marktonge

Roaring Lions // 2023/2024 You'll have to forgive me as I just played and played, and forgotten to get screenshots and write an update for you all about the end of season in Aruba. Things continued to go well and we ended up winning the League & Cup Double with Racing Club Aruba meaning we have now officially ticked off my first country in Tier One of the challenge. That being that, we've now moved on again and have landed perfectly on our feet. We've only gone and landed the managers job at the top team in Anguilla. It's an English speaking island which is home to 33 beaches, most of which are white sand and are all insanely beautiful! Wikipedia is a wonderful thing eh. Anyway, I've taken over the vacant managers position at a team called 'Roaring Lions' who reside in Stoney Ground. The perfect side for me to lead to glory as they are the most decorated Anguillan side in their history. They've won 10 titles as of 2023. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Club Overview: Name: Roaring LionsNickname: The Lions League: AFA Senior Male League Kit: Orange (Home) White (Away) Facilities Stadium: AFA National Stadium Capacity: 4,000 Youth Facilities: Poor Training Facilities: Poor Youth Recruitment: Excellent Youth Coaching: Fairly Basic Honours: AFA Senior Male League (10) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Finances With a pretty decent £30,000 in the bank, and a wage budget of £0pw we're looking pretty good! Expenditure will be absolutely minimal and the fact we don't have to pay for players will hopefully mean we can invest in the clubs facilities if I'm here long enough. I probably don't want to be here that long considering they are the best team in the country. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Squad: By the looks of things, I've got a very good and capable squad available. We have a lot of wide players strangely so I'll definitely be playing a 'Wing' dominated tactic. Tyrique Lake is by far the best player at the club and will probably lock down that right winger role. I'll be counting on my only recognised front man Keyini Brooks-Belle to be banging in the goals up top. 17 year old Javis Jones also excites me and will be the main man in the middle of the park. I'm happy with what I've got, although a new Goalkeeper, and a backup striker will be on the shopping list as well as another CB. Depth will be needed. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for reading this latest part of the Jacobs Ladder Challenge. Like I mentioned above, I've landed on my feet, so success should follow quite quickly. I'll be back around mid-season to fill you in. Tongey!

RCA | Aruba | Mid-Season Update | 2022/2023 When you compare Aruba and Somalia, and in particular how happy I am managing in them, there is a clear winner and it's not even close. I'm loving my time here in Aruba, living the dream lifestyle. If I could do this in real life, I definitely would. Like I said in the previous update, training in the morning and cocktails by the pool/beach in the afternoons and evenings. I like to think I'm a bit of a celebrity in Aruba now, but I've probably spoken to soon for that. We'll see one day. I've made a few signings since joining the side, with one being a name you may recognise from Somalia. Could he possibly be the saves 'Cult Hero' that follows me around the majority of my clubs? Who knows? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Transfers | IN Ayman Hussein | CB Abdiwahi Mohamed | LB Mark Dwomoh | DM/CM Rensy Barradas | AML Anwar Shakunda | ST Of course you'll remember Mark Dwomoh as he was the first player that was in my Gaadiidka side back in Somalia. Now, I know we were awful but he stood out as a decent player and he's instantly the best player in this side too. An excellent addition. He's not the only addition from Somalia, as 3 of the other signings are from the Somali Premier Division too. Only Rensy Barradas is from the isle of Aruba. I'm delighted with what we've been able to do in the transfer market, even if we are spending a little over the wage budget right now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- December 2022 La Fama | HOME | 0-0 | DRAW Not the ideal start to my tenure in Arube, but at least we didn't lose. I had installed a new tactic previously, and it had only been a few days since then meaning the players are still getting used to it. We did have a couple of chances in this one, but none of real quality. La Fama will be a tough side for teams to beat so I'm not too disappointed. A solid point in my opener. Nacional (ARU) | AWAY | 0-5 | WIN This was more like it! An fantastic performance by the lads, with Juan Villarraga the hero on the day. He netted 4 times, two either side of the half, and one right before the end. Jhon Silva headed in the other. We were brilliant and shows we are a top team in this league. Nacional (ARU) | HOME | 4-3 | WIN | Copa Betico Croes Second Round WOW, WOW, WOW. We were 3-0 down at the half way stage of this one. The players got a right grilling in the dressing room, and they came out as a different side. We were brilliant and clawed our way back to 3-3 before getting a penalty in the final seconds. Jeamirr Howell calmly slotted it home to send me running down the touchline knee sliding into our fans! Porto Caravel | HOME | 2-2 | DRAW Unlike the previous game, we went 2-0 up in this one. At half time I praised the lads, and it must've made them complacent as we shipped two goals in the second half and couldn't get going. Maybe I need to be harsh on the lads more often as it has a good effect. A draw and a point is acceptable I guess. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- January 2023 United (ARU) | AWAY | 1-5 | WIN Goals, goals, goals. I changed to having two up front and it seemed to work! Anwar Shakunda netted twice on his debut in a brilliant solo performance, with Erik Santos de Gouveia, Juana Villarraga & Ayman Hussein also scoring. We were brilliant, but United aren't a great side so I'm taking it with a pinch of salt. 3 more points. Santa Fe (ARU) | AWAY | 0-4 | WIN 3 more points, and 4 more goals! We're flying now and I'm delighted with how we are playing. Juan Villaragga once again netted a hattrick. He's one helluva player, although strangely enough my assistant told me to transfer list him. Not on this form I won't. Easy as you like away from home. Dakota | HOME | 4-4 | DRAW Dakota are a very good team at this level so to get a draw is alright with me. What's not alright is giving them the chance to equalise in the last seconds when you switch off at the back. A misplaced back pass got intercepted and they put the ball into an empty net. Not cool. Anwar Shakunda was the best player, he has definitely made an instant impact. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- February 2023 (1 game) SV Britannia | HOME | 10-1 | WIN Well, where the hell do I start with this! SV Britannia were the team leading the race at the top of the tree, but we made them look like a non league side. We were excellent and gave them no chance. We made the most of every set piece going, with Ayman Hussein scoring 4 times from corners and free kicks. He got on the end of everything. Anwar Shakunda also got two goals, alongside Erik Santos de Gouveia & Juan Villarraga. I can't quite believe how poor we made them look. it was just attack, after attack, after attack. Easy as you like. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- League Table After 11 games, we sit in 2nd position, only a point behind SV Britannia, the team we just annihilated 10-1. We'll be battling it out with them until the end of the season. We have 7 more games to go, so it's all to play for. As long as we stay in good form I feel very good about our chances. We're also in the Copa Betico Quarter-Final so we have a chance of the saves first league, cup double. That would be an incredible start to the Challenge. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks for reading this episode of the Jacobs Ladder Challenge, come back soon to read how we fare in the remaining 7 league fixtures and whether we can wn our first domestic cup. Aruba is looking bright for me! Tongey!

Cheers mate! I had to get another database with the North American leagues on it. I used this one and only added the leagues I needed that I couldn't get with Daves pack. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2885983553&savesuccess=1

Racing Club Aruba I was't out of management for too long and I've got myself an absolute belter of a new team! I've ditched the African continent and have jet-setted across to the Caribbean to the tropical isle of Aruba! You can't say that isn't an upgrade eh? I'm thinking training by morning, and cocktails by the pool/beach in the afternoon and evening! Can't get much better than that! Seriously though, I'm delighted to have found myself on my feet so quickly, and with a team that could well be in a position to challenge for the league ad cup pretty quickly! I'll just have to get myself going a lot quicker than I did in Somalia. Club Overview Name: Racing Club Aruba Nickname: RCA League: Divsion di Honor Kit: Pink (Home) White (Away) Facilities Stadium: Guillermo Trinidad Capacity: 5,500 Youth Facilities: Basic Training Facilities: Basic Youth Recruitment: Exceptional Youth Coaching: Average Honours: Division di Honor (33), Aruba Copa Libertador Betico Croes (5) Finances The finances at a club are always massively important. With the wage budget at only £453 per month, we're in a good spot considering we have £23,000+ in the coffers! I can't see us spending much money on players, so we'll continue to build the bank balance over the season hopefully. I'll be looking at using that exceptional Youth Recruitment in order to get some players into the first team! It would definitely be rude not too! The Squad For some reason or another, the previous manager didn't register any of the players in the squad for the league which has led me to be in a sticky situation. The window opens after the next game so if I can just get through that one somehow, we'll be good to go hopefully! In terms of quality, we seem to have a very capable squad through the middle of the park. We haven't got many options for the wings which is trouble for me as I like to play through the wings. Tactical change will be on it's way for me for sure. We'll be looking for Jhon Silva to step up and get us the goals for us to challenge for another Division di Honor title! Thanks for reading this latest episode of the Jacobs Ladder Challenge. Come back next time to see how I fare in Aruba managing the current league champions! Expectations will be hefty but this is the club where my management journey will really start! Tongey!

Gaadiidka | Somalia | End of Season Review | 2022 Welcome back to Somalia, and more particularly welcome back to Gaadiidka. Well, I'm not actually there at the moment but more on that later in this post. Last time round, I updated you at the mid way stage of the Somali Premier Division with us not performing up to standard. I'm afraid to say that things didn't get much better and I received this lovely little message from the board. That's right, only 10 games into my tenure, I had been called into the bosses office and told that I need to up my game. I had promised them the league title this season, probably somewhat foolishly. Anyway, that was that, and I had a couple of games to turn it round starting with a big game against Dekedaha. You'll see how that went below in a second. I'll quickly bring you up to date with how the remaining fixtures went. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 2022 (remaining 3 games) FC Badbaado | AWAY | 0-1 | WIN The perfect start to the second half of the season. Hassan Aboker broke free of the back line on the stroke of half time and slotted home into the back of the net. It was the eventual match winner and gave us 3 massive points. Our only league double of the campaign so at least theres that. We played well in all honesty and we could've scored more. Mogadishu City Club | AWAY | 3-2 | DEFEAT Wow, we're scoring goals now which has been our issue all year. We played really, really well but just couldn't get over the line. At 2-2 the game was on a knifes edge and could've gone either way and with both sides pushing for that winner it was the hosts who got it. An unfortunate result but a promising performance. Mohamed Mukhtar gave us the lead early in the game, with Hassan Aboker getting us back on level terms later in the game. Jazeers SC | HOME | 2-2 | DRAW Another game, and more goals to add to our tally! Is this the starting point to kick on this season?! We went 2-0 down in the first half and I thought that was that. The lads got a rattling at half time in the dressing room and they came out a different side. 2 goals from Ali Ahmed drew us level, and we continued to be the better team and pushed for the winner. A header off the bar in the last seconds left me on the floor. Not to be. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- September 2022 Horseed | AWAY | 1-0 | DEFEAT A frustrating day at the office as we faced title chasing Horseed away from home. It was a tight affair but we didn't threaten much. It was a boring game in all honesty and they managed to break the deadlock late in the game and claim all three points. IT WAS AFTER THIS GAME THAT THE BOARD MEETING HAPPENED! Dekedaha | HOME | 5-2 | WIN WOW! Where did this performance come from. Two similar teams down at the bottom end of the table facing off to try and stay in the division! We were outstanding! Mark Dwomah, quickly becoming a cult hero maybe? He netted a penalty with goals spread out throughout the game, with Hassan Aboker netting two more! We were 2-0 up inside 2 minutes which is unheard of for me. I can't quite believe it! The players must've been fighting for me right? That's the only thing I can think of to explain this anomaly of a result! I'll take it though. Maniema Union | Champions League | DEFEAT | 2 legs I won't go into much detail on this set of results as we were never really in either game. They were clearly better than us, and the scoreline reflected that for the DR Congo side. When I took over, I didn't even realise we were in the competition and with us fighting to stay up, I didn't put to much importance on this one. We were knocked out at the first chance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 2022 Heegan | HOME | 1-0 | WIN With 3 games left in the league, this game had added importance as we NEEDED to win. We did just that with Hassan Aboker netting in the 69th (nice) minute to give us the lead. It was tight, it was edgy, it was fiery. Just what a game should be at this stage, and I'm delighted and proud that we came out on top! Aboker is becoming Mr Reliable at the moment. Sahafi | AWAY | 1-0 | DEFEAT Ah, back to Earth with a massive crash! Sahafi are a poor side and down the bottom of the league. We're not much better but I expected us to beat them. It was a dreadful outing from the lads, and they managed to nick a goal late on to secure all 3 points! It's definitely not what I needed with one game left... THEN THIS MESSAGE CAME THROUGH... I had been summoned into ANOTHER emergency board meeting, and this time there was no leaving with a job. They had made the decision to relieve me of my duties. No surprise really as I had stupidly promised them the league title when I took over, and we were way down in the league table. I leave the club in 6th position, and I'm now looking for another job in Tier One of the Jacobs Ladder Challenge... Thanks for taking the time to read this episode of the Jacobs Ladder Challenge. Come back next time to see where I end up, and with whom I try to get our first tick on Tier One. It can't have started much worse, but as D:Ream once said "Things can only get better!" Tongey!

Gaadiidka | Somalia | Mid-Season Review | 2022 Last time out, I had just accepted the job at Gaadiidka in the Somali Premier Division. A challenging first post in football management in one of the most prominent footballing hotspots in the world. To be honest though, I looked at the squad when I first took over and I had one player contracted to the club. The rest were all greyed out, meaning I had to get to work quickly. I won't bore you with details on all the ins and outs, but there were a lot. I'll post the whole transfer section below so you can see how many exactly. (You can click the players name to bring up his profile when I brought them in) Hassan Ibrahim | GK Omar Aweys | GK Abdi Suleiman | LB Abdi Hassan | CB Abdi Telli | CB Mahad Abdullahi | CB Abdifataah Abdi | CB Mohamed Hussein | AMC Mohamed Mohamed | AMR Hassan Aboker | ST Ali Ahmed | ST As you can see, there has been a number of ins to the club, but we could still do with more. My favourite has to be, Mohamed Mohamed, so good they named his twice. I wish he was good, but he's not actually proved himself yet. Anyway, onto the football part of the update... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- June 2022 FC Badbaado | HOME | 2-1 | WIN The perfect start to the league campaign results in 3 points. Abdi Mahamud put us ahead in the first half with a fine solo goal, before Isse Hussein added a second midway through the second. A flurry of changes halted our momentum as we were pushing for a third. It meant that FC Badbaado managed to grab one back in the 78th minute leading to a hectic final 10 where we defended for our lives. We held on thankfully. Jazeera SC |AWAY | 1-0 | DEFEAT We followed up our opening day win with a narrow defeat to Jazeera SC. We didn't deserve anything from the game, and we were lucky it was only 1-0. The scoreline definitely flattered us. Not much else to say, apart from that we've got a long way to go if this performance was anything to go by. Horseed | HOME | 0-3 | DEFEAT Horseed are by far the favourites for the league, so to go down heavily to them is no surprise. I think we had 3 shots in the game and none of them were on target. That's not going to win any game is it? We were awful. Tactics may need tweaking in order for us to get going and get some momentum. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- July 2022 Dekedaha | AWAY | 2-1 | DEFEAT Another day, another defeat. It's becoming a habit now, and one that needs changing quickly. We went 2-0 down early doors and couldn't fight back quick enough. We managed a consolation goal through Abdi Mahamud but we couldn't push again to get that equaliser. We played better in this one, but results are what matters right. Mogadishu City Club | HOME | 1-3 | DEFEAT Ah, shoddy performance leads to another defeat. I thought we may get something from this one looking at the table at the time, but evidently not. Again we went behind early and couldn't respond. They added 2 more in the second half before Ali Ahmed scored a wonder goal from distance. Our best goal of the season, but one that was in vein unfortunately. Heegan | AWAY | 0-0 | DRAW A point! A singular point! It's our first point in 5 games, so at least theres that! To be honest, once again we deserved to lose this game so I'm delighted to have hung on. This may be a longer job than I first thought! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- August 2022 (First 2 games) Sahafi | HOME | 0-0 | DRAW More points, well another point on the board that is. Another bore draw and another game in which we hung on. We're a poor side at the moment and that doesn't look like changing. What's worrying me even more is that we aren't looking like scoring. Elman | AWAY | 1-0 | DEFEAT The one game in which we looked good, we end up losing! That's the way football is. We deserved to get points from this one. We had multiple good chances and a few one on ones to boot, but nothing was going in! It was one of those days. A penalty for Elman in the 74th minute turned out to be the eventual match winner. Oh well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- League Table The table isn't pretty viewing at the half way stage. One thing I can take from it, is that the only way is upwards! We can definitely improve and I'm hoping my tactical changers will help us make that leap. We'll need to make the most of our games against FC Badbaado & Sahafi in order for us to have any chance of staying up. All to play for, and I'm hopeful of a mid table finish this season we can build upon that and charge next year! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other News In massive news for the club. The former Chairperson Mustapha Ali accepted a bid from Mogadishu based investor Abdi Ogle and therefore we are now under new ownership. They invested a total of £0 so that's grand. A pointless takeover to be honest, but who knows whether they will invest in the future. At this level it's all moot anyway. This whole takeover process from start to finish lasted 2 days. They certainly move quick in Somalia. The first bit of good news that I've seen at the club! The Youth Intake is meant to be 5*. That being said, the squad is so weak already, that anyone would probably be an improvement. I'm hopeful a couple of these will slide straight into the first team next season. Let's see who actually comes through eh? Thanks for taking the time to read this section of the Jacobs Ladder challenge. Come back soon to see how we fare in the second half of our inaugral season in the Somali Premier Division! We're going to need some luck I think! Tongey!

Appreciate that mate! Keep checking back and you'll see how far I can get!

STARTING IN SOMALIA It didn't take long for me to get my first job in football management. My passport had only just arrived the day before a flurry of job offers had flown into my inbox. I'm not going to lie, I had applied for every vacant managers job going, before sifting through the interview offers to decide where I'd like to end up. I quickly narrowed it down to the following clubs: - Pelicans (Sri Lanka) - Gaadiika (Somalia) - Guam Shipyard (Guam) From there, all three offered me the role after crushing the interview process and I ultimately set my heart on heading over to Somalia, probably to end up following my lifelong dream of becoming a So malian Pirate. (joking of course). Club Overview Name: Gaadiika FC League: Somali Premier Division Nickname: Unknown Facilities: Stadium: Banadir Stadium Capacity: 10,000 Youth Facilities: Basic Training Facilities: Basic Youth Recruitment: Fairly Basic Youth Coaching: Fairly Basic Honours: Somali Premier Division (1990)

Club History & Trophy Cabinet Clubs Managed: (Nation / Logo / Team Name / League / Dates in Charge / Reason Left) - Gaadiika // Somalia // Somali Premier Division // 28.05.22 - 22.10.22 // Fired (147 Days) - Racing Club Aruba // Aruba // Division di Honor // 20.11.22 - 27.06.23 // Resigned (219 Days) - Roaring Lions // Anguilla // AFA Senior Male League // 21.07.23 - 19.04.23 // Resigned (273 Days) - Freeport RFC // The Bahamas // Bahamian Island League // 08.05.23 - 12.06.25 // Offered job at Cavalier FC (400 Days) - Cavalier FC // The Bahamas // BFA Senior League // 12.06.25 - 11.04.26 // Resigned (303 Days) - AS Ali Sabieh // Djibouti // Djiboutian Premier League // 31.08.26 - Present // N/A Trophies Won: (Nation / Logo / Competition Name / Date / Team Name / Year Complete) - Aruban Copa Libertador Betico Croes // 07.06.23 // Racing Club Aruba // 22/23 - Division di Honor // 27.06.23 // Racing Club Aruba // 22/23 - AFA Presidents Cup // 19.12.23 // Roaring Lions // 23/24 - AFA Senior Male League // 19.04.23 // Roaring Lions // 23/24 - Island Leagues // 01.03.25 // Freeport RFC // 24/25 - Bahamian FA Cup // 19.04.26 // Cavalier FC // 25/26 - BFA Senior League // 09.05.26 // Cavalier FC // 26/26 Awards Won: *Entered the Bahamian Hall of Fame*

The Tiers Bold Green - completed countries. Bold Red - attempted but not completed. Tier One: San Marino, Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, US Virgin Islands, Sri Lanka, Guam, Turks & Caicos Islands, Aruba, Bahamas, Somalia Tier Two: Gibraltar, Eritrea, Lichenstein, Cayman Islands, Seychelles, Timor-Leste, Pakistan, Tonga, Djibouti, Bangladesh Tier Three: Brunei, Samoa, Cook Islands, Laos, American Samoa, Dominica, Bhutan, Sao Tome & Principe, Mongolia, Macau Tier Four: Chad, Mauritius, Montserrat, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Belize, Cambodia, Grenada, Nepal, Bermuda, Malta Tier Five: Moldova, Guyana, St Lucia, Fiji, Barbados, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Vanuatu, South Sudan, Tahiti, Tier Six: New Caledonia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Yemen, Chinese Taipei, Afghanistan, Maldives, Andorra, Botswana Tier Seven: Dominican Republic, Lesotho, Indonesia, Liberia, Hong Kong, Lithuania, Burundi, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Suriname Tier Eight: Nicaragua, St Kitts & Nevis, Malaysia, Turkmenistan, Phillipines, Rwanda, Soloman Islands, Antigua & Barbuda, Latvia, Comoros Tier Nine: Tanzania, Togo, Sudan, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Faroe Islands, Azerbaijan, Niger, Central African Republic, Libya Tier Ten: The Gambia, Mozambique, Angola, Sierra Leone, Guatemale, Korea DPR, Thailand, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Cyprus Tier Eleven: Madagascar, Tajikistan, Estonia, Kosovo, Namibia, Mauritiana, Trinidad & Tobago, Congo, Kenya, India Tier Twelve: New Zealand, Lebanon, Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Equitorial Guinea, Palestine, Benin, Luxembourg Tier Thirteen: Syria, Uganda, Curacao, Haiti, Zambia, Bahrain, Jordan, Bolivia, Gabon, China Tier Fourteen: Honduras, Guinea, Israel, Georgia, Bulgaria, El-Salvador, Uzbekistan, Oman, U.A.E, Cape Verde Tier Fifteen: Congo DR, Montenegro, Albania, Iraq, South Africa, North Macedonia, Iceland, Jamaica, Northern Ireland, Qatar Tier Sixteen: Ghana, Slovenia, Panama, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Finland, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Mali, Greece, Slovakia Tier Seventeen: Burkina Faso, Republic of Ireland, Paraguay, Canada, Romania, Ivory Coast, Norway, Turkey, Cameroon, Ecuador Tier Eighteen: Nigeria, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Russia, Scotland, Egypt, Algeria, Hungary, Austria, Chile Tier Nineteen: Ukraine, Australia, Tunisia, South Korea, Wales, Serbia, Iran, Poland, Sweden, Peru Tier Twenty: Japan, Denmark, Senegal, Colombia, Uruguay, Mexico, Germany, USA, Switzerland, Morocco Tier Twenty One: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Netherlands, England, Belgium, Brazil, France, Argentina Tier Twenty Two:

Climbing the Jacobs Ladder "mid 18th century: with biblical allusion to Jacob's dream of a ladder reaching to heaven (Genesis. 28:12) The Jacobs Ladder Challenge is one that has been around on Football Manager for a while now, but is very rarely attempted due to the fact there are few databases around that can support it. Fortunately, there are wonderful people around in the community that work tirelessly that allow me to take on this challenge today. For this challenge I'll be using the 'Around the World Megapack' database by DaveTheEditor. Go and take a look at it if it takes your fancy. The Challenge - I've split every FIFA nation into tiers of 10 starting with the worst ranked nations being in tier one (the bottom rung on the ladder), then so on and so on until the top 10 countries make up tier twenty one (the top run on the ladder). You can see these tiers in my post underneath this one. - The aim is to start unemployed, with zero coaching qualifications and managerial experience and then take over a team in one of the Tier One nations. I'll then have to win the top division and a domestic cup in order to consider that country complete. - I will have to complete 4 countries on each tier in order to take a step up the ladder and start on the next tier. Simple really. I'll be posting in the following format, and trying to keep it going each season so that it's easy to follow: - Pre-Season Update - Mid-Season Update - End of Season Update Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I look forward to interacting with some of you along the way, on this wonderful journey across the footballing world. Tongey.

PSPS PEKANBARU | SEASON REVIEW | 2031 Well, the last time. you caught up with this, we had just finished our season over in Malaysia with Kuching. We've completed all we could with Kuching and although fond memories were made, it was time to move to pastures new and that's what I did. Of course, I had restraints that meant I had to stay in Asia, so I made the relatively short hop over to Indonesia where I'm currently in charge of PSPS Pekanbaru. When I took over, we were coming up to the end of their season and they were going well. We had 6 league games remaining when I took over, and the club sat 2nd in the league table. Unfortunately I couldn't keep up their good form, and with me at the helm we dropped down to 5th which is where finished. A poor and disappointing finish to what was a promising season for them. Maybe the decision to hire me wasn't the greatest for them eh? I didn't let that deter me though, and set about building a squad capable of finishing in that top 2 and winning the Phase 2 Promotion Group Stage which would mean we would head on up to the lofty heights of the Indonesia League One. If you don't know how the Indonesia League Two system works, then you'll be in the same boat as I was. - 3 Leagues of 8 Teams (Play each other twice) - Top 2 in each league head to 2 promotion groups (3 in each group) (Play each other twice) - Team that tops the group plays in a Final to decide who gets promoted Very confusing right? It all works out eventually but you've got a lot of hurdles to get over first. Anyway, onto introducing you to my. new signings that would help kick us up a notch and into a championship winning team. TRANSFERS | IN Fadli Gunawan | CM | £8.5k | Persbul Buol We severely lacked in the middle of the park and every player coming in wanted me to strengthen the midfield, which is why I went straight in for Fadil. His stamina stood out to me as a key attribute as I needed him to run for days. Up and down the pitch all game, every week. I also needed him to be able to distribute when he'd won the ball back, and his passing range enables him to do just that. A good player for my system. Riki Ridwan | AMR | Free Transfer The next area I needed to upgrade was my attacking threat from wide areas. Riki provided good options here, and with his natural pace and agility he was a threat all season long. The only downside was his crossing wasn't great, but he kept defenders scared because of that pace. A great option down the right hand side. Iqbal Zulkarnain | ST | PSIM Yokyakarta | Free Transfer I was struggling to find a striker that would look to score tonnes of goals up top all season, and then I found this guy late in the window. In fact too late to register him in time for the opening 6 games. I always look for pace when looking at a striker and he fits the bill. His finishing isn't great and it told. I might have made a mistake in this one, but you live and you learn. Arkhan Fikri | AMC | Persibo Bojonegoro | £2k This guy turned out to be the signing of the season. Again, I needed someone in the attacking third to be the provider whilst also scoring himself. Pace, stamina, Agility, Acceleration, Flair all mixed in with Determination & Leadership. My ideal midfielder in all honesty. Straight in as my best player. Piala Indonesia The first competition I'll walk you through is the Piala Indonesia. This is the only cup competition I was entered in this year, as I think the other one is for top tier league sides only. I chose to run you through this cup first because there isn't much to run through. We entered in the First Round, and exited in the First Round after a poor performance. We lost 2-0 to Persela Lamongan who are in the same tier as us. Things didn't help when my CB Candra Sudjarat got sent off for a late lunge and left us with 10 men. Anyway, success wasn't on the cards in this one and we move on to the league. Liga Two Indonesia First Round Fixtures: Like I explained above, the league is split into 3 different divisions of 8 teams. We were in the middle division named "The Central League" and had some pretty good teams in there with us. We'd certainly be up against it, but with my new additions I definitely would back my boys. The usual system of playing each other twice applied. We didn't get off to the greatest start as we lost to Sulut United. I won't blame it on the fact we couldn't register our new signings are they were made too late, but I will also definitely blame it on that reason. We had to use the U18s to fill out the subs bench. After that disappointing start, things improved massively and we didn't actually lose another game until the end of the season. We had 4 draws in the season, against Persekam Metro, Persiba Balikpapan, PSP Padang & Kalteng Putra. We lost the final game of the season, which was a bitter way to end but better things were to come right? Our form was definitely down to 2 different players in the mostpart: Muhammad Prabowo who was our frontman for the season after beating out the competition of the newbie. He scored a massive 23 goals in this phase alone. That's massive for any team. He definitely led from the front. He hit 2 hat-tricks as well which definitely helps. The other player to make a real impact was Arkhan Fikri who played provider to Prabowo and the two of them forged a prolific partnership. I'm excited to see what they can do in the league above. The games that meant the most and were the most important were the two against Kalteng Putra and in particular the away tie when we came away with a 2-0 victory. The game at the death against Persiba Balikpapan was a sneaky big game as well as we could tie up our qualification into the finals with a victory, which we duly delivered. Overall, a fantastic season was had. League Table: It couldn't have been closer at the top, with us stealing 1st place from Kalteng Putra in the final couple of games. We finished with 12 wins, 4 draws & 2 losses. 40 points in total and we easily progressed into the Final Phase with a 9 point gap separating us from the 3rd position that didn't qualify. Liga 2 Second Phase | Group B We were drawn in a group of three alongside a team we faced in the regular season, Kalteng Putra, and a new opponent in PSM Makassar. I knew we could get the better of Kalteng when needed but it was unknown how good Makassar were. I needn't have worried as we comfortably dispatched both teams in the first two games. We could've wrapped up top spot if we had beaten Makassar in the 3rd game, but they got the better of us in a 1-0 defeat. It meant that we needed a win by 2 goals on the final day to ensure we got that top spot and qualification to the promotion game. We did just that and beat Kalteng 4-2 to send our fans into chaos. Excellent group stage from the boys. Liga 2 Final | Persiraja Banda Aceh We had reached the final after dominating the First League Stage and performing above par in the Second Phase. We were on a roll and I definitely didn't want that to stop anytime soon. The boys knew that we needed one more win to earn our spot in the Liga 1 for next year. A thing I think they definitely deserved. We were up against a new foe in Persiraja Banda Aceh and I didn't know much about them. They turned out to be a fairly decent team, but they were no match for us as we dominated the Final in true Pekanbaru style. We took the lead in the 37th minute as Prabowo got on the end of a Fikri cross and slammed home. It turned out to be the only goal of the game but we should've and could've scored a lot more. They never really threatened scoring. Happy days are here in Pekanbaru. Player Stats & Awards: Top Goalscorer: 1. Muhammad Prabowo (ST) | 25 (23 apps) 2. Arkhan Fikri (AMC) | 10 (17 apps) 3. Riki Ridwan (AMR) | 5 (18 apps) Most Assists: 1. Ahmad Nugroho (AML) | 9 2. Riki Ridwan (AMR) | 8 3. Syaiful Wahab (CM) | 6 Highest Average Rating: (Minimum 10 apps) 1. Arkhan Fikri (AMC) | 7.62 2. Muhammad Prabowo (ST) | 7.42 3. Candra Sudjarat (CB) | 7.35 Top Goalscorer Award | Muhammad Prabowo Indonesian League Two Manager of the Year | Mark Tonge (7th MOTY award) Team of the Year Players | Candra Sudjarat (CB), Iqbal Zulkarnain (CB), Ahmad Nugroho (AML), Fadil Gunawan (CM), Syaiful Wahab (CM), Riki Ridwan (AMR), Muhammad Prabowo (ST) That brings an end to this season and this update. Next time you'll be reading this we'll be an Indonesian League One team and trying to find out feet in a new division. Can we stay up? Can we challenge for top of the league? Who knows, but we'll give it a good go. See you next time and thanks for reading!

KUCHING | SEASON REVIEW | 2029/2030 Welcome to Kuching, a place in the World I've actually been to, albeit a long time ago. Let me fill you in on why we're here and how long we've been her for. I took over at Kuching on Christmas Day 2026 after ending a successful stint in Hong Kong with Irn Bru Rangers. I knew the league here in Malaysia was dominated by Johor DT who have been crushing my dreams year in year out ever since I took charge. It's not all been gloom and doom in my reign though, and we've managed to add to the trophy count a couple of times. It did take us until 2028 for us to get our hands on our first piece of silverware in Malaysia, and it came in the form of the Piala FA Malaysia which is the equivalent of the FA Cup here in England. That kick started a trophy haul in that calendar year, as we went on to win the Piala Malaysia in December after beating Eastern in the Final! 2 trophies in a year sounded good to me. We added to that haul 3 months later as we brought the Sultan Haji Ahmed Shah Cup back home to Kuching. 3 out of the 5 trophies completed but the league title was still avoiding us. We had come close however with Johor DT pipping us to the post by a couple of points a season ago. Anyway, we're here in the 2029/2030 season, and it's time to bring you up to date with what's been going on. Transfers | IN & OUT Junior Anisi | CB | Free Transfer Junior comes in to be our number one CB this season. We have had issues at CB with our starting 2 last season being ruled out for 7-8 months each with broken legs. Not what I wanted to repeat. He has everything I could ask for in a CB at this level. He can jump high, he has natural fitness, he's strong and he can also tackle. Oh and he's young so will only improve. Marcos Cassama | DM | Free Transfer | Benfica (MAC) We needed a new holding midfielder to play as a defensive midfielder and break the attacks up. Again his natural fitness is really key there so to have that high was important. He has good tackling and decision making so he was a natural fit for this role. Excited to get him into the team. A fantastic pickup from a decent side in Benfica (MAC). Juan Rodriguez | ST | Released Unfortunately, my main striker decided he didn't want to renew his contrat. I had the opportunity to sell him for a bit of money but I didn't want to as he was crucial to our title challenge last season. He scored 39 times in 36 appearances for us. I was sad to see hm leave. He's actually not played for anyone this season which is strange. What did I do to him? Gabriel Barcenas | DM | Released Just like Juan, Gabriel didn't want to renew his contract and decided to leave the club on a free transfer, hence opening the door for my new DM Marcos Cassama. One in, one out. He was very, very good for me in that position but no one is irreplaceable eh? He went on to join title rivals Johor DT in the aim to rub it in with us as they are the title favourites. Who will come out on top? Confederation Cup | ASEAN Zone As a result of our performance last season and winning a trophy or two, we had qualified for the Confederation Cup: ASEAN Zone which is the equivalent of the Europa League (I think). Anyway, we breezed through the Group Stage at the end of last season, which meant we had the Knockout Rounds to navigate at the start of this season. ASEAN Zone Semi-Final Well we faced a familiar foe in Sabah FA, who we face year in, year out in the league so we know them very well. We travelled to Sabah to face the first leg and came away with a 0-0 draw. A great base to launch our attack from when we returned home. The 2nd leg was much more like us as we dominated the game. We could only steal a 2-1 win in the 87th minute thanks to Abdul Hadi Shukor and a wonderstrike from midfield. Into the final we went. ASEAN Zone Final I found ourselves very unlucky to not come away with the trophy at the end of this series. We didn't get off to a good start losing the away leg 2-0 to Hougang United, before thumping them 4-2 in the return leg. We were brilliant and Muhd Amirul Akmal Safarinizam showed all is talent and netted a hattrick. We were gutted to find out the away goal rule still counts over here, and that meant Hougang lifted the trophy at the end of the night. Gutting. Piala FA Malaysia Not much to talk about here as we were knocked out in the Second Round (where we entered) to lower league team SAINS. Yeah, I've not heard of them either. A 1-0 victory for the hosts saw them advance. To be honest, we were very good and deserved to lose this game. We've won this competition in the past so it was very disappointing to get knocked out at the first attempt this season. Astro Liga Super Malaysia Fixtures: So this is what we were aiming for this season as it's the only trophy available that I hadn't picked up with Kuching. Things didn't get off to a good start as we lost the season opener (which is also the Charity Shield) to Johor DT (our biggest rivals) meaning we lost ground straight away and we missed out on a trophy. We then got things going in the right direction by beating Kinabalu Jaguars, PJ City & Kedah FA. Consistency was something I was looking for this season after struggling in the past 3 seasons in Malaysia. We lost the next 2 games in a row against Kuala Lumpur & Kelantan FA. It was much better after those 2 losses as we only lost 1 more game all season. That's exactly what we needed, and that game came against Kinabalu Jaguars who did the league double over us somehow. They really aren't that good. Just a bogey team for us. In fact, we only dropped points in 3 other games, where we drew against Kelantan FA, Kuala Lumpur and of course Johor DT (once again). This fixture list was definitely what I was looking for, with a strong finish right at the death. It all came down to the last game of the season. We needed Johor DT (1st) to drop points whilst we needed to win our last game against Sabah FA. Of course, you'll know how we fared as we ended up winning our game 2-0 in a dominant performance. Did Johor DT win, lose or draw though? Player Stats | Awards Top Goalscorer: 1. Muhd Amiral Akmal Sarfarinizam (ST) | 20 (25 apps) 2. Maxwell Aping (AMC) | 8 (24 apps) 3. Mohd Taufiq Idris (ST) | 5 (4 apps) Most Assists: 1. Muhd Amiral Akmal Sarfarinizam (ST) | 10 2. Mohd Azmeer Aris Nor Rashid (AML) | 9 3. Jayabalan Ganesan Pillay (AMR) | 6 Highest Average Rating: (Minimum 10 games) 1. Junior Anisi (CB) | 7.55 2. Maxwell Aping (AMC) | 7.37 3. Muhd Amiral Akmal Sarfarinizam (ST) | 7.27 Malaysian Manager of the Year | Mark Tonge (6th MOTY Award) Malaysian Club of the Year | Kuching Malaysian Best Foreign Player | Junior Anisi (CB) Malaysian Best South East Asian Player | Junior Anisi (CB) Malaysian Midfielder of the Year | Maxwell Aping (AMC) Team of the Year Players | Junior Anisi (CB), Abdul Haki Shukor (CM), Mud Amiral Akmal Safarinizam (ST) Anyway, that rounds up the season. Usually after the league season finishes, you head straight into the Piala Malaysia but, I'm moving on to pastures new. My time here in Malaysia with Kuching is over because I have nothing left to win with them. I still have one more to tick off in Malaysia, which is the league below, but I'll come back for that. In my time here I had the following stats: GP - 149. GW - 82. GD - 32. GL - 35 Trophies Won | 4 (1 x Astro Liga Super Malaysia, 1 x Piala FA Malaysia, 1 x Piala Malaysia & 1 x Sultan Haji Ahmed Shah Cup) Where to next? Pastures new? I'll be back to make sure you keep up to date on this wonderful career! Thanks for reading.

Career History Teams Managed Team Name - Country - Dates In Charge - Reason Left Niigata Unicorn (Singapore) // Singapore // 24.01.22 - 01.11.22 // Resigned Irn Bru Rangers // Hong Kong // 12.07.23 - 22.10.26 // Resigned Kuching // Malaysia // 25.12.26 - 23.09.30 // Resigned PSPS Pekanbaru // Indonesia // 30.11.30 - Present Trophy Cabinet Trophy Name // Country // Team Managed // Game Date Singapore Community Shield // Singapore // Niigata Unicorn (Singapore) // 19.02.22 Great Eastern Yeo's S League // Singapore // Niigata Unicorn (Singapore) // 14.08.22 Singapore Cup // Singapore // Niigata Unicorn (Singapore) // 30.10.22 Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield // Hong Kong // Irn Bru Rangers // 07.02.2024 Sapling Cup // Hong Kong // Irn Bru Rangers // 14.04.24 Hong Kong FA Cup // Hong Kong // Irn Bru Rangers // 25.04.24 Hong Kong First Division // Hong Kong // Irn Bru Rangers // 26.04.25 Hong Kong Community Cup // Hong Kong // Irn Bru Rangers // 22.08.26 Piala FA Malaysia // Malaysia // Kuching // 01.07.28 Piala Malaysia // Malaysia // Kuching // 01.12.28 Sultan Haji Ahmed Shah Cup // Malaysia // Kuching // 10.03.29 Astro Liga Super Malaysia // Malaysia // Kuching // 22.09.30 Liga 2 Indonesia // Indonesia // PSPS Pekanbaru // 29.02.31 Country Completion Asia Hong Kong | 5/5 - *COMPLETED* Indonesia | 1/4 Malaysia | 4/5 Singapore | 3/3 - *COMPLETED*

Welcome in to "Around The World", a Football Manager 23 career update story chronicling my usual FM challenge of winning every trophy possible on the game. Now I say it's a career update story, instead of an actual story because I'm not in this to tell you a story about the career. It's not made up and it's not going to be an entertaining read each update. It's just going to be what happened season by season. Now, spoiler alert, I've already played a load of seasons of this and have been persuaded to keep a record of this somewhere, so I chose on here. You lot seem nice enough, so here we go. I've won a fair few trophies in Asia so far, and I'll be sticking around in Asia until I've ticked off the continent then I'll move on to pastures new. Who knows where, time will tell. I may not even reach the end of Asia, but I'll certainly try my best. My next post below, will be a record of where I've managed, what I've won, and my total country count. It'll all make sense below. Thanks for taking the time to read my "boring" opening post.