news to share! It’s been a long […]
Tactics Tested: Liverpool
Frustratingly Good If your FM team was playing like Liverpool are this season, you would be infuriated. They have undoubtedly got the second best attacking output in the league behind the superlative Man City, they have shored up the defence exceptionally and even the goalkeepers are in form. This is the best Liverpool side since […]
Urwin’s Unemployment Challenge | Chapter 6
Welcome back to chapter four of English manager Nicholas Urwin’s unemployment challenge. He is pursuing his third season in Malaysia and we pick up at February 2020 in which Urwin is managing newly-promoted side Negeri Sembilan in the first tier. A high intensity pre-season full of fixtures every few days saw the new members of […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 6th April
We begin this edition of the #LetouDecide project with some upsetting news. It seems our ‘friends’, and I use that term loosely, at Goal.com believe that Swansea City are still part of the relegation scrap. How dare they! Have they not seen what I’ve done in Wales? I’ve saved this team from nineteenth place when […]