Using a director of football

[Tank1985]

On FM23 I'm looking for a bit more realism in the premier league and so I want to use a director of football. 

I was first thinking I want to leave all my transfer activity to the dof but is there really any premier league manager that has absolutely no say in transfers? If there is please say, maybe Southampton manager? 

I'm thinking the most realistic way of playing would be if when i need players for my team, i can only sign players by going on the director of football recommendation page and adding players to my wanted list from there.

Thoughts? 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Tank1985

[Andros]

Just be warned that the DOF is not great at team building, the DOF may make a few purchases you deem a bit unnecessary.  If I were to do it, I would probably go: DOF is able to make signings, but I have the last say.  I would add that I would 'recommend' signings to the DOF for him to take care of.  Also, if I remember correctly, I think the DOF will wait for much of the transfer window to be over before making purchases?  Like he is waiting to see what you will do first before taking over?  maybe somebody else can verify or dismiss that.

[DrIgz]

I exclusively play in the following way:

I set responsibilities to me initiating signings, but DOF negotiates and finalises them.

Then, when I want a player, I never make an offer or speak to the agent. I go to my DOF, and add the player to the wanted list. I leave everything on automatic, except role within squad (regular starter, etc). It is then up to the DOF to sign him. Half the time, the DOF is clueless and cannot agree with the player. Often, he will say he is close but wants me to try and finalise the deal as the player doesn't like some of the terms offered. I immediately cancel the deal. I can only sign the players my DOF is able to actually agree with, which is about 50% of realistic targets. Makes for a more challenging save, and it's 'realistic', in that I say who I want in my team, but the DOF ultimately makes the business decisions. Sometimes he actually refuses to even make an offer if he thinks we have better options coming in. So that is kind of realistic.

[wazza]

On 06/09/2022 at 13:20, Tank1985 said:

On FM23 I'm looking for a bit more realism in the premier league and so I want to use a director of football. 

I was first thinking I want to leave all my transfer activity to the dof but is there really any premier league manager that has absolutely no say in transfers? If there is please say, maybe Southampton manager? 

I'm thinking the most realistic way of playing would be if when i need players for my team, i can only sign players by going on the director of football recommendation page and adding players to my wanted list from there.

Thoughts? 

This sounds a real good idea, I normally start on a journey man save with Sunday League rep.  But for FM23 I want to play as my hometown club who are in the English Championship, so will have to adjust the experience and badges to suit this.

I want to make the game as hard and realistic as possible.  Alot of clubs now hire the manager and call them 'Head Coach'. I guess this means that all they do is coach the players that the DOF or chairman fetches in and having no say in the transfers into the team.   Is this the realistic way that clubs carry out there transfer business now without input from the manager or am I reading into it?

This would make the FM save harder if you were just a head coach and not allowed any input into the transfers of each club. This could also be varied from club to club so one club allows you to be involved in transfers and another doesn't with it all stipulated in the club vision as this would normally be the chairman's decision on how the club is run rather than the manager telling the club how to do transfers when they arrive.

Does anyone know or can advise of which current English Championships operate only with a DOF for transfers and not allow the manager input into them and only have to coach the players that are brought in by others.  

 

 

[inacion]

I like to have full control of the players hired to my squad. However when I'm managing low leagues clubs usually I look for free transfer players. Free transfer players are hard to scout because they don't play matches, so I try get then on a 2 weeks trial, at least, to reveal their attributes and get some staff evaluation about player potential. Aside check player search on scouting section, I also ask for free transfer / loan recommendations to director of football. Sometimes loan market players also accept a trial, because scout them will take lot of time, due staff low skill and non professional contract.

That's the kind of help and advice I usually ask to Director of Football

[Tank1985]

4 hours ago, wazza said:

This would make the FM save harder if you were just a head coach and not allowed any input into the transfers of each club. This could also be varied from club to club so one club allows you to be involved in transfers and another doesn't with it all stipulated in the club vision as this would normally be the chairman's decision on how the club is run rather than the manager telling the club how to do transfers when they arrive.

 

 

This is what sigames need to be striving towards if they want the game to be as realistic as possible (you can always have the option to turn it off) 

In my save with Leicester I'm only going to look at players the director of football has suggested and then have my chief  scout look at that player, (and only sign players that get a b+ or something) this means it plays realistic with how Leicester operate in real life with their director of football and head of recruitment. 

[Garethjohn79]

If the DOF could be instructed to do what the RL ones do such as a list of positions needed to fill, who to aim for and not just go daft and sign anyone, set the DOF to employ staff and they go berserk singing anyone just to fill the quota, what stats show their ability at negotiation?

A DOF, Technical Manager, Loan Manager, Head Sports Scientist, Sports Scientist, Head Data Analyst, Data Analyst, there might be more.

What do they do and what do the heads do over there second in command?

[Mars_Blackmon]

I let DOF handle contracts, but if I am interested in players, I will put them on my transfer target list

[Mars_Blackmon]

2 hours ago, inacion said:

I like to have full control of the players hired to my squad. However when I'm managing low leagues clubs usually I look for free transfer players. Free transfer players are hard to scout because they don't play matches, so I try get then on a 2 weeks trial, at least, to reveal their attributes and get some staff evaluation about player potential. Aside check player search on scouting section, I also ask for free transfer / loan recommendations to director of football. Sometimes loan market players also accept a trial, because scout them will take lot of time, due staff low skill and non professional contract.

That's the kind of help and advice I usually ask to Director of Football

I personally try to limit trials. IMO, there should be a cost coming out of the scouting budget when offering trials to players because as is, its a loop hole to get around the lack of information you have on lower league scouting. lol We can literally ignore the scouting and just get a full team on trial to unlock attributes free of charge.

[inacion]

12 minutes ago, Mars_Blackmon said:

I personally try to limit trials. IMO, there should be a cost coming out of the scouting budget when offering trials to players because as is, its a loop hole to get around the lack of information you have on lower league scouting. lol We can literally ignore the scouting and just get a full team on trial to unlock attributes free of charge.

Using trials doesn't mean ignore scouting. If you keep your scouting working you might get some free transfer players fully scouted, because they played for a team on a previous season and your scout watched some of their matches. Saving trial time to have full knowledge

[Mars_Blackmon]

28 minutes ago, inacion said:

Using trials doesn't mean ignore scouting. If you keep your scouting working you might get some free transfer players fully scouted, because they played for a team on a previous season and your scout watched some of their matches. Saving trial time to have full knowledge

I mean for free transfers. Limiting trials make it even harder in lower leagues when selecting transfer targets for the DOF to pick from. I also only give trials to free transfer that my DOF suggests.

 

I feel like some of the well known tips like scouting top league youth teams and handling out a bunch of trials results in quickly building a team that is far superior than any other team in the league. As far as scouting, I only add players to my transfer target list from players that my scouts scouted rather than the player list. The only exceptions are DOF suggestions and staff and player recommendations, but more times than not those players will have to be scouted first.

Edited September 11, 2022 by Mars_Blackmon

[wolbeas]

I personally, never use DoF. Only reason for that is, while they can find gems here and there. They do make a lot of negotiation mistakes like offering better playing time for a player that progresses every year, which forces me to deal with the end result or they go find 29 yo for 100Mil and that doesnt fit with how I manage teams. I'd never transfer anyone over 25 yo, but 80% of the time I only buy players between 16-19 and develop them myself.

Will it be realistic? I dont think so. Will it provide a challenge for you? Absolutely!

One thing I'd pay extra attention, if you are leaving transfers to DoF is that make sure his playing mentality is similar to yours. If he likes to park the bus, and you like to attack then (in my experience), they may focus on players suit their own style rather than the team's existing style.

[Platinum]

16 hours ago, Mars_Blackmon said:

I let DOF handle contracts, but if I am interested in players, I will put them on my transfer target list

How do you deal with the DoF taking care of contract renewals, as you can't tell the DoF what you want the players expected playing time to be. I struggle with this aspect when using the DoF, especially with young players who I want to play often in the first team, the player wants to play in the first team, but the DoF only see's them as a 'Youngster' or 'Prospect'

Edited September 12, 2022 by Platinum

[Platinum]

On 06/09/2022 at 14:05, DrIgz said:

I exclusively play in the following way:

I set responsibilities to me initiating signings, but DOF negotiates and finalises them.

Then, when I want a player, I never make an offer or speak to the agent. I go to my DOF, and add the player to the wanted list. I leave everything on automatic, except role within squad (regular starter, etc). It is then up to the DOF to sign him. Half the time, the DOF is clueless and cannot agree with the player. Often, he will say he is close but wants me to try and finalise the deal as the player doesn't like some of the terms offered. I immediately cancel the deal. I can only sign the players my DOF is able to actually agree with, which is about 50% of realistic targets. Makes for a more challenging save, and it's 'realistic', in that I say who I want in my team, but the DOF ultimately makes the business decisions. Sometimes he actually refuses to even make an offer if he thinks we have better options coming in. So that is kind of realistic.

I do the same, but how do you deal with the DoF taking care of contract renewals, as you can't tell the DoF what you want the players expected playing time to be. I struggle with this aspect when using the DoF

Edited September 12, 2022 by Platinum

[DrIgz]

2 hours ago, Platinum said:

I do the same, but how do you deal with the DoF taking care of contract renewals, as you can't tell the DoF what you want the players expected playing time to be. I struggle with this aspect when using the DoF

Yes, this is the single most frustrating part of how I play the game. I ask him to renew the contracts I want renewed, but because he offers what he thinks the squad role should be, it means he often doesn't get the player to sign, or the player signs for a much more important role than I would like. I just accept this as the current reality and don't interfere, but I feel it would be quite simple to add the option to tell him what role I would like offered.

[Platinum]

2 minutes ago, DrIgz said:

Yes, this is the single most frustrating part of how I play the game. I ask him to renew the contracts I want renewed, but because he offers what he thinks the squad role should be, it means he often doesn't get the player to sign, or the player signs for a much more important role than I would like. I just accept this as the current reality and don't interfere, but I feel it would be quite simple to add the option to tell him what role I would like offered.

Yeah I've made this a feature request already but would be great if you could make one as well to help show the demand for it.

I think them leaving it out was an oversight tbh, but it's a big oversight.

Its particularly bad with talented youth players as it's easy to lose them because of this. 

[phnompenhandy]

You might enjoy this series on YouTube

Lollujo manages PSG

This summer, Lollujo took over as manager of PSG with Kylian Mbappe as Director of Football (and player). In the save, Mbappe is 100% in control of transfers - the manager doesn't even put in requests, he just coaches the team. It was a lot of fun; it might give you some ideas or at least an idea if it's a campaign you want to explore.

[Mars_Blackmon]

On 12/09/2022 at 06:38, Platinum said:

How do you deal with the DoF taking care of contract renewals, as you can't tell the DoF what you want the players expected playing time to be. I struggle with this aspect when using the DoF, especially with young players who I want to play often in the first team, the player wants to play in the first team, but the DoF only see's them as a 'Youngster' or 'Prospect'

This is something that can definitely be approved upon but as of now, I see it as the type of contract my DOF thinks the player is worth. If I want a youth player to be a first team regular but my DOF only see his value as a youngster then I just have to accept it. Other than that, if we manage to extend the player, I would just go in and change his playing time status.

Edited September 14, 2022 by Mars_Blackmon

[Mars_Blackmon]

On 12/09/2022 at 09:45, Platinum said:

Yeah I've made this a feature request already but would be great if you could make one as well to help show the demand for it.

I think them leaving it out was an oversight tbh, but it's a big oversight.

Its particularly bad with talented youth players as it's easy to lose them because of this. 

Extending loans is another one that needs to be added.

[ImDaWeasel]

Is it called Football Manager or Football Head Coach?

[inacion]

3 hours ago, ImDaWeasel said:

Is it called Football Manager or Football Head Coach?

Is up to you. You can choose the responsibilities you want to assign to the AI

[ImDaWeasel]

1 hour ago, inacion said:

Is up to you. You can choose the responsibilities you want to assign to the AI

All AI staff are horrendous. Assigning them anything bar the things that don't matter like press conferences etc is a waste of time.

[Mars_Blackmon]

7 hours ago, ImDaWeasel said:

Is it called Football Manager or Football Head Coach?

This argument is moot considering that if you change the English language from UK to USA manager translates to head coach…Not to mention signing players is only one aspect of a manager’s job which is less likely a job in the modern age of top teams. You still manage the roster, whether that is handling dynamics or sorting out tactics or even training.

Edited September 14, 2022 by Mars_Blackmon

[Mars_Blackmon]

2 hours ago, ImDaWeasel said:

All AI staff are horrendous. Assigning them anything bar the things that don't matter like press conferences etc is a waste of time.

Then handle it yourself. What is the problem?