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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 […]
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 […]