Director of football?

I was talking with a mate about FM and we both got to the conclusion that the both of us would like to have a director of football acting in the game. However most people that play FM like to be able to buy and sell players as they wish, which made us think that at the start of each game you choose if you want to be head-coach and the director of football (which would be how FM works now) and the possibility to only be head-coach. Further on, when you are renewing your contract you could ask to be one or the other.

Now what interest would this have? Well most managers irl aren't directly involved when it comes to transfers. You would have your say if player X is transferable, if you don't want him, if you want him to be loaned, etc. And you would be able to ask for a new goalkeeper or even that you want goalkeeper X and the AI would try to sign you a new keeper.

But what I started to think about is a deeper than this, actual influence on your relationship with the board and the director of football. For example, imagine you take a small club to glory and for some reason a big club hires your director of football. Now having had success with you in your former club, he could be more into signing you. Also if you aren't showing results, not only would your job be on the line but the director might find that even if you ask for a new striker that you haven't shown enough good results with the team that you already have or if the director might get you all the players you ask, this would make each club more unique (depending on what the AI does). However if you would ask for a lot of new players and don't have good results the pressure on you would grow (the board could say that you have the team you asked for but haven't shown what you promised).

Also an important issue would have to be the personality of each director of football. His tolerance and acceptance of your actions (which players you want out of your team or players/positions you want for your team) would be the two main stats for me.

Job interviews would help this idea a lot also, you would get the chance to talk with the director of football, saying you like to play with wingers or not, if you like to have youngsters, etc.

I think this would be a great addition to the game and would improve the game for people that like to play career games.

It's just an idea. Any input would be greatly appreciate

Last time I suggested this (actually was to make a mod) I was attacked. Frankly the current way FM is done is completely unrealistic and yet those attacking your suggestion are the ones that ask for realism. There is no way if you manage Chelsea or even more so Real Madrid, that you would be able to have complete control over transfers and wages. Or even with clubs like Portsmouth and West Ham which are in financial crisis. Especially with clubs like Portsmouth where the money seems to be disappearing even though they are selling tons of players.

But this just brings up arguement of the games called Football Manager.

Director of Footballs could may well play a bigger part in future versions but I wouldn't expect that being allowed to become a director of football would be brought in.

Theres so many threads like this with people wanting different positions implemented, and everyone of them is answered with its called Football Manager.

Good idea but it'll never happen.

But there is a place for this. Look at Dennis wise, at some point in your career you will be asked to take this position on. To take that promotion. It could happen and isn't much different from what is already built. You can already watch matches in the game engine and as a Director of Football you'd be doing that allot. You could even add the ability to take over managing the team for a given time while you find a replacement manager or find a replacement while you still have one and try and keep it quiet from the press. I'm no coder, but I don't think this is a hard add-on.

the board already interferes in some transfers. Its not hard to make the Chelsea or Real Madrid or West Ham or Portsmouth board railroad you in transfers. If anything it might be just SI stop being lazy and edit correctly the attributes of the board members.

While I don't think you will be able to play as a Director of Football (DoF) in FM anytime soon I do think it would be a good idea to put them in. There's no denying that DoFs are becoming more prevailent in the modern game and the fans are becoming more aware of them. Certainly in British football there's been plenty of media coverage and specualtion about DoFs, Frank Arnesen at Chelsea, Dennis Wise at Newcastle and Eriksson at Notts county to name a few.

And since it's a dsicussion about DoFs I reckon I'll copy and paste my suggestion from the 'Wish List' thread for how I reckon it should be implemented:

----------

First thing's first, it should be optional if possible. Like attribute masking or use real players there's a check box and if you don't want them then they stay as just another name on the staff listing.

Chairmen get another attriubte which shows their willingness to use Directors of Football (DoF from now on), maybe linked to thier other interfering stats. Also a preferred tansfer policy, for example "Young players that will appreciate in value", "Bargains only", "Big Stars", "Whatever the manager wants" etc.

When starting a game or adding a manager the player gets a message from their chairman asking if (depending on whether or not the club has one) they want to aquire / retain the services of a DoF and if so at what level (see below). After that there's a grace period of at least 1 season where the chairman wont change the DoF settings.

If joining a club then the DoF is part of the contract offer, for example "The club has no DoF but will hire one if you want one" or "The club has a DoF who is heavily involved in transfer policy that you will have to work with", and you may be able to negoitiate the position depending on the Chairmans DoF attribute.

If a club has a DoF then his responsabilites can vary, my basic idea is something like a 5 point scale:

1 - DoF is pretty much a glorified scout. You can send them on scouting assignments and they will provide a summary of your other scouts reports and be responsible for other scouting related matters at the Backroom Meetings.

2 - DoF gets to pick his own scouting assignment. Also can send unassigned scouts on assignments. Has overall control of scouting but you can over rule them. Allows you to assign a more specific scouting assignment to your department, not just based on geographical or competition assignements but things like "Find me a right back who can also play right mid if needed" for example

3 - DoF is responsible for scouting, you can make requests of them but they may not allways do what you want, main influence on them being the chairmans prefered transfer policy. You also have the option of allowing them to negotiate a transfer deal for you.

4 - DoF still responsible for scouting. DoF also has input on transfers (both buying and selling), like how a chairmen may step in if a transfer deal is too good to turn down in previous versions, but more often. DoF will also negotiate transfers on his own based on the club transfer policy but manager retain the ability to over rule them except in extreme cases. For example the DoF might come with a message of "I've negotiated a deal for Player X for Y million on a contact of Z per week, do you want to go through with this transfer?" and you can accept or refuse (also have optional reasons for refusal like normal transfers, for example "Don't think player is good enough", "Need transfer/wage budget for other transfer target", "Already have 3 left backs don't need another one.", etc.).

5 - DoF has complete control over transfers and scouting. You can ask them to try and sign a certain player, or not to sell a palyer you need, but at the end of the day the buck stops with them.

Whether a DoF is hired/fired or has their responsiblities changed is dependant on a few factors, the 2 main ones being:

- Club confidence in managers transfer dealings. If a manager makes a lot of signings that the fans consider good then a DoF will not be needed. Buy a lot of turkeys and the fans may call for one to stop you wasting money.

- Chairman intereference. Based on their DoF stat and the one that already exists for meddling. Go against their transfer policy a lot and you might find they start taking over. Like in previous versions when some chairmen would go out an buy big players if you hadn't brought in a star like they asked you to.

----------

hilly_boro: I didn't mean to say you could be only a Director of football, I was only saying that you could cut off the part of being a director and only be a coach. Much like 2000AD said

Obviously in FM it really wouldn't be fun if you only were the Director of football nor would it make sense. I just wanted the possibility of a more realistic approach in which you actually are a football manager.

Btw, I'm sorry I didn't put this in the Wish List. Completely forgot about that thread :o

I once had a game called Football Director on the Amiga I think. Loved it but it would crash all the time. Hmmm, maybe it was on the commodore 64, I don't know.

I agree with the OP that there should be a Director of Football within the game. I do not think that we as a gamer should be able to take on that role. There was this option on a previous FM, 07 or 06 I think but ppl kept complaining how the chairman would bring in players without their consent and so I think SI removed the feature. However irl this happens all the time. Look at Real Madrid, the DoF and the Chairman bring in the players and in Chelsea, Shevchenko was brought in by the Chairman. Even at Spurs, Milan and Bayern Munich its the board who bring in players. I'm not saying that this should be the case for every signing but for some it would add an extra emphasis to the game and make you prove that you are a good manager irrespective of the circumstances. IRL this is usually the case, you just cant buy whoever you want or expect a DoF not to bring in a player or two or veto one of your signings. SI, bring this back.

I don't know why this suggestion always gets shots down. It would add realism, and it could be implemented without disadvantaging people who don't want it.

Some clubs should be set up to have DoF/head coach system while other should just have a manager, and you'd get the chance to negotiate your duties when you negotiate your contract. The better your reputation, the more chance of your demands being met.

For people who just want to be the manager of their favourite club, they could select whatever contract terms they want at the start of the game.

Misodoctakleidist: exactly what I mean

Having a DoF who you can actually interact with would be really nice already. It only involves showing his stats and being able to initiate a conversation with him, the way you do with an assistant manager. I don't even need to be one, as long as I can actually talk to him.

Which reminds me, being able to see the stats of my board/chairman would be a really nice addition already. Then at least I would know what kind of policy my club takes after.

All it would require is an option that's a step up from the chairman selling players over the manager's head. That's already in the game, so clubs that have a DoF that does all the buying and selling would not be a quantum leap. Obviously, when you select a team to manage at the start of a savegame and apply for a job during a savegame this information would need to be clearly known.

Having a DoF who you can actually interact with would be really nice already. It only involves showing his stats and being able to initiate a conversation with him, the way you do with an assistant manager. I don't even need to be one, as long as I can actually talk to him.

Which reminds me, being able to see the stats of my board/chairman would be a really nice addition already. Then at least I would know what kind of policy my club takes after.

You may not know or remember this but past versions of the game had this. I have no idea why it was removed. There wasnt even a question as to "should it be removed?". I favour a DoF, I think it would add an extra level to the game and some realism. As has been said already, it wouldnt take much to achieve.

This should be a feature ingame.

In England, only a tiny number of clubs have DoFs (Chelsea, West Ham, Reading and Notts County- Newcastle and Tottenham used to, but they've abandoned them. There may be a few I've missed), so playing with one would be very unrealistic. Besides which, we don't actually know the role of the DoF at these clubs. Sven is supposedly a "second manager", the Chelsea and West Ham DoFs seemingly identify targets for transfers and bring them in, and Nicky Hammond at Reading is just a puppet as far as anyone can tell. "Puppet" DoFs would be pointless in game, and "second managers" like Sven would be very hard to code. Someone like Nani at West Ham could be interesting.

Personally, DoFs signing players over your head- no. The AI cannot build squads, and it does not offer realistic wages. What I would like to see is a "DoF" offering you transfer advice. "We could get this player for as little as £x", "we could sell this player to Man City for £ym", "this player's club may be more open to a loan with a look to a permanent deal", "Scout A has found a target who I genuinely believe is better- and he's far cheaper". He'd offer more accurate advice than your ass man does. However, he'd take a sizeable wage, equal to yours IMO. Is it worth your while to pay so much for such a small staff member, or will the money you save make up for the extra wages?

Having a DoF who you can actually interact with would be really nice already. It only involves showing his stats and being able to initiate a conversation with him, the way you do with an assistant manager. I don't even need to be one, as long as I can actually talk to him.

Which reminds me, being able to see the stats of my board/chairman would be a really nice addition already. Then at least I would know what kind of policy my club takes after.

In England, only a tiny number of clubs have DoFs (Chelsea, West Ham, Reading and Notts County- Newcastle and Tottenham used to, but they've abandoned them. There may be a few I've missed), so playing with one would be very unrealistic. Besides which, we don't actually know the role of the DoF at these clubs. Sven is supposedly a "second manager", the Chelsea and West Ham DoFs seemingly identify targets for transfers and bring them in, and Nicky Hammond at Reading is just a puppet as far as anyone can tell. "Puppet" DoFs would be pointless in game, and "second managers" like Sven would be very hard to code. Someone like Nani at West Ham could be interesting.

Personally, DoFs signing players over your head- no. The AI cannot build squads, and it does not offer realistic wages. What I would like to see is a "DoF" offering you transfer advice. "We could get this player for as little as £x", "we could sell this player to Man City for £ym", "this player's club may be more open to a loan with a look to a permanent deal", "Scout A has found a target who I genuinely believe is better- and he's far cheaper". He'd offer more accurate advice than your ass man does. However, he'd take a sizeable wage, equal to yours IMO. Is it worth your while to pay so much for such a small staff member, or will the money you save make up for the extra wages?

The game is not only about England, there are many other leagues many of which SI have a license with. It is not unrealistic to have them. You wouldn't have to pay the DoF as he'd be part of the board and as such paid by the club not by you. In fact you'd have no say in matters involving the DoF except those involving transfers and there its possible to work things out. The DoF should be able to sign players, whether you decide to play these or sell/loan them is your choice and should remain your choice but with certain repercussions. Should you perform badly after getting rid of a DoF signing then your job will be in danger, same as now. It would add an extra dimension, saying no for no's sake is silly as it happens in football everyday.

I'm sure SI didnt pay out for licences abroad to make those footballing communities appear English or have an English model. And as for clubs with DoF, it happens in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, Japan, USA and in some English clubs. that's just to name a few. So yes, SI, add this feature. I dont know why it was removed in the first place.

SCIAG: just like jsolloso said England are in some way the exception when it comes to having DoF. And I started my post saying that it is obvious that lots of FM gamers like to be able to sign who ever they want to and so I suggested this and an option you could or could not use.

But I do admit that it will probably be frustrating if your best players are sold for peanuts but still it would be a good addition imo. As long as you have the option choose if you want to be an English manager or a regular coach.

Personally, I really don't see the fun in this. The transfer system in FM is just not good enough to leave it to the AI. Currently, we see AI managers filling their squads with players they just don't have any need for and will often pay ridicolous amounts of money for them. Is it really going to be any fun for the user to see their best players sold and then not replaced or have a really average player signed for massive amounts? I don't think there would be too many that find that enjoyable.

The only way I see this being feasible is as an option, and even then, the transfer system is still in need of massive work before that would even be a good idea.

SCIAG: just like jsolloso said England are in some way the exception when it comes to having DoF. And I started my post saying that it is obvious that lots of FM gamers like to be able to sign who ever they want to and so I suggested this and an option you could or could not use.

But I do admit that it will probably be frustrating if your best players are sold for peanuts but still it would be a good addition imo. As long as you have the option choose if you want to be an English manager or a regular coach.

I believe it should be linked to performance. The better you prove yourself the less the interference. Although the interference itself should be minor, perhaps suggestions instead of signings or actually signing but allow you to choose to loan them, sell them or not play them but with the obvious risks on job security attached.

Would love it if there was a DoF in the game, the way it's supposed to be. Like Bongo-Bongo says, i think they should make sure the transfer system itself would work a bit better than it does now.

But OP kinda brings up the realism vs fun discussion again.

Personally, I really don't see the fun in this. The transfer system in FM is just not good enough to leave it to the AI. Currently, we see AI managers filling their squads with players they just don't have any need for and will often pay ridicolous amounts of money for them. Is it really going to be any fun for the user to see their best players sold and then not replaced or have a really average player signed for massive amounts? I don't think there would be too many that find that enjoyable.

The only way I see this being feasible is as an option, and even then, the transfer system is still in need of massive work before that would even be a good idea.

Atm you have the chairman selling above your head so that still happens ingame now. the fun is the challenge, its too easy to sign players after a few years and if you start at a big club its too easy fullstop. This would add more of a challenge and on an old FM version (05 or 06) they had this option in there and frommy recollection the purchases made were World Class. (Buffon, Pirlo). In fact you were expected to sign one World Class player or the chairman would do it. This added extra emphasis on your ability to keep everyone happy.

Atm you have the chairman selling above your head so that still happens ingame now. the fun is the challenge, its too easy to sign players after a few years and if you start at a big club its too easy fullstop. This would add more of a challenge and on an old FM version (05 or 06) they had this option in there and frommy recollection the purchases made were World Class. (Buffon, Pirlo). In fact you were expected to sign one World Class player or the chairman would do it. This added extra emphasis on your ability to keep everyone happy.

The difference is though, that with a DOF, you lose all control. Whilst the chairmen might sell players without your say so at present, you do still have a overall control of the transfers at your club. And in older games, he may have gone out and bought a big name player, it was either a case of he'd a superstar or he'd buy nobody. The DOF would have to be much more balanced and sign players that the club needed and would help improve the squad, regardless of the reputation, and as I said before, the AI just isn't good enough to take this control away from the user.

I'd like in so much as it would make managing a continental club much more realistic, because managers have much much less or no say in the transfers at the club. I know that most people would hate that, but I think the way round it would be for you to be able to negotiate the level of control you would have over transfers when you sign- if you are famous/successful and the club want you then you could get complete control, if you're a bit of a nobody, then you play the players the president/director of football gives you.

Also, the game really has to start incorporating presidential elections and the promises that the candidates make, they would then present you with their signing and tell you to get on with it- if they still want you that is...

I believe it should be linked to performance. The better you prove yourself the less the interference. Although the interference itself should be minor, perhaps suggestions instead of signings or actually signing but allow you to choose to loan them, sell them or not play them but with the obvious risks on job security attached.

This also happens irl, take a look at Mourinho at Inter. The board trust him because he as proven to world class manager, so they sign (or try to) the players he wants.

Would love it if there was a DoF in the game, the way it's supposed to be. Like Bongo-Bongo says, i think they should make sure the transfer system itself would work a bit better than it does now.

But OP kinda brings up the realism vs fun discussion again.

The transfer system would have to be worked on in order for this to happen or else it would loose interest immediately. As for the fun I think that it would be a lot more of a challenge.

The transfer system would have to be worked on in order for this to happen or else it would loose interest immediately. As for the fun I think that it would be a lot more of a challenge.

It would definitely be needed a bit of work for it to happen. Probably not the easiest task either.

Agree it would be more of a challenge. Personally i would welcome that. I love a good challenge.

I was not saying "there aren't DoFs in Britain, therefore there should not be any in the game", I was saying "there are not DoFs in Britain, therefore the use of one in Britain would not add to the experience there".

Many German clubs have run themselves into financial ruin because DoFs or their equivalent have overspent, primarily on wages. Do you want that in FM? Okay, teams like Pompey and Leeds, and others, spring to mind, but at least there the manager has sabotaged their own club.

Again, as I said, the role of the DoF is opaque. Do they only handle "transfers in" or "transfers out"? Do they only deal with contracts? Do they only do what they're told, or are they mavericks?

I'm not opposed to the idea, I know some people would consider it fun to not be able to build their squad (though it's alien to me ), but the AI has not developed to a stage where it would be practical, and from experience, coding the various forms of DoF wouldn't happen.

It's an idea that sounds nice, but I can't see it happening at this time.

Surely SI will work a bit more on the game for FM11 so although this wont happen in FM10 why not in FM11?

I think we all agree that it would add to the challenge and like I previously said the more you prove yourself ingame the less the interference. If we dont have DoF we risk making it far too easy. IRL no football club sings what the manager wants, its very rare. There is always some negotiation with the powers above. Agreed the AI may not have the competency of managing this at present but surely in some basic guise this could be introduced. As for elections, agree it needs to be inputted a lot better. The obvious example is Real Madrid where in the election process they promised to sign Ronaldo and it happened so this should be implemented.

As for Britain not having DoF its not true. They may not be as ingrained as the European model but there are some about. German clubs went to the ground because of the tv contract not solely because of the DoF. In fact I cant see how you determine that having a DoF will result in financial upheaval, its rather negative as they're not all incompetent.

SCIAG,

Surely adding DoFs at clubs who actually have DoFs would add to the experience. Nobody is proposing to have one at every club.

The exact duties of the DoF would depend on which club you are at and what concessions you can get out of them during contract negotiations - this could even provide an incentive to manage a smaller club if they agree with sack their DoF and give you full control.

I know that some people just want to have full control of their favourite club from the start so they could just choose the terms of their contract when they start the game - including the option to not have the chairman sell players. Everyone is happy.

Personally I think thatppl who dont want a DoF are the same ppl who say football management is easy. Its a good addition to the game, have an option of interference based on attributes, if you prove yourself less interference if you prove to be useless more interference. Just like real life.

jsollo, I see what your getting at, but do we really need yet another feature that is basically half finished? We've got enough already. Surely it would be far better to get a transfer system working as realistically as possible before anything like this was even considered. FM's transfer system has been getting work pretty much every year and yet it is still quite poor so I don't see such an idea even being feasible for a while yet.

I don't agree at all that we risk making the game too easy by not having DOF's in the game. Not one bit. The reason it gets easy quickly, espeacially when managing a big club, is that the AI are so bad at making sensible transfers. In my game, Man City are now my biggest rivals, yet they have only been spending big money on squad players who are never going to break into the first team, and as a result, the first team is getting ever increasingly decrepid. Chelsea haven't signed even a squad player in three seasons and have instead spent their money on youngsters and it's pretty much the same with Utd and Arsenal. This is what is making the game too easy and I see adding DOF's with a transfer system as poor as it is at present is just creating a smokescreen and not solving the real issue.

I'm not opposed to seeing this included in the future providing that it is optional, but before it can be implemented, I think the transfer system needs massive work. It just isn't in a position where we could trust the AI to make sensible transfers and I don't think it will be for a while yet.

I think the idea makes plenty of sense. For those who want total control, the normal way of playing should be kept, but for those who want an added challenge of realism, having a director of football is good.

The person isn't always called a director of football though; the person who takes care of the transfers and contracts at man utd, for example, is the chairman David Gill (the reason ferguson seems to have so much power is because of the time he has been at the club).

I did always think that as the head coach/manager, you should request the players you want to the Chairman/director of football, indicate how much you want the player so as to show the chairman if he should overspend on the player if necessary. The Same would apply for contracts of players and staff.

Of course, the more experienced and strong reputation wise you become as the game progresses, the more you're given leeway by the chairman/director of football, as more trust is given to the big successful managers.

jsollo, I see what your getting at, but do we really need yet another feature that is basically half finished? We've got enough already. Surely it would be far better to get a transfer system working as realistically as possible before anything like this was even considered. FM's transfer system has been getting work pretty much every year and yet it is still quite poor so I don't see such an idea even being feasible for a while yet.

I don't agree at all that we risk making the game too easy by not having DOF's in the game. Not one bit. The reason it gets easy quickly, espeacially when managing a big club, is that the AI are so bad at making sensible transfers. In my game, Man City are now my biggest rivals, yet they have only been spending big money on squad players who are never going to break into the first team, and as a result, the first team is getting ever increasingly decrepid. Chelsea haven't signed even a squad player in three seasons and have instead spent their money on youngsters and it's pretty much the same with Utd and Arsenal. This is what is making the game too easy and I see adding DOF's with a transfer system as poor as it is at present is just creating a smokescreen and not solving the real issue.

I'm not opposed to seeing this included in the future providing that it is optional, but before it can be implemented, I think the transfer system needs massive work. It just isn't in a position where we could trust the AI to make sensible transfers and I don't think it will be for a while yet.

I think that you are spot on there. I'd rather see the game getting better and working on it's flaws, instead of trying to adding a new feature.

I think that you are spot on there. I'd rather see the game getting better and working on it's flaws, instead of trying to adding a new feature.

Its not really a new feature though. You can have a basic premise which allows a little more interaction. By all means have an optional setup as you do with transfers in first window but tie the level of interference to your ability gained within the game. I understand the need to improve the current setup, especially the AI but I have to believe that this is currently being worked on so I am taking that as my basis. Again though, I dont see this as a new feature. They had something similar to this in previous versions and for some unknown reason it was removed, so surely that could be brought back. I do remember stats of chairman and directors appearing on the info screen before so that could be recovered.

The Director of Football feature can work like the assistant manager now

Transfer: At the moment, the Ass.Man do make suggestion on transfer. Maybe, that should become the job of Director of Football (if there club has one). So regularly, the DoF can do a summary of players who he think would be a suitable addition. Such report should be much more pro-active, much like the monthly training reports. He should also suggest which player should be sold because you are not playing him enough etc.

Contract: Someone mentioned that manager don't negoiate wages these days. In FM there is already an option of leaving that to your ass.man or coach. So it would make sense to me if such option should be delegate to the DoF.

Scouting: the DoF can also be in charge of scouting. As it is, we decide who we want to send the scout to. However, I don't see why we cannot have an option where we ask the DoF to be in charge of the scouting (much like the way you can ask your Ass.Man to arrange friendies etc). So the DoF will decide where to send the scout to. an advantage of using that would be the DoF would ensure that he will not forget to send a scout to inernational tournament, for example.

To maximise playability, i would suggest those feature should be toggle on/off like most of the Ass.Man option.

I suggested something like this, saying that in real life, managers don't really have much say in transfers, they kind of present the board with a target they have in mind or a wish list of players& then they go get.

Nobody seemed to like. Which i agree, sometimes you like to be involved.

However, i do like how you said, that at the start of the game, it could be an option, if your club was to have an Director of Football. Could be part of contract negegations when, talking to other interested clubs in yours services.

I agree with this possible scenario. For those who dont want it give them a toggle on/off button, for the rest of us then have the DoF doing the work he does irl.

For the DoF to be implemented in FM, it has to done right. The main gripe I have is that I don't trust the AI to make a good decision in terms of signing players, and transfers are a major part of the game and many people seem to enjoy (including me) doing it themselves without a DoF. Not to mention the possibility of the DoF ruining everything you built. Who has more control, the DoF or the manager? What if your DoF doesn't listen to you? Will it be possible to have both titles of DoF and manager if this does get implemented? You essentially lose control of your finances as well.

IMO, it will get quite tedious if you don't control transfers. You can only do so much with tactics and training...

This feature has probably been discussed from SI, but I don't see it being implemented until transfers get fixed.

The current transfer system would be just like working under Damien Comolli - it's a feature.

I understand the concerns but it should still be an option. The DoF could suggest transfers but not actually undertake them. They could perhaps allow the DoF to have a dealin place and then allow you to have a YES or NO option to choose if the deal goes through or not. However the pressures of not performing should be more present and I think a DoF will allow for this where the confidence screen and the fan comments do not as they are so far off the mark.

Personally, not being involved in transfers would take more than half the fun out of the game for me and I can see why SI are against it. It would take a lot of time to implement properly and wouldn't be exactly easy to make it optional which is a must because the majority of the people would rather play the game like it is now. We need a much better transfer system and much better squad building AI before even thinking about features like these imo.

Yes i don't think we should get to a point where the DoF just bought the players for you. it happened in previous game and it took the enjoyment out completely.

But they can be proactively look for the player and actually send you the report (just like the scout is doing now) and the game offer you the option to say "yes, go for it" or "No, he is crap". From there on the DoF will just negotiate the deal and get you the player.

tbf, this is probably the most likely scenario in most club with the exception of a few superclubs in the world.

Just because you don't like the DoF doesn't mean people who do should be denied it.

1) Its completely realistic to have one.

2) Don't like the DoF?

2A) Go to a club that doesn't have one.

2B) Turn the option off then.

I'm sick of being denied an OPTION in a game because a few people are against it. Its so hypocritical because the same people who call for realism are against this feature.

And if SI really cared about bug fixing they would release patches as needed not on a schedule.

Just because you don't like the DoF doesn't mean people who do should be denied it.

1) Its completely realistic to have one.

2) Don't like the DoF?

2A) Go to a club that doesn't have one.

2B) Turn the option off then.

I'm sick of being denied an OPTION in a game because a few people are against it. Its so hypocritical because the same people who call for realism are against this feature.

And if SI really cared about bug fixing they would release patches as needed not on a schedule.

I have to agree with this.

Quite a few people want the game to be realistic, but when it comes to discussing realistic things, like DoF, then many of the same ones screams that it wouldn't be fun.

I'd personally like more fun into the game, as it might be the most realistic management game on the market, thus becoming very "serious". But that doesn't mean the game is realistic.

I find the game very far from realistic.

Then it's the everlasting concern about "how to implement it". Well that is, still, SIs part of the job, should they decide to implement it. It's all down to them.

And if they would do it, then it would pretty much be the same as the patch. It's there when it's ready.

It's a tough job they have at SI, without a doubt, and some things are very difficult to get done. But that's what follows when you're that succesful with a game that has got so many wishes and demands on its back.

How they implement it, should they decide to do it.........i really don't care.

The only thing i would care about is that it would be working the way it should. Something some features aren't doing at the moment. And some, of those some, haven't been working for a couple of versions now. Would love to see the reactions if they took those out. I say that based on "they shouldn't implement it unless it's working properly" etc.

How? I don't care, as long as it works.

I hope DoF would make it into the game at some point. Only time will tell i guess. Until then, i'll play with whatever the game offers me.

I wouldnt like to be a director of football but I would like the challenge of being a manager of a club that has one.

Some clubs will have one, smaller clubs wont. It could also be in your contract that you are the one who decides who stays or gos. Or a mixture where you can recommend players and your director makes the final descion and signs his own.

I would think Wenger and Ferguson decides who comes and gos. But theres a lot that dont have much say.

I don't think many clubs let the manager decide how much they pay for a player or how much they should get paid.

i think that the whole transfer process is inaccurate anyway. I think that a manager will have a list of transfer targets that he will give to a CEO or dof and let them do the business part of actually getting the player. Therefore i think that it would be a good idea that SI include a feature where u create a shortlist of transfer targets that u would like and with each player state how much u would be willing to pay for them (in terms of price) and then the CEO or dof coming back to u and saying "i can get him for £xm maybe pushing to £ym if we negoitate further." i think that this is near enough what actually happens in football as the CEO or dof will go and meet the players current club, talk to them and then talk to the players agent and in some cases talk to the agent first and then the club. Maybe within this new feature u could talk to the players manager about that player to get a better deal or something like that. Instead of a very basic transfer system that is in place now. The transfer of a player is a very lengthy one and involves a number of different people and agents and CEO's or dof's are heavily involved, more so than the manager as he is concentrating on perfecting tactics and the day to day runnings of the club on the pitch.

Of course you wouldnt be the DoF, no-one suggested that. The option is to have one within the club you're at. Right now you see lots of Directors at a club and you have no understanding of why they're there. Why so many? A DoF is a go-between, whatever he does shouldnt be the gamers concern but that interaction between Manager and DoF is present at many clubs worldwide and would provide us with an extra level. I would far have preferred this feature rather than press conferences, since these are a lot heavier on the workload as they involve so many possibilities. The option of on or off should be provided.

Bump this up so its not forgotten.

I'll see your bump and raise you a point of view:

DoF's are necessary in the game. Running away from the fun/realism debate - wich can be eternal -, they are necessary because if they exist ingame, we can have a clear view to what the clubs/players/fans want.

Let's take a look at Wenger. We know that, no matter what, Arsene wants to buy young players and form them. If he leaves Arsenal (ingame), he'll continue to do so in another club. But what happens to the club? Who will they need/want/get?

I have to say that I'm a lot like Wenger - I like to have young players around and make them who they are. It would be very helpfull to know that, if I were to be invited by a club, they could come and say "we know that you prefer a young squad, we have it here, do you want to join us?". Same goes for other clubs and managers! A friend of mine likes to buy well known players who are getting old. A club (Pompey comes to mind) that wanted immediate attention in buying old but known players to profit - in and out of the field - with their experience would want to have a word with him. Or Chelsea, for that matter: they wanted Ancellotti, not only because he's good, but because he has the experience of working with overaged stars - wich Chelsea is starting to become.

But not only that: if you get a new feature in, more things have to appear.

One thing that I used to love im the old CM was choosing the type of manager I was - I would always go with rash (I was young and stupid...). Implementing DoF and giving them attributes could prompt SI to give us one thing that I've been longing for in ages: personal caracter. And not in a sims way, no; I mean like a small resume. The questions that the jornalists make at the first presentation when you join a club are something like that, but we don't know if it's usable. If, at the beggining of the game you could choose 4 or 5 topics (prefered type of play; player buying age preference; etc.) and a few options for each question (passing, direct, mixed; 16-21, 20-25, 23-28, etc.), the game could prompt a variety of things happening that wouldn't happen with a different type of profile. Players choosing club A instead of B, clubs choosing manager A instead of B, etc..

*Bump* .