Despite finishing ninth in this season's Bundesliga, Wolfsberger will be fairly optimistic going into the summer, having done superbly well in the late stages of the season.
Much like Altach, the Wolves were never under threat of going down solely due to the fact that St.Polten were as shocking as they were, but Wolfsberger themselves were rather poor and would have been battling against the drop in most other seasons.
They started the season by winning three of their opening six matches but had a winless streak that lasted from late August to early February, when they claimed a shock away win over Sturm. Moreover, the win in Graz was followed by an eight-game losing streak and there was little surprise when the Carinthians opted to part ways with Heimo Pfeifenberger.
Robert Ibertsberger took over as caretaker until the end of the season and was looking to move away from Pfeifenberger's physical approach and towards a more modern style of play. It soon became apparent that Wolfsberger are more than capable of playing attacking football and ended their campaign with a run of six games in which they recorded four wins, a draw and only one defeat.
However, all of this was not enough for Ibertsberger to be named their boss on a permanent basis, as Christian Ilzer, who won promotion to the Bundesliga with Hartberg this season, will take over this summer.
What is quite clear if that Wolfsberger fans are tired of the style of football that was played under Pfeifenberger and Ilzer will be expected to build on the groundwork laid by Ibertsberger.
