warlock

Absolutely!! Ah, wasn't aware there was a transfer involved, but there should be some decent loan strikers available in January.

Good man . Hope young Healey does the business for you. As for Doidge, it depends entirely on the terms of his loan - the default seems to include clauses for 'can't be recalled' and 'loan can't be terminated' but I've often been able to recall a player in the January window.

This year he seems to be on the radar of Bayern. Wouldn't claim he was world class but he's a solid, reliable option at RB. Yeah, I like him a lot. Haven't had much of a chance to sign him in FM19 - mostly playing EFL clubs - but if I can get a United save going this year they'll both be high on my list of potential signings!

That's scouts for you! My United scouting team (pretty damned good, I think) don't rate Calabria or Fiete Arp at all. They're not that impressed by Trincao or Jaden Sancho either .

Might be confirmation bias. Just down page there's a thread about undefeated runs where people are posting of 70, 80 and even 100 games without defeat. And not just in FM19. I'm always mildly amused by people on the forums whose attitude seems to be, "I can't do it, therefore it can't be done."

Quite right! Probably too late to make a difference, but this year I quite like Kevin Mbabu at RB - has the bonus of being home grown in nation thanks to his time at Newcastle. Alternatively, Davide Calabria (Milan) has been good for me... your scouts might not like him, but I do.

You're a wild, crazy kinda guy! I doubt I'd pay that for a first-choice FB. Meanwhile, waiting for the next major update, I thought I'd try my first proper United save this year - 433dm wide, Martial and Sanchez rotating at AML. Pre-season Martial does his knee ligaments, out for 6-8 months; a week later Sanchez suffers broken ribs, out for 3-5 months; decide to use Pereira as a makeshift AML, second game of the season, breaks his leg, out for 4-6 months. "Are you sure you want to start a new career game?"

Now that my nerves have somewhat recovered, here's the second half of Mansfield Town's second season: Having got through a long and tough January with only a single defeat, and that in the FA Cup against Everton, we were well-placed at the top of the league. Then came February and the team fell apart, registering only a single victory in the month. At that point I feared one of those long-term collapses that have marked several of my saves this year. Instead, our good form returned as mysteriously as it had disappeared and we went unbeaten for the remainder of the season. There were a few more draws than I would have liked and those dropped points meant we were struggling to make up the ground we'd lost to Portsmouth. But the lads were relentless, driven by the return to goal-scoring form of Jack Clarke who ended the season as L1's top scorer with 23 goals. At the other end of the pitch, Ryan Sweeney was named Supporters' player of the year, and won L1 Player of the Year. Pretty much the entire squad were fantastic, but special mention to GK Jack Bonham who kept a huge number of clean sheets and secured us a lot of points. Ahead of our return to the second tier - for the first time since 1978 - I'll be sticking with the first-choice 11 who got us here, and I've managed to renew the loans of Elsnik, Clarke and DM Liam Coyle (from Liverpool). I do need a couple of rotation midfielders, and someone who can lighten the load on Clarke up front. I also need a backup/rotation GK since there are none outside the first team and last year's option ran out his contract.

It certainly was... no on-pitch celebration, no trophy presentation (I think they sent it round in a mincab on Sunday morning). Yeah, it's a bit tight down there. But I'm sure you'll be able to avoid getting dragged into the mudfight. I'm surprised he's still there at that date, but definitely a top signing! I'm a fan of Slattery's - used him several times last year - so will watch with interest to see how he does for you (especially in the 4231, a formation I've never had much success with).

Final day and ourselves, Portsmouth and Barnsley go into it level on points and separated only by goal difference... We did this: A thoroughly depressing performance, and I was contemplating the playoffs. Portsmouth and Barnsley did this: Resulting in this: My nerves are completely shredded. I'll do a season roundup when I've recovered

And the day before the big game I lose both my right-wingers to injury. Both out for the rest of the season Edit: All the media hype and hysteria came to nought - we managed a scruffy 1-1 draw, thanks to a second-half penalty after going a goal down. We were rubbish. And now I'm laughing hysterically, because two days before the last match of the season, with everything to play for, my two best centrebacks join the injury list. Why is there no option to lock the squad in a padded room for 48 hours!

Mansfield Town: Season 2 - L1, the crunch So we're down to the last two games of the season and the teams in the top three have been swapping places on a weekly basis. In the last month we have been 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 2nd and now we're top again. On goal difference. Our nemesis has been Portsmouth, when they've dropped points so have we and we haven't been able to shake them off. Barnsley and Peterborough are also pushing hard, so a 2-0 win against Barnsley last week was significant for us. Unfortunately, our penultimate game is against... Portsmouth. So that's likely to be a winner-take-all title decider. Our last game will be away at Yeovil, who - theoretically - have nothing to play for as they are out of the play-off spots and out of the relegation battle. That might give us the chance for a final win, but Portsmouth's last game is at home to mid-table Exeter, which looks like a safe 3 points. Two games to go and - whatever happens - I'm going to need to lie down in a quiet room!

Ah, the double-edged sword! A new stadium is a good thing to have, but - in my limited experience - it usually comes with massive pressure on other parts of the budget. Realistic, I suppose - as Arsenal and Tottenham would no doubt confirm.

Looks like your board needs some sorting out! Congrats on the silverware

Pretty sure that 'average rating' is just that - the average of all in-game ratings. It's certainly true for the rolling 'last five games' average. If you mean the rating for in-game performance, that's a much more difficult answer. Basically, there's a massive positive loading for goals scored (but not penalties) and assists. They get points for pass completion, key passes, interceptions, tackles, and so on. The lose points for mistakes like giving the ball away, missed interceptions, consistently missed shots, etc. Own goals are not as big a negative as you'd expect. The odd aspect of the rating is that there's a general bonus for everyone on the team if you win by a big score, regardless of whether individual players were involved. If you win 5-0, almost everyone gets a 7.5-8.5 rating, even if they just wandered around in defence for 90 minutes. The other issue often remarked upon, is that goalkeeper and defensive midfielder ratings rarely reflect excellent performances and produce unfairly low averages across the season.