The FM Library

We at the library want to shout from the rafters about creators that we like, so we put the word about to some of our favourites to find out a little bit more about them…

With 11 simple questions… for Dictate The Game

My creator name is Dictate The Game. I actually can’t remember why I chose it, but when we originally set up we wanted to dive in to both football and Football Manager. Dictating the game is a key part in both of the subjects, and we wanted to have something that was unique and stuck out. It’s stayed with us ever since, even with us moving away from football content.

My real name is Ryan, but we are a team at Dictate The Game. The day I write this we consist of Ben, Paul, Luke, Ihor, Dom, Guy, Pelham and Jay.

I support Everton. My family club are St Mirren – my cousin plays for them.

My journey is a bit of a weird one. I started playing the game back in 2012/13 on FM13 and joined a few FB groups as I had no idea what I was doing. Slowly but surely I got more involved and active on these groups. I then got closer to some of the admins in FM Central where I joined the moderating team. From there I started attempting to write and contribute to their website and this sparked a real keen interest for me. I took a break between my A-levels and the beginning of University where I decided to set up my own project. I then started adding to the team, adding different personalities and creators and thankfully we have kept the same core team for years. I don’t think i’ll ever properly put the game down and this passion I have for managing and writing is something that I am incredibly proud of.

I guess I pretty much sum this up in the last question. It was sort of a responsibility at FM Central to get the group more active and with the introduction of a website, it meant that posting content was something that we had to do. I make it sound bad, but it really wasn’t, maybe ‘had to do’ was the wrong word, but I felt as an up and coming writer it was my responsibility. It also made me immensely proud hearing feedback from people and listening to them benefiting from the articles I had wrote. The journey has been incredible, I have played in the FM Charity Cup at right back, that was a special moment. I was also invited down to SI Towers as a thank you for our contributions to the Byline. I have met some amazing writers and content creators and having a team like I do is a dream.

I actually play a lot more on touch, so my experience might be a little different to most. I always spend the most time at the beginning of a season, especially at a new club. Looking at what players and coaching staff are suited to what I want to achieve and then assess them. As I am on touch, the processing speed is much quicker and there’s less micromanaging which I enjoy.  I don’t let the assistant manager do to much, but I stick them on training duties and friendlies if I am familiar with my team. I do all the signings and negotiations myself as I like to ensure my budget is done correctly. I love finding talent to poach, but sometimes it’s hard so takes a lot longer than anticipated. Due to other responsibilities I can’t play as much as I’d like to, but I love touch for this reason.

I really liked last years version but that’s because me and a friend created our own teams and managed them from the Conference to the Premier League over several seasons. Our Brexit was kind, and at the stage we were at we could sign all these wonderkids for next to nothing and they would have work permits.

Obvious answer is all the teams work, that’s just obvious. There are so many good content creators in the community though. FM Samo, FM Grasshopper, Lutterworth Fox, Dan Gear, Guido Merry, Inverted Wingbacks, Laura aka Chilled Fox, FoxInTheBox, FM Rensie. Jeez, I could sit here all day and list them, probably forgot a load too.

Originally Paul Wandless aka The Northman and Vic Posher (don’t know actual name), these were the people who got me writing. Then of course TheFMEditor who I’ve known a long time. FoxInTheBox is my favourite content creator who does YouTube, his old stuff inspired me so much. All the content creators we have had at Dictate The Game have inspired me in some way. The team we’ve had over the years has been incredible.

I am genuinely not too picky, if someone wants to have a go at write they should. It’s when people cheat at the game and then brag about it and write about it – that’s odd. I agree with the punctuation and not capitalising the write words, but like I said, i’m not too picky. Oh and if content creators make you pay or some other stupid thing to see their content, that’s odd too haha!

We are a community driven FM fan site that tries to be a little different in our approach. We have an array of amazing people and even better content creators. I think if you came to our site, you would find something you’d enjoy. We come from all over the world and collaborate to create fun content.

And just like the 11 questions are done… Ryan takes his friends and disappears into the sunset, to start another epic adventure….