The Football Manager Football Show

And just like that, European competition has rolled around.

This week, despite seeing a twelve-day international break, we've got a lot going on.

• It's our first FM22 transfer deadline day, which in Turkey happens to be 8 September and also the last day for squad registration before early January
• Shane's bound for Cyprus as the Europa Conference League group stages get underway
• Ken's heading back to the King Power stadium as he takes on Leicester having overseen the Foxes for two seasons in FM21

There's plenty of talk of VAR, tactical tweaks, corner routines and more.

Squad registration rules have taken their toll, shifted dynamics in the dressing room and despite the fact they're written in black and white, it turns out to be easy to make a costly mistake.

We'll cruise towards the end of September as the early tone for the season is set. Who comes out on top this month? You'll have to wait and see...

Separately, as we move into December, a massive thank you to everyone who helped make November 2021 our busiest month for listens and download since we've started on this Football Manager journey.

Much love.

Episode contains strong language throughout.

Season 4 has kicked off!

Between the jigs and the reels of the working world, we've managed to start Season 4 of The Football Manager Football Show this week and we've got a feeling it's going to be all about heroes and villains this time out.

Our Premier League journey has come to an end and it's time to move on to pastures new so we're off to the continent, while we had our entire season planned out for stint in Italy, it turns out we got on the wrong plane and ended up in a different league altogether.

Instantly, it's a tale of the upper class and the working class, there's big money transfers, some fantasy dealings (know that FM22 will be along in a matter of months) and we're both taking on two clubs in question for the very first time.

When it comes to Football Manager, does money really matter? Will the "working class" rise up and topple the giants of European football, or is it all a soft sell to create a false sense of security?

We'll recap what went wrong at Wolves and Leicester, explain how we ended up not moving to Italy and walk through the first six weeks of the transfer window as we attempt to put our mark on La Liga. At least one of us has prior experience there.

If you like what you hear (or don't), let us know by joining the conversation on Twitter @FMFShow.

Onward!

Warning: This episode contains strong language, as per usual.

It's been another whirlwind month of games in Germany and we've been feeling the pressure.

Last episode, we were each given five games to salvage our careers in Germany. Eight points were required from those games and Shane got off to a flyer with a 3-0 win over Stuttgart followed by a 1-1 draw with Mainz before our live play to close out episode 117 saw him hold on to beat Arminia Bielefeld 2-1. After coming off bruising defeats to PSG and Hertha, both at home, Ken's also had a positive start with a 1-0 win over Koln followed by a 4-0 thrashing of Schalke that included a first Bundesliga hat-trick for Dion Drena Beljo.

You would think that safety would be guaranteed. Shane needs just one point from two games, and get needs two from three games but the first of those is against Bayern, with Union Berlin and RB Leipzig waiting in the wings.

Shane's also got basement side Nurnberg and Hertha to deal with as well, but there's always a twist somewhere along your Football Manager journey and no matter how much you think you're doing right, there's always a club board somewhere that finds a way to get the digs in.

Robbie and Koln still exist in the world too and while results haven't been going well, he's yet to be sacked. Oh, and we've got a January transfer window with a little bit of activity for both clubs in a bid to try and salvage something out of the trainwreck that has been life in Germany. Is it over yet? Contains strong language.

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So it turns out that when we put our minds to it, we can actually blaze through a whole bunch of games in Football Manager when the pressure is on and things need to get turned around quickly - namely us closing out the final six weeks of our time in Germany and the Bundesliga.

We won't spoil it entirely, but there are a few positives to take away from the whole experience - though how does it all work out?

Just when it looks like Frankfurt were cruising, the wheels started to come off thanks to heavy defeats to Dortmund and Chelsea. But wouldn't you know it, if a few results elsewhere fell into place, there could still be the possibility of securing European football.

As for Augsburg, it looks like Shane's got a little something clicking as the goals start to come good, fixtures start to look more appealing and there's something of a fire under a side that was destined for the drop for at least half the domestic season.

To be fair, how we've actually gotten this far and have been able to make an episode about the FINAL month in the league is still hard to comprehend, but here we are.

Let's bid farewell to Germany, bye-bye Bundesliga, and try to send Frankfurt and Augsburg home in style.

Contains strong language. Follow Ken @tacticalmanager, Shane @sirsok1 and the podcast in general on Twitter @FMFshow. You can also email [email protected] with any queries and you'll get new episodes every Friday wherever you do your podcast listening and on the official website here.

Season 9 is officially underway. The band is back together and we've added a third wheel, only this wheel has *never* played Football Manager before. What happens when you unleash a complete newbie to the world of FM?

With Shane's riches in South Africa secured safe and sound and Toulouse now a top-half team in Ligue 1, it's time to get the ball rolling on Football Manager 2023 as we get a three-way dance going for the first season of Sports Interactive's latest edition of our favourite football management simulation.

Experienced players will have a very set way of beginning in Football Manager with some of us having developed routines going all the way back to the early Championship Manager days. So how, in 2023, does it work for someone coming to the world of FM for the very first time, in what should be a competitive league, with European cup competitions and big board and supporter demands?

With little in terms of a transfer budget, gaps in squads and the potential for some great rival games, it's time to kick off Season 9!

And with eight seasons in the bag between Ken and Shane, we're introducing another member of the Scoreline team, Castlewarren's star striker (who doubles as a decent centre-half), Robbie Dowling. Be sure to say hello on Twitter @FMFShow.

If you're just joining us for the first time, thanks so much for the loan of your ears. Continue the journey afresh as we navigate season 9 or go all the way back to season 1 and catch up on our journey that started in South America, hitting England, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Scotland, France and South Africa along the way.

Contains strong language.