RaySunshine

March 2027 Having finished February with a win, Fogg was hoping that, finally, he could really start to haul The Gounies away from danger. The month started well to that end with a win against ZED (Kyambadde 7, Youseff 14). El Gouna blew the opponents away with two early goals and that was enough for Fogg's men to hold onto and start a shift away from trouble. This was where all the good news in the month ended though. Military Production (Kyambadde 3) were the next opponents. When Fogg's men took an early lead, he hoped for the best but Military Production controlled the rest of the game and ran out comfortable winners. Fogg really began to worry after the Ghazl El-Mahalla (Kyambadde 52) game. El Gouna took control and dominated the first half. Finally in the second half, they took the lead before going level again straight away with poor set-piece defending. A late penalty meant no points from a game they should have won. It sounds like relegation form... As the table stands, El Gouna have escaped the drop-zone for the first month-end since Fogg took over. Can they do enough in the remaining games to stay out of trouble? Fogg is worried! 7th, 5th and 10th are the next teams. Could Fogg get a win or two to start moving away from trouble or will his team slip back into despair?

February 2027 February began with a three-week break and that only left enough time for two games. It's fair to say that they weren't short of drama though. Before either game could be played came this bombshell. Sissoko - Fogg's hoped-for defensive rock - got himself injured and would certainly miss all the games this month. This showed against Al-Masry (Al-Aryani 36). Al-Masry kept finding space behind and went a goal up. Al-Aryani brought things back level with a neat finish but it wasn't enough. They took control in the second half scoring a header from a set-piece and from another ball over the top. The game against Future (Youssef 60, Kyambadde 62, Balaha 67) was full of much more positive drama. Having played well in the first half, Fogg encouraged his team on and they responded by scoring three goals in seven minutes. There was then a frightener as Future clawed two back; cheers went round the stadium though on 90 minutes as El Gouna managed to hold onto the points. El Gouna move up for the first time since Fogg took the job on. It's looking hopeful. From six points back when he started, suddenly escape looks like a serious possibility. Can Fogg keep the good times going long enough to get his team out of trouble? March will be a big, big month. ZED and Military Production lie just outside the relegation places. Get points from those games and El Gouna are really giving themselves a serious chance. Ghazi are tenth and present a winnable game too. This is not a month to miss!

January 2027 Well it was a dramatic month and one that certainly left Fogg with some hope - is that dangerous? Game one saw the side take on fellow strugglers Aluminium (Youssef 24) and, once again, the Gounies hit the self-destruct button in losing a lead and having a man sent off (again) in consipring to defeat. This certainly cheered up Fogg with the verdict being excellent. The challenge is will Fogg be in the job to see it through? The second piece of news before the game was the signing of Aboubacar Sissoko. He's travelled around the world playing as both CB and DM. Fogg wants him to help shore up the backline at El Gouna. Game two was against Petrojet (Youssef 14, 32, Kymbadde 52, 90+6, Al-Aryani 70). This game was drama galore - leading, losing - it was all going on. The drama kept going right until 90+6 when Kymbadde's second goal handed Fogg a dramatic win. This was followed up with Youssef slotting home cooly against Zamalek (Youssef 82) to give Fogg a win against one of Egypt's biggest clubs. It's the first time all season that the club have had back-to-back wins. Dare to hope? The month couldn't finish on all good news though. He'll be missed. At the moment, El Gouna remain in trouble but, with those back-to-back wins, hope of escape moves into view. Can Fogg pull off the great escape? Al-Masry are 8th and Future 9th so Fogg is hoping for at least three points to show some serious hope. What can El Gouna prove? Will hope be dead again by the end of the month? Wait and see...

December 2026 So Fogg begins his reign in Egypt with a defeat and gets a sense of the challenge he faces. Against Pharco (Balaha 78), the team started well before hitting self-destruct - giving away a penalty and then going down to ten men in two needless challenges. There was a bit of a come-back later when Balaha volleyed home a superb cross. He then hit the post but couldn't score that goal that would give Fogg a dramatic draw. El Gouna remain in trouble and don't look like getting out of it any time soon. Fogg knows that he'll get the chop if the side go down too. He wonders if Egypt will have more than one job in it. Is there any hope here? There are only two games in January against fellow strugglers Aluminium and 14th-placed Petrojet. It's a chance for El Gouna to show that they do have some ability at this level. But will they do that or send Fogg further into despair?

Starting XI Mohamed El Beshbeshi: El Beshbeshi has moved around the Egyptian clubs. This is his first season here and he's been back-up but Fogg proposes to step him up to the starting XI. Ahmed Ramadan: The 20yo has come through the youth system here and steps into the XI for Fogg. Mohamed Abdelmonem: Abdelmonem is in his fourth season at El Gouna and has been one of the most consistent performers at the club in that period. Fogg needs that to continue! Hussain Al-Dossari: The 19yo broke into the first team last season and he's continuing that place for Fogg here. Essam: He is in his fourth season here after joining for £105K. His form has been pretty good - can he keep it up? Claude-Michel Emboumbou Dipoko: The Cameroonian is one of three foreign players allowed in the squad and showed some good form last season. Fogg needs that form again. Mohanad Lasheen: Lasheen joined the club in 2022 and has been consistently one of the best performers since - but is that enough to keep El Gouna in the league? Heshem Balaha: At 30, Balaha is one of the most experienced players in the squad. More than 1 goal and 0 assists in 9 is needed though. Allan Kyambadde: At El Gouna since 2019, the 30yo Ugandan needs to deliver again this season to help the club out of this hole. Marwan Youssef: Another youth product; the 20yo has 2 goals and 1 assist so far - can he do better? Ali Al-Mohammed: Another youth product, the 19yo has 2 goals in 19 starts. He's not exactly setting the world on fire. Pharco haven't been in the top-flight that long but look pretty comfortable there. Fogg needs El Gouna to show that they have some hope and fast. Can it be here?

El Gouna So the challenge continues - after having talked down his exit fee with Cittadella, Fogg manages to leave Europe and take the job at El Gouna. In FM-land, they're struggling against relegation and have quite a lot to do. And it's the case that there is a new assistant in town. There wasn't even the option of bringing staff along presented to Fogg so he assumed that it simply couldn't be afforded. Greisha spent most of his career playing for Ismaily but has been the assistant manager here since 2020. Fogg is hoping that his experience in the job will help him get the team out the hole they presently find themselves in. Notice that downward trend in the far right of this graph - it looks like continuing. Battle bravely are the instructions given to Fogg upon arriving. He's certainly up for the challenge but he does wonder who can be persuaded in to strengthen affairs.

December 2026 After a pretty promising October and November, it's fair to say that December was where the wheels came off for Fogg! In game one, the result was postive as two goals saw Cittadella get a surprise result against Lazio (Raimondo 2, Ferdi 87). Ferdi was particularly pleased to get himself on the scoresheet. It's fair to say that the news was not good and that similar joy was not felt against Juventus (Raimondo 40) where the opponents were 3-0 up in just over 30 mins and breezed past Fogg's charges. The one piece of good news was getting great respect out of a journalist who'd started with utter hatred a year ago. The team struggled to create chance against Fiorentina, Empoli or Atalanta and came out losing all three without even a goal to show for it. So the team have sunk slightly and find themselves just outside the European places. It's fair to say though that Fogg's eyes are elsewhere. The intake is set to be average but, with the news below, will Fogg be there to worry...

November 2026 Having had a short, but successful, October, Fogg was very keen to follow it up with an equally successful November. Game one saw Cittadella take on Sassuolo (Maolida 19) and secure a win after Maolida carried on his fine scoring run. This was followed by a good win against Frosinone (Kwateng 72, Maolida 84). There was a scare when Cittadella went a goal down after a pen but Kwateng curled the ball with the outside of his foot into the top corner and Maolida smashed home a rebound to secure the points. More injury news hit Fogg after the game as it became clear that Rosario would not play for a while and would miss the Inter game. But before that one, there was a 0-0 played out with Hellas Verona first. Then came the game with Inter. There was barely a piece of action in the game. Nothing appeared on screen until the 80th minute. Both sides had a little flurry of chances at the end and Fogg was pretty pleased with the point his side came away with. So, as Fogg's time in Italy, draws to a close, Cittadella sit in 5th and are still very much in the top-four race. Not a bad place to be! There are three games scheduled before Fogg's year in Italy is up. Having had the experience of getting a job in Italy, he's aware that it could be unlikely that an Egyptian club will the finances needed to prise him away. If this proves to be the case, Fogg may have to walk out of Cittadella to continue his adventure around the world...

The Premise Not so long ago, a young Phillip Fogg was wandering the streets of London wanting to see the world but not sure how to do it. As he passed the doors of the famous Reform Club, he thought of his famed, fictional namesake and his madcap adventures as laid out by Jules Verne. He decided, at that very moment, that he too would travel round the world and follow that route country-by-country. Football would be his mechanism as he loved the game and would happily manage in each and every country. The only challenge being that he never been a football manager or player but merely a player of Football Manager! Nevertheless, with 'Inverting the Pyramid' and 'Soccernomics' by his side, he was ready to strike out on the journey of a lifetime! In summary, Phillip will aim to manage at least one club in each country from the 'Around the World route'. The rules are that, from the date of employment, he must spend a calendar year in that country. Any time unemployed counts as spent in the country he was last managing in. For example, he starts managing in country A on September 1st 2021 but gets sacked on May 15th 2022. He doesn't get another job but can still start looking in country B from September 1st 2022? Make sense? I hope all will become clear as it goes along - join me for the ride! He will also aim to take his assistant with him from club to club along the way.