Many football fans will be counting down the days to Friday November 4.

Many will be doing so because the first round of the FA Cup gets underway on that Friday, Brentford and Fulham fans will be looking forward to their London derby that evening, but a large amount of supporters up and down the country will be anticipating the release of Football Manager 2017.

With new and exciting features introduced to this year’s edition, FM 17 is sure to be the best yet, and fans will already be thinking about how best they can take their side to glory.

If it means selling some of your best players to make room for even better ones, or just going all out and breaking your club’s record transfer fee, fans will start to work out what the best course of action is for their side.

However, a number of supporters will be up for some tricky challenges in a bid to prove themselves as a Football Manager expert.

And, for West Ham fans who have seen their side struggle so far this season, you may feel that you know better than manager Slaven Bilic in how to get the best out of the Hammers squad.

Here are THREE challenges West Ham fans should attempt on the new game…

Bring European football to the London Stadium

You can surely do better than West Ham did in Europe this season?

After all, you have moved to a new and bigger stadium so the owners can ‘change the brand’ of the football club, and European football is likely to be a part of that.

Yet, two qualifying matches, against opposition few have heard of, isn’t going to cut it, so you’re going to do much better.

Not only will you start in Europa League qualifying (and get through to the group stages), you must also qualify for European football for three successive seasons after this, be it by winning the Europa League in your first season, winning a domestic trophy, or finishing in the top six.

A tough task yes, but one West Ham must strive to achieve in their new stadium.

Home-grown title winners

The ‘Academy of Football’, which has produced the likes of Frank Lampard, John Terry, and Rio Ferdinand, is going to be your best friend for this challenge.

With the amount of money in the Premier League making it difficult for young, home-grown talent to play break into the first teams, you are going to go back to basics.

By using just these home-grown players, which can mean foreign players trained at the club, you are going to try and win the Premier League with West Ham within six years, as well as two domestic trophies along the way.

Best team in London

Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham – they will all be bowing to your magnificence when your ten-year tenure at West Ham is over.

You are going to make the Hammers the best team in London – the team that attracts the big names, the team that are consistently winning trophies.

You will have to win every domestic title at least twice during this stint to do so, and you will also have to record the club’s first ever Champions League triumph.