Football Manager 2023 is likely to come out later this year, but how can players run a director of football save on the new management sim?

The franchise has always followed an annual release schedule and we expect FM23 to release sometime around November.

The beta will come out two weeks before, as is tradition, so players can get to grips with the game’s mechanics and start their saves, all the while reporting any bugs they find.

There are a number of ways to play the game, of course, and it really depends on what you want out of Football Manager.

Will you simply pick your favourite team and try to guide them to glory? Will you start unemployed and potentially begin your managerial career in non-league? Or will you go trophy hunting across Europe?

We’ve already written a guide on how to utilise a Moneyball approach in Football Manager 2023, if that’s something that you’re interested in.

And we’re now taking a look at what is required to do a Director of Football save.


How To Do A Director Of Football Save on FM23

FM23 (Dexerto)

The basic premise of a DoF save is that you simply coach the team.

You don’t go out and buy players or identify talent or even send scouts to look at talent, you just work with what you’re given by the AI.

It strips away the control of squad building and relies exclusively on the AI, which takes away the advantage of being able to find wunderkinds.

You are also at the mercy of your DoF’s attributes when it comes to judging player ability, judging player potential and negotiating.

If they’re bad at it, you might be managing Manchester United and find yourself linked with Marko Arnautovic. Hang on…

Anyway, here are the main rules for the save.

  • You cannot buy a single player yourself.
  • You have to work with the DoF who is at the club when you first arrive but you may bring in a different DoF once their contract expires. If the club you choose does not have a DoF, appoint one. You can either do this yourself to make it a bit easier, or ask your board to do it, which is a riskier move. This save is hard enough as it is, so we’ll let you pick!
  • You must not scout any players or give your DoF any hints when it comes to recruitment.
  • You simply focus on managing the team and getting results.
  • The same goes for sales; you cannot list players for transfer, or for loan. That, again, is your DoF’s job.
  • You cannot extend contracts. It might mean your best player goes for free, but that’s not a part of your job description!

It’s a really interesting way of playing the game, although it should be said that these saves are usually best when they’re short, as a key part of FM is squad-building.

We’d advise setting yourself the challenge of winning a major trophy and then calling it a day.

Here’s what you need to do to get the save set up.

  • If you don’t have a DoF, hire one either by yourself or by allowing your board to pick one.
  • Head over to the staff tab and click Responsibilities, then navigate to Staff.
  • Delegate every single piece of recruitment, from first-team to U23 and U18, to the Director of Football. Do this for Coaching Courses too.
  • Now go to Scouting in Responsibilities and assign all scouting responsibilities to your DoF.
  • Do the same in Transfers and Contracts, assigning all negotiating power for every age group to your DoF.

Once all of this is done, you can begin your journey in Football Manager 2023.

Good luck here, because this is one of the most difficult types of save you can pick on FM; let us know how you get on if you do try it out!


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