FM13 Suggestion

I think the signing of players should be done by the Chairman or chief executive or whoever (as in real life) and NOT by the manager.

IRL the manager lets the CEO or Chairman know who he wants and then the chairman chases after him and negotiates with club and player.

Also the Chairman should be negotiating sales and not the manager.

Just an idea. What do you think?

Non starter for me. A lot of the fun in FM is the buying and selling of players, building up the team as I want it.

Also whenever I ask the board to get involved in a transfer for me, they always seem to end up paying way over the odds both in transfer fee and wages.

I think this should be option only. Many players love buying and selling etc, even though it not part of a manager's job(for the most part i imagine), whilst others want a more realistic approach.

The problem is that the AI is not sufficient enough for it to work imo. You'll be resentful of the high/low prices they buy or sell for.

Well as everyone knows I'm all for options.

Yes we would be annoyed at the high/low buying/selling prices but then again its realistic. Plus it also put you on an equal footing with the AI.

This would be a massive gamebreaker for me, as it would take away a vital part of the game. I know it's not the way it happens IRL, but who cares? Sometimes realism can go too far, we need features like this to keep the game interesting.

There is a missing link in a "Director of Football". Which a lot of clubs have. If you want this you should be able to request it to the Board. Then when you do get one, you can use your shortlists that you create as a guide for the DoF to follow in buying players.

Some people don't like the buying and selling and contract negotiations in buying players. And what's the harm of letting the computer do it for you if that's what you want.

But again, you should have to request the Board to appoint one. And if there is one at the club already, you should be able to request the Board that you want to take over Signing players (so the DoF steps down or something).

There is a missing link in a "Director of Football". Which a lot of clubs have. If you want this you should be able to request it to the Board. Then when you do get one, you can use your shortlists that you create as a guide for the DoF to follow in buying players.

Some people don't like the buying and selling and contract negotiations in buying players. And what's the harm of letting the computer do it for you if that's what you want.

But again, you should have to request the Board to appoint one. And if there is one at the club already, you should be able to request the Board that you want to take over Signing players (so the DoF steps down or something).

but say your DoF works from your shortlist and your shortlist has a player on that you placed on there say 6 months ago but have now found someone better and the DoF signs the first player you found you'd be pretty hacked off.

A good idea in theory but would be very hard to implement in the game so that it works well.

SI could allow human managers to have a 2 tier short list, AI clubs can be listed has having either a major or minor interest in a player but we are always listed as having a major interest.

The result being if you put a player in the minor category you get the usual news updates with a major interest category being used to formally identify preferred targets to the director of football who will then do his thing.

It would be nice perhaps if the DoF called a meeting with you to discuss the shortlist and which players you're interested in.

It could be a very specific list. Say if you have a Shortlist - you could go into that shortlist and select players and say "Add to DoF Shortlist".

Then after a transfer window is gone the DoF shortlist is cleaned out.

So you'd have a period before a transfer window where you can select players you want to sign. The DoF tries to sign them - perhaps you'd have the preferentialise them - as you would with captains and free kick takers etc.

After the transfer window is gone - the list is cleared.

Though I would never use it, I don't see the harm in being able to set up an optional "Director of Football" under Team Policy. Doing away with player-directed transfers altogether, however, would ruin the game for me.

Having an optional DoF wouldn't be a bad idea, a bit like asking your assistant to arrange friendlies and other duties, this could be part of the team policy section. But it would have to be our choice, not something forced upon us.

Shortlists would have to be different, the one Mr Tyson suggests sounds like a good way to go. I like to have a large shortlist (a longlist, if you will) because I want to keep tabs on players and be notified when other teams make a bid.

To be honest we have options for attending press conferences, holding teamtalks, handling match prep., dealing without youth intake. All of which the manager can get his assistant to do, if he chooses. There should not be the option of 'let director handle transfers and contracts' as this is not the managers choice, in the main. This decision is taken by those above the manager. When you take over as Madrid manager the choice is not yours, it has already been decided, the director does it. Mourinho has a lot of influence but even he does not deal with the other directors or offer his current players contracts. Same at Tottenham, United, Newcastle, etc etc.

For those who say it is a non starter, or takes the fun away, then for a series that aspires to be the most accurate interpretation/simulation of real life footie then it HAS to be included. Also, I think it would add the experience. Imagine you have won everything in the game and Madrid come calling. You can demand that you are in control of transfers or contracts. It could add so much to the series. It could evolve the way we use the shortlist, we could have an updated 'shorter' shortlist which you hand to the board ranking the players in terms of priority, blah blah blah. Be amazing.

If SI were to implement this option, the only non-fun destroying way of doing it I can think of would be by submitting a player wishlist to the board/director of football, who would then try to sign the players based on this recommendation. Otherwise the transfer AI is currently too poor to have a satisfactory transfer policy without human input.

Fun >>> Realism

If we only got to do what managers do, then there would be no point in having a video game about it.

Part of the enjoyment of FM is the realism of it, but there has to be a line where a feature is going to seriously detract from the overall experience.

As I say, it should be optional.

Or you could have it set at "based on club" then you could end up managing a club where you have to deal with the DoF on a regular basis. Or you might want a DoF but the board won't allow it. So you have to deal with it yourself.

It would be interesting, and that's the way footballing business is done. So there's no reason to not have it in the game. It would be up to SI how to implement it though if they decide that way.

If the OP posts a link to this to on the official thread (linked above) then Si will see it and read it.

It really should be in the game.

The other thing about asking the "board" to interject in buying an important player, that could also fall on the DoF.

The Board might even let you help in finding a DoF - and you get to approach someone. The better the DoF the better the chance you have of landing players. They could have stats like - negotiating, economics, business, financial management (I just thought this up so give me a break )

Sadly i think this will probably eventually make it into the game because it comes up so often now, i personally dont see the point, i want more than click and continue game and all these things just take parts of the game away from the user.

As Eugene said it could be an option you select when creating your game, at present you can remove real world rules (tycoon takeovers in Germany) with the click of a button therefore I see no reason why there couldn't be an option to add/remove 'realistic transfer dealings' so that clubs who currently use a director of football to handle things liek scouting, player acquisition & contract negotiations will do so in the game.

For you it would Milnerpoint. But it might make the game more challenging for some people.

Me personally, I might use it - as I always use the 48 month transfer budget thing and I buy ridiculous amounts of players for ridiculous monies.

But something like this would stop me and make the game harder as I rely on the computer to purchase the players on my wishlist.

There could be sagas happening in the game too because of it. Remember Keane signing for Liverpool, they're DoF went out without Benitez knowledge and bought him. That's why Keane didn't get his game often and was transferred 6 months later. Benitez hadn't got a choice in his purchase.

Things like that would be possible. You'd be hounded by the media for not picking a player bought. You could criticise the DoF.

Then perhaps if you go to the board who stubborn about having the DoF there you could actually get them removed and take control again. Or you could end up leaving because the lack of control on buying players.

That sort of thing happens often enough in football.

I could do with removing Press Conferences in favour of this to be honest.

then for a series that aspires to be the most accurate interpretation/simulation of real life footie then it HAS to be included.

It doesn't have to be included as a mandatory challenge, because many managers do have control over their club's transfer policy, including managers taking their first jobs. It's improbable, but not altogether unrealistic to imagine that even Real Madrid might one day hire a brilliant young former footballer and have him operate as both manager and director of football. In fact, the very premise of Football Manager is based on such basic improbabilities (after all, how probable was it that any first-time manager might take over for Alex Ferguson or Guardiola at the beginning of the 11/12 season).

Again, I have no problem with it being optional as long as players are given the option of starting with control over transfer policy at any club they choose. That's not unrealistic unless you want to go to such extremes that all players are forced to use their real names and start as unemployed staff with little to no prior experience.

And generally, I am opposed to taking yet more power away from the player. Tactical options are already very limited and the options we do have are further constrained by the limited ways in which the ME has to interpret them. Outside factors affecting morale already have a significant role in determining match outcomes regardless of how correctly you manage your tactics, and with team talk effects continuously being toned down, the actual impact of player input is being further limited. If you take transfer policy away from the player and put it in the hands of an AI that is, quite frankly, rather terrible at squad building, you are coming very close to reducing Football Manager to a simulation that you passively watch, not a game that you actively play.

That may appeal to some, but IMO, if you want to passively watch a football world develop, we have the real world.

Well then it would definitely have to be optional.

I would use it. As I'm a demon in the transfer market and it makes the game far too easy for me.

This would definitely limit my choices of players to sign.

<littlepersonalstoryonwhyi'dlikethis>

I had to give up on an Arsenal save because I had 6 world class players for each position and rotating them was a pain. Couldn't bring myself to sell them either.

I was just going out and buying players that were scouted and had a rating of 4* or over.

Far too easy.

Then after I quit the game to start a new one - I loaded my Arsenal game up in FM Scout - turns out I had most of the worlds top top players. So I did a good job, i did the right thing in moving on. 10 years of winning everything got boring.

</littlepersonalstoryonwhyi'dlikethis>

But there's nothing stopping you from limiting your transfer activity yourself. You can ignore scouting reports (easier than ever in FM12) and not use player search. You can limit yourself to only signing transfer listed players. You can impose a spending cap on yourself. You can choose to only use your own youth products (something I did once with Arsenal, it was a lot of fun and provided a great sense of accomplishment).

But there's nothing stopping you from limiting your transfer activity yourself. You can ignore scouting reports (easier than ever in FM12) and not use player search. You can limit yourself to only signing transfer listed players. You can impose a spending cap on yourself. You can choose to only use your own youth products (something I did once with Arsenal, it was a lot of fun and provided a great sense of accomplishment).

That requires a lot of will power, which I lack severely.

It should be harder to break budgets, sign players, and other transfer stuff.

I'm sure if any manager in the world could spend €250m in one transfer window and buy a new team of superstars they would (ahem Man City )

The game isn't real enough for me.

This DoF idea would help in that.

In saying that also then - if you don't want to take control of contract talks, just holiday past the day that the contract negotiation comes up to sign the player. The Ass Man will do it.

There's ways around a lot of what we discussed already.

But looking at an option that could potentially make the game a lot harder than it currently is - that's productive stuff.

All I'm doing at the moment in FM until the transfer window closes is doing all the Hero challenges. As I've nothing else to do in the game, it's boring.

Get this - I bought another game to play instead of FM12! First time I've ever done that.

i have wanted this for a few years now. it adds to the realism and you cant have an advantage over the AI in transfers. this will give us a realistic career and you wont be able to become the best team in the world with BSP sides. so when after 3 years a team from the championship, division 1 approaches you, you actually feel the need to accept and get a sense of achievement. the challenge for me has been gone for the last 3 FMs, but this option can bring it back.

Fun >>> Realism

If we only got to do what managers do, then there would be no point in having a video game about it.

Disagree. Realism >> fun every day of the week. It is a simulation not a action game. Many people have called for more options like difficulty levels, building new stadiums, setting ticket prices, spending the salary of the manager. All of which have been discounted by SI as not being realistic for the manager to be doing. No reason why they havent added a 'proper' director of football

Absolutely. DoF is a real life position in a club. Not even mentioned in FM. It could add certain extra difficulty to the game. Which would make for a more exciting game.

I am honestly bored with FM at the moment. Can't wait for the patch after the transfer window!

Whoever said fun > realism hit the nail on the head. Also, it's not as if the game let's you run amock. The chairman can block transfers, both coming in and going out, so it's not as if the manager has total automony.

That said, having it as an option to let an AI controlled sporting director take care of transfers would be fine, but it shouldn't be forced upon you. Even if you are managing Real Madrid.

There is too much human judgement involved in making transfers for the AI to be able to successfully replicate.

However if this could be replicated, I wouldn't say no.

It can also be a part of a negotiation for a manager's contract. For instance if you have a "worldwide" reputation you are more likely to have a greater say in transfer policy and contract negotiation. i.e. a n00bie starting off at Real Madrid will get no say whatsoever. The DoF (CEO), president or whatever will even buy and sell the players whereas if you have a "worldwide" rep and takeover at say Crewe Alexandra in League 2 yopu may well total control like you do now in FM.

Also after a boardroom takeover they may well install a DoF or remove one. Then its up to you whether or not you stay. You could insist to the board as an ultimatum that he is removed or you could even request one if you prefer.

You should also be able to chat to whoever buys/sells the players about his buying/selling policy. i.e. Only buy youngsters, only offer 1 year contracts to over 30s, only offer 5 year deals to under 25 1st team players, sell at any price, sell at highest possible price (risk of no sale), buy as cheap as possible (risk of being outbid), buy at any cost, etc...

I like where this is going, shame that it is probably too late for FM13.

I have suggested earlier that the AI has a board meeting including the manager twice a year where who stays, who goes and who should replace them is discussed and decided upon in a rather formal manner. I believe this would improve the AI team building dramatically if implemented correctly.

This idea of an optional Director of Football available in Team Policy could employ this functionality so that you as a manager are called into this meeting the 30th of December and 25th of June (in England). You then select who goes (transfer list, offer to clubs, release), and your first (and possibly second?) choices to replace them). The DoF then makes that happen if possible.

Disagree. Realism >> fun every day of the week. It is a simulation not a action game. Many people have called for more options like difficulty levels, building new stadiums, setting ticket prices, spending the salary of the manager. All of which have been discounted by SI as not being realistic for the manager to be doing. No reason why they havent added a 'proper' director of football

Disagree. Fun and realism need to go hand in hand. Too much realism will make the game monotonous and boring, while too much fun could make the game unrealistic and ridiculous.

This is why SI haven't added this into the game, because they know the majority of people playing want the best of both worlds, a realistic game but with the fun stuff that a normal manager doesn't deal with.

Disagree. Fun and realism need to go hand in hand. Too much realism will make the game monotonous and boring, while too much fun could make the game unrealistic and ridiculous.

This is why SI haven't added this into the game, because they know the majority of people playing want the best of both worlds, a realistic game but with the fun stuff that a normal manager doesn't deal with.

Hence the need to have this as an optional tick before the game starts.

DoF allowed?

Would this not depend on the country one was managing in? ISTR that Spanish 'managers' have a lot less control over who is signed than their English counterparts.

For a truly realistic game, differences based on club and country would need to be taken into account.

I'd like an option of changing the fonts in the game. Would keep it fresh.

Also when your match is on and your watchin the latest scores why is your club always at the bottom? Just leave it in alphabetical order!

I personally think this is one of the worst ideas i've heard. Buying and selling players is one of my favorite things in the game and i spend ages looking for the right players and buying them. If this were taken away from me then the game would just become space-bar only for me, i wouldnt be doing anything! id rather become"director of football"myself, which istill think is a bad idea. Id rather they improved things then add something like this as an option, i think everyone saying they want it would be pretty bored of it quickly.

There is no suggestion of making this feature the only way FM works, most of the posters in favour of this have agreed that it should be an option like valid takeovers only that you select when starting the game as it's fairly clear that not everyone would like to give up transfer control to a director of football.

As for worst idea that surely has to go for the annual calls to be able to spend your managers wage on cars, boats & houses.

Who here has trouble selling players? Who here hates how difficult it can be?

Go ahead put your hands up. Don't be shy.

What if the DoF not only could buy players in for you from a shortlist. But you give them a shortlist of players you want shifted and they go out and that for you?

The DoF could offer a lot of possibilites. From making the game a lot harder by not allowing the user to buy anybody they like and go WAY over budget. To actually shifting players out of the club taking over that role for you.

When you think about it - a DoF for some people makes a lot of sense.

It could also be used as a way for a manager to focus more on the match days rather than dealing with the Board or the Press conferences. It could actually relieve pressure on a stuggling manager, say if you're in trouble in the league and the Board are demanding answers, you could suggest that a DoF be brought in, the DoF would act as a middle-man between the board.

The DoF could also offer advice to your team if it's struggling. Or a popular ex-player, say David Beckham, and you have a team meeting and the players are unresponsive you can then ask the DoF for their opinion and it could help to boost morale. Having an ex-star as the DoF could improve your fortunes if you implement how you use him correctly. Conversely though it could go horribly wrong. Perhaps you decide to bring in Roy Keane as DoF but have Alfe Hagland as a coach... uh oh! Personal rivalary there and that would be bad for morale etc.

And you then of course could add tension to the club and between the board, the DoF and yourself, by claiming the DoF isn't buying the players you wanted, and that you're being strongarmed by the DoF in the transfer market. That could actually easy the tension with the fans. Say if you're performing badly in the league, if you have just cause you could slag off the DoF and that would ease tension between you and the fans. Perhaps the Board would even give you a bit of a break because of how the DoF is handling things.

It would be then you could request that the DoF be replaced or removed from the club.

I'm not writing these in stone - these are just different ways other than the transfer market where a DoF could be possibly used.

There is another benefit that is worth mentioning, if SI wanted to seriously consider this & put in the resources to get it right the additional bonus would be hat AI transfer dealings & team building will see a rapid improvement, how often do we see folk bemoaning the fact that long term games become too easy because of the AI's failings in this area?

Never mind selling players. How about loaning out players!

That's what happens in real life to a football manager. Sometimes they put up with a terrible board. Sometimes there's a helpful board. Sometimes there's an interfering DoF. Sometimes there's a helpful DoF.

But that's part of what being a manager is about. Sure the pitch stuff and results are utmost important. But sometimes you have to deal with meddling DoF, meddling agents, meddling boards, meddling journalists.

I want to say. I want to see a DoF. But I don't want it always to be a helpful thing. Sometimes they can screw things up for you. Sometimes if you don't have one the Board are hard ass on you so you need to bring in a DoF to ease tensions with the board. Or the fans might be slacking off so you bring back a club legend as the DoF to boost ticket sales or something.

I'd like to see it happen. And there's loads of ways to make it really good and interesting.

One more thing

What about when you're putting out an advert for a coach or something. There's never any advice on which one to go for.

If you had a DoF then they could advise you on what coach to sign up.

If they ever implement this, it just has to be optional. Reading most of these posts I'm absolutely horrified!

It would definitely be a realistic feature, but I'm with those who say we have to draw the line somewhere. Otherwise, in FM 2020 we'll have to deal with a nagging wife and a kid who has trouble in school. After all, that's what RL managers deal with as well.

Someone said it would prevent us from taking a BS N/S club to world domination, which would supposedly be good thing. Why do we play this game? Do you really want to spend hours upon hours of your free time playing a game where you constantly struggle and face everyday stress of a real football manager?

I play this game to fulfill my fantasies in a manner of speaking. I want to take my favourite club from Croatian obscurity to European superpower. I don't want to relive the agony of their RL status.

There's no reason why DoF would stop you doing this. It could even actually help you. I've said already that sometimes the DoF would be helpful, other times not.

I do agree it has to be completely optional.

At the moment I'm doing the Hero challenges, simply because it's far too easy to go from bottom league to top league.

Everyone plays the game to win. But it shouldn't be so easy. And someone like a DoF could make it that more difficult and bring the game back to a more realistic way a club operates.

When I took over at Aresnal I sold all the players under 3star rating and then bought all players scouted with 4 stars or above. I spent €250m in one transfer window.

If I had a DoF in place, I'd have to go them to sign players. And I wouldn't be able to go 5 times over budget in one transfer budget.

Yes I'd still have success, but not in one season. Not winning the league 10 times in a row. And winning the CHampions league 6 times in a row. That's not realistic and makes the game boring. There's no challenge in that.