The Byline

It’s fair to say that podcaster and lifelong Football Manager fan Iain Macintosh has a mixed record of success on the game. Silverware was easier to come by in the early days of FM, when having one fitness session on the training schedule each month was considered the pinnacle of sports science.

In recent years, while the game has grown more realistic and intricate, Iain’s tactical blueprints have been chewed up and spit out by the match engine year after year regardless of how much tinkering, tweaking and loving care had gone into crafting them.

This year, Iain promises it will be different. That’s mostly because he’s hosting a brand new podcast – The Football Manager Show by The Athletic – where he’ll actually get to hear wisdom, advice and tips on how to master some of the core aspects of FM, directly from the people who make the game which will hopefully help Iain (and more importantly you, the listeners) get more out of FM21.

We sat down with Iain to discuss his love of the game and what it is that makes him come back year after year.

As anyone who watched any of the recent EFL Football Manager Cup can attest, Birmingham City goalkeeper Lee Camp is an avid fan of the game. In the latest installment of Why I Love FM, we caught up with the former Northern Ireland international to discuss his approach to transfers, best saves and whether he’s considering a move into management when he eventually retires from playing.

The first cricketer to take part in Why I Love FM, Surrey’s Scott Borthwick, comes to the crease to tell us about his best bits from the game over the years. 

Like all of us, the England-capped all-rounder has had to change a lot of his real-life plans of late, something that has given him more time to continue his progress on Football Manager 2020. We caught up with Scott to discuss his best-ever save, go-to tactic and FM alter ego…
 

Our newest instalment of Why I Love FM is with the West Bromwich Albion and St Kitts & Nevis midfielder Romaine Sawyers. Romaine was recently in charge of the Baggies in the EFL Football Manager Cup and while he didn’t win, we still wanted to chat to him about that experience, when he first got into the game and some of his best saves…

The latest edition of Why I Love FM features a chat with Darren Bent. The ex-England international retired in 2018 to pursue a career in the media where he can often be heard on the airwaves. Recently, Darren was spilling the beans on his Football Manager 2020 save, so we wanted to hear more about his current game and his best ever signing...

We had the pleasure to e-interview Bleacher Report Football's Sam Tighe - Journalist, Podcast Host and Football Manager enthusiast.

It's fair to say that Sam knows a thing or two about football and we'd like to take credit for some of that knowledge since he's spent many hours researching through FM player profiles...

Sam's answers to this edition of Why I Love FM are up there with the most detailed, passionate and entertaining, enjoy. 

Football Manager fans come from all walks of life, so far on Why I Love FM we've had the pleasure of speaking to pro footballers, basketball stars, journalists and content creators. But now, for the first time, we get to hear from a number one selling musician and record producer. Duke Dumont tells us of his FM highs and lows while admitting his desire to step into the real football world one day. 

We had the pleasure of speaking to Chelsea and Italy international Emerson Palmieri about his love of Football Manager. Emerson first caught our attention when we came across a snap of him playing our game while traveling with AS Roma - we've been wanting to speak to him ever since. So here we are, find out how the flying left-back got on when he managed himself and his fellow London teammates on Football Manager... 

In this edition of Why I Love FM we had the chance to catch up with an NBA superstar as we chatted to Cleveland Cavaliers' power forward Larry Nance Jr. We spoke about how Football Manager helped him learn about a sport he loves and how he created his own team on the game with a familiar name up front...

Why I Love FM is back. The series where we speak to famous faces and friends of the studio about why they're so hooked on any iteration of Football Manager. From best signings to best saves we want to know their stories.

The French international centre-back moved to Valencia in the summer from Manchester after spending five years in England. You can purchase the Valencia Special Edition of Football Manager 2020 here, to secure the licensed kits, badge and player faces for Mangala's new club.

In his spare time, Eliaquim plays Football Manager so let's dive in and find out why he loves the game.

We've sat down with famous players of Football Manager to discuss the highlights from their own action-packed saves. From dramatic cup wins to favourite wonderkids these pieces will offer an exclusive peek behind the curtain of the very best management journeys. 

Here, we caught up with Portuguese international and FM veteran, Diogo Jota. 

The latest edition of Why I Love FM features our chat with prolific striker and Sydney FC number nine - Adam Le Fondre. Adam has been playing Football Manager since his teenage years and uses the game as the perfect way to kill time when travelling to away days.