The Higher Tempo Press
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5 Things to do to Never Sign Another Flop
Signing a new player is exciting. The endless possibilities, the promise of more, the allure of positive impacts. It’s a tricky business though. It could make or break your season or your save. What if they’re a flop? What if they’re a failure? What if they can’t do it in the big games? We’ve all […]
The Deep Lying Podcast Episode 130: Getting Retro with CM9798
Chris (@tenpotatoesfm) is joined as ever by James Jones (@jamesjonesfm) and special guest David Black (@cm9798). The guys chat retro Championship Manager and CM9798 (obviously). Dave tells us about his upcoming CM9798 World Cup. And, don’t worry, we have more FM Tips and a community roundup! The Deep Lying Podcast is a Ronnie Dog Media […]
One Vision Part VII: Something is bubbling
1995. West Ham United at a proper football ground. London didn’t even know they had the Olympics in 2012. Ilie Dumitrescu carrying a permanent calf strain. Iain Dowie being sold for £10m. What, wait? Oh, it’s an alternative reality and you can catch up on what’s been going on here. * We must be in […]
Cherry Picking – Episode Nine: The season after…
Well, then. Where do we go from here? Firstly, welcome back to Cherry Picking! It’s worth mentioning once again that the original aim for this save was to keep AFC Bournemouth in the Premier League, before gradually strengthening the side every year. As it turns out, not only did we comfortably retain our position in […]
Urwin’s Unemployment Challenge | Chapter 1
Welcome to the first chapter of the career of young English manager Nicholas Urwin. June 2017 is where we begin and Urwin is set to send his CV application around the world in the hopes of hearing back from football clubs in the need of a new head coach. The chances of securing a job […]
Letou Decide: World Update
Yesterday we looked at the most competitive league in the world, the English Championship, and what has been happening in the Letou world. Today we’ll take more of a wider glance at what is happening across Europe because plenty is happening and this is the time of the season when everybody’s experience is different. There […]
Farewell to Pittodrie #3 One Down
I finished the last update at the end of December with us sitting 2 points ahead of Hearts in third place but starting to lose real ground to the Old Firm teams. Could we hold off the chasing pack to claim third and a European place? As always, see snippets and teasers on my Twitter […]
Wonderkids: Virtual vs Reality, Class of 2006
A New Year, Some New Faces The one thing most FM fans will notice throughout the years (if you’re one of those that buy it every year) is how little the database of players actually changes. Sure the skin might be different and there are almost always gameplay improvements. However, by and large, the players […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter Eleven: It’s A Funny Old Game
It’s football cliche central around here at the moment. Football is a funny old game. Last time out, you’ll recall Nuno’s Wolves seeing off Middlesbrough with nine men whereas even with four up top, we struggled. Now, the next proposition, the one we are going to run through in this chapter, is meant to be […]
Making Blackburn Great Again – Episode #6
We made it. After astonishing back-to-back promotions, me and my plucky Blackburn team had returned to the Premier League after a seven-year absence. At first, I thought we’d be looking at a mid-table finish in our first season back in the Championship, but foolish I was for having any doubt in my team. I had […]
Letou Decide: Championship Update
Following the draw against Everton, the players are back in to do some preparation for taking on Bournemouth this weekend. I don’t like to do much with them the day after a game, Nigel Gibbs just leads an extended warm down, but after that, we hit the ground running. We haven’t scored enough from set […]
Tempo 10 – Trait Expectations
Mike and Samo return to their hotseats for this week’s podcast. Tempo10’s dynamic duo have gone away and done their homework, so we’re hoping they’ve done enough to score that A* grade, a 10.0 pod rating or an elusive 50 from Grass’n’Gear. The boys look at player preferred moves this week, which ones are their […]
One Vision Part VI: People have “Yeboah” on their shirts
It’s 1995. The Premier League is called the Premiership. Fans have names like “Cantona”, “Fowler”, “Yeboah” and, well, “Dowie” on the backs of their shirts, shirts that are still made by the likes of Umbro, Pony and, believe it or not, Admiral. Tony Blair isn’t in office yet (I don’t think, I might be wrong) […]
Canary Corner – Part 18
Greetings and welcome to the final update of season 6. Managing Norwich on CM01/02 has been a rollercoaster of emotions, usually around looking at our ever-fluctuating bank balance. I’ve never known a club lose so much money on a day to day basis. Anyway, the board have agreed to let me expand the stadium, that […]
Letou Decide: Everton vs Swansea City Match Review
Regular readers of the Letou Decide project will know that I rarely get angry and lose my temper. Suffice to say, immediately following the Everton game last night I was as angry as I’ve ever been in football management. I daresay, a Neil Warnock rant had nothing on me. If you’ve never seen his rant […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 26: Our Last PlayOffs
Here we are again, the playoff stage of MLS and my Atlanta United side is aiming to lift the MLS Cup for the third year in a row. However, what they don’t know is that I’m set to quit in the close-season. I’m bringing the series to an end by leading the United States at […]
Parità dei sessi 5: Delivering the unthinkable
If I have one rule in life, it’s that I refuse to lose a derby match against a club called Sweet Milk. That’s right, it turns out we’re not the only team in Sassari. But I’ll get to that in a moment. There were heated discussions about our chances this year. Of course there were. […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 6: Die Jugendlichen
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. If you speak German, you’re already aware of what this update is about. We’re taking […]
Letou Decide: Everton vs. Swansea City Preview
Lots to get through today before we head to Goodison Park later today for an 8pm kick-off. The Premier League results saw Arsenal defeat Manchester United at the Emirates, a young man by the name of Alexis Sánchez scoring a goal in the 95th minute after Luke Shaw was sent off on the hour for […]
Inept International Manager: Ep. 11
Click here to find previous episodes of the Inept International Manager These days there are not many things keeping me awake at night but the plight of Louis Henrik is certainly one of them and I write this as he is stood in the background doing that annoying dance that managers do. What is that? […]
Urwin’s Unemployment Challenge | An Introduction
The Manager: Nicholas Urwin. Nicholas – ‘a conqueror of the nation’. Urwin – ‘the sea’. The Englishman is young, hungry and determined to make it to the top of the football management pyramid. However, he is looking to start his challenging and ambitious career outside the U.K. to coincide his adventurous personality and desire to […]
The Deep Lying Podcast Episode 129: The Injury Crisis!
This week @tenpotatoesFM (Chris Darwen) managed to hit that record button meaning he is definitely joined by @jamesjonesfm (James Jones of footballfancast.com). This week’s topic is injuries and what to do to when you are in the middle of a crisis and how you can avoid ending up in a crisis. Prevention is better than […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter Ten: Teesside Hoodoo Strikes Again
You could say the heat is now on. You could say the temperature has suitably risen. Before the game on Teesside, there were only six points between Nuno and I with eight games left. If he slipped up and I won, it would’ve made it nine and I’ll be damned if I lose three of […]
Chronicles of a Chancer: Part 9 Fresh Season, Same Success?
Bronze-Wig Making a Mountain out of a Mole Hill: Part 9 ‘Local craft beer,’ beep, ‘toilet rolls,’ beep, ‘dishwasher tablets,’ beep, ‘and finally some extra-large condoms,’ the shop assistant gave me a speculative look. ‘They make good balloons,’ I shrugged. He tallied up the total. ‘That is €15’s please.’ ‘Oh, I’m not paying.’ ‘Excuse me?’ […]
Letou Decide: Mlog 31st March
Some interesting games and even more interesting results this weekend already, I’ll go into detail about them tomorrow as we build up to Easter Monday at Goodison Park, for now we welcome 10 journalists to the Swansea training ground for the traditional pre-match press conference. Reporter: With not long to go until the end of […]
Tempo10 Questions With… FM_Grasshopper
Tempo10 are launching a second podcast this week which will take on a more interview style. Throughout it, we will be asking 10, or so, questions to some of the content creators and keen players in the community. We are aware that it may not be everyone’s favourite thing to hear which is why we […]
Letou Decide: Injury Update
Swansea City have arrived back in England following our jaunt to Cyprus and crucially we have met back up with the internationals who have been jetting around to all corners of the globe. The brothers Ayew look a little down, they lost their friendly for Ghana against the superstars of Burkina Faso despite Jordan assisting […]
FM18: 5 Things To Take From The Defensive Greats
Throughout football’s history there have been managerial greats whose creativity and ingenuity have taken the game to new levels of enjoyment and their teams to fantastic success that live long in the memories of those who witnessed them. As every action must have an equal but opposite reaction, ying must have yang, Cannon must have […]
One Vision Part V: Beating Chelsea guarantees nothing in 1995
Oasis. Blur. The Spice Girls. Tony Blair. Kevin Keegan. That United side. Euro 96 and the Dentist’s Chair. The Brazilian Ronaldo. The Premiership. The 1990s gave us a lot culturally and to many of us FM players, it was where we all started with a version of Championship Manager. Well, thanks to someone far cleverer […]
Cherry Picking – Episode Eight: End Of Season Special
Welcome back to Cherry Picking! This is the save where I was originally hoping to fend off relegation at AFC Bournemouth, but have unintentionally sparked a European race as well as two extraordinary cup runs. In the last episode, we lifted the Carabao Cup, thanks to Jermain Defoe’s 95th-minute winner, as well as tightened our […]
Letou Decide: AEL Friendly Review
Last night was our last friendly over here in Cyprus, in fact as I get this down to be released to you, the players are having breakfast downstairs. We played AEL and it was another opportunity to try out a new formation. Sticking with our Germanic theme, this time I looked to the best man […]
Wonderkids; Virtual vs Reality: Class of 2005
Wonderkids: Virtual vs Reality You can’t win anything with Kids It’s nearly 23 years since Alan Hansen uttered those infamous words. He was one of many critics after Manchester United released the likes of Paul Ince and Mark Hughes, making no significant moves in the market to replace them. Instead, Sir Alex decided to use […]
Farewell to Pittodrie #2 First Christmas
The SPL has a perfectly timed winter break for a mid-season update. It’s weird playing the same teams, but oddly motivating because if you want to pull away from the teams around you then it’s up to you to beat them again and again. If you don’t win those games then you’ll struggle and you […]
Making Blackburn Great Again – Episode #5
In recent weeks, there’s been much speculation surrounding Blackburn Manager Luke Phelps, and his commitment to the club. But the 22-year-old responded to his critics this week: “First of all I’d like to apologise to the fans and the staff for my actions over the past month or so. There’s been a lot going on […]
Letou Decide: England vs. Spain
I’ll tell you what, this is an England team we can all get behind. I had the pleasure of watching Gareth Southgate’s England team continue their preparations for the World Cup with a game at Wembley against Spain last night and I’m actually impressed. There are still selection issues, Jake Livermore in central midfield and […]
Tempo 10: Not A Guide to Building a Club
Take time this Tuesday to take in this weeks Tempo10. To tempt you in we’ve improved the audio this week (maybe). Mike and Samo talk how to improve your Football Manager club in this week’s top podcast. They give you tasty tips to take teams to the top, and how to keep them there long […]
One Vision Part IV: Let the show begin!
We have stepped into an alternative reality where it is actually 1995 and all things Premier League are looking a little bit retro. Join @tenpotatoesfm as he goes back in time to a world where everything was a little simpler, football was played on the pitch and not just the TV and Wayne Rooney was […]
Canary Corner – Part 17
How do you do? Things are heating up in season 6, as our season got off to a reasonable start despite the fact that my strikers can’t score goals. Robbie Keane can though and that’s maybe all we need. We’ve still got the UEFA Cup to enjoy but of course, our main aim is to […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter Nine: Eleven Goal Thriller
Hello again. You’ll recall the last chapter was called ‘a free hit’ and it was about me facing Arsenal to make the semi-finals of the FA Cup. We looked at how my formation was better than there’s and my wing-backs would be able to exploit the space down the flanks. However, if you were paying […]
Letou Decide: Anorthosi Friendly Review
Yesterday I said I was looking to Germany for inspiration and I’ve been looking into Thomas Tuchel’s formations at Mainz and Borussia Dortmund, which is especially apt considering he is being considered for the Arsenal job in the summer. A bit of background, Tuchel is something of an innovator with his systems flexible enough to […]
Scars And Stripes Episode 25: A Final Atlanta Hurrah
Five successful years at Atlanta United have come to a close. I took the MLS newbies from a blank sheet of paper to the dominant force in North American football and continued our success right until the last whistle of my tenure at the Mercedes Benz Arena. We retained the MLS Supporter’s Shield, which we’ve […]
Parità dei sessi 4: Stupid is as stupid does
I have good news and bad news. Let’s focus on the good part first. We did it. A 2-0 home win over Orrolese saw us claiming the Eccellenza Sardegna title in front of a bumper crowd. An impressing 1250 roaring fans in attendance making it a new record at the Vanni Sanna. New to the […]
Earning Our Stripes Teil 5: Transfergeschäft
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 went over the results for the remainder of the 2017 […]
Letou Decide: AEK Larnakas Friendly Review
I’ve stolen a moment this morning to write this up because it’s been a very relaxed weekend. The players have earned a break after their performance since I took over and I’m particularly enjoying Jose Mourinho taking shots at both Roberto Martinez and Julen Lopetegui for the use of his players during the internationals. We’ve […]
Inept International Manager: Ep. 10
Click here to find previous episodes of the Inept International Manager We begin Episode 10 of the Inept International Manager with breaking news (no, it isn’t the new graphic but that does look spiffy), that being that Louis Henrik has FINALLY attended a Hyundai A-League game. The game chosen for this monumental occasion was the […]
Beating Nuno – Chapter Eight: A Free Hit
Many of you out there will be without your normal dosage of club football due to the Internationals taking centre stage. If you’re like me and you’re a club over country kinda guy, all you want is for this break to be over and all your players to make it back in one piece. Anyway, […]
Chronicles of a Chancer: Part 8 Champions?
Bronze-Wig Making a Mountain out of a Mole Hill: Title Contender ‘Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained?!?’ Maximus Crowe What-do-you-call-him threw his sword at the crowd in disgust. I paused the VHS tape and pointed to the freeze-framed scene. ‘See that, my favourite part that.’ The team nodded their heads, I’d made everyone, […]
Letou Decide: England vs. Colombia
I have to say, the England friendly was a lot of fun to watch. I went away from it back on my private transport wondering if only England in competitive games were this entertaining. Immediately I realised that with Kane up front, Southgate was using Jack Wilshere as the direct replacement for Dele Alli, prompting […]
One Vision Part III: Back at the Boleyn
We have stepped into an alternative reality where it is actually 1995 and all things Premier League are looking a little bit retro. Join @tenpotatoesfm as he goes back in time to a world where everything was a little simpler, football was played on the pitch and not just the TV and Wayne Rooney was […]
The Deep Lying Podcast #Ep128: Dropping the(foot)ball on international week
In this week’s “not quite as good as it should have been” DLP, Chris tries to save face and still put together an international themed podcast. If we are honest, it might have been better not to bother. Anyway, what will you get if you give it a listen? The Grass in GrassNGear is back […]