How to Play as a DoF in Football Manager

Recently I've been watching some videos from fellow Football manager YouTubers where they act as Directors of Football (DoF’s) in their FM saves - as opposed to being an actual Football manager.

This less hands on but equally as fun approach to FM has given me some super fun save ideas, so today I'll guide you through how you can give this save style a try!

There are two ways that I know of to play a DoF save, both of which are makeshift and not perfect - one method is for those without access to the in-game editor, and the other is for those who are able/want to use the editor.

Basic Settings

First though - the basics that apply to both methods and every DoF save. As you are acting as the DoF at your club and not the manager, we need the game to represent this as best as possible.

Head over to the ‘responsibilities’ tab, found in the ‘staff’ section and begin to delegate your Non-DoF tasks to the Assistant Manager. Team training, match preparation, media - the lot.

The only parts you want to be in charge of is the transfer side of things, so leave yourself in charge of scouting and signing players as well as offering contracts.

With that done, you are now only performing the DoF side of things whilst your assistant takes control of the management side of the game.

The game doesn't necessarily recognise you as a DoF, but it’s the best we can do with no dedicated DoF mode.

Next, sack your DoF if you have one and leave the staff space empty, we don’t need two of you at the club! Now it’s time to recruit your manager (who will really be your assistant manager) and this is where your two methods come into play.

Without the Editor

Here, you are limited in your managerial appointments.

Without the editor, any potential incomings are going to have to be realistic appointments that actually want an Assistant Managers job at your club. Pep and Klopp won’t want to be your number two at Schalke!

The best way to recruit is either to stick with your current assistant manager, or sack them and place a job advert for the position, then take your pick of the choices that will pop through in your inbox a week or two down the line.

Take note of the appointment's tactical style, as it will be this tactic that you likely have to sign players to suit.

As far as the game is concerned, you are still really the manager, so remember any poor performances will reflect on yourself and your job prospects and could lead to the sack, this is where the editor is of use!

With the Editor

With the editor there are some slight tweaks we can do to help us make this DoF save a little more realistic, everything follows suit when it comes to the previous step, other than two major changes.

Firstly, with the editor, if you click it when in the home screen you can choose the option ‘Become Unsackable”.

This is handy as when the team performs poorly, you can avoid the sack and as you are the DoF, you can sack your assistant manager who is pretending to be your manager and replace them. As a team would in real life when not meeting expectations.

The other big change is your recruitment for the Assistant Manager’s position.

With the editor you can bring whoever you like to be your club's manager, be realistic with it to keep the save fun. Don't bring in Thomas Tuchel or Enrique to be your Burton Albion Manager.

You can also edit their contract lengths and use this to deter any potential sides swooping in and stealing your Assistant Manager should you want to.

Where to go from here

Now you're all set up, you are ready to play!

Advance your days/holiday forward whilst making transfers and changes until match days come around, at which point you can holiday ahead a day until the match is over.

Remember to sign players for the present and future whilst keeping your eyes on potential managerial appointments, you never know when you may need them!

I made a video on this on the FMScout Youtube channel which you may get some use from if you want a visual explanation.

As mentioned there, I first saw this idea from Clayts’ series on YouTube so big credit to him and anyone else out there who has helped bring this way of playing to light.

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We know this method isn’t perfect, but it is a lot of fun and does beg the question whether this is something that should be in the next FM installment, what do you think?