Football Season Guide

The big news pre-season was that Christian Wegleitner has stepped aside from his role as interim manager, and will instead be the Assistant Manager to Stephan Helm, who was previously in charge of the Austria Vienna youth team and now takes control of the senior team. Therefore, a slow start to the season is likely whilst he gets to grips with the group. Although they finished 7th last season, they managed to qualify for Europe via the play-offs against TSV Hartberg after finishing as runners-up in the Relegation Group. They're clearly hungry for more, not least because money from playing in Europe can be used to keep the bailiffs from their door. They have already lost regular CB Handl for a substantial period of time due to injury. However, they do have a good level of depth in that position so it shouldn't be too damaging. The biggest loss the club have had to endure is that of shot-stopper Fruchtl, who bailed them out on numerous occasions this season - he's left for Lecce. Replacing him will be tough for Sahin-Radlinger, who is expected to be the man to do so following the expiration of his loan contract. They mostly lost deadwood pre-season other than Fruchtl. That said, they needed to find a replacement for Asllani and Schmidt in attack because they didn't score enough goals last season. They've made interesting signings like Malone from FC Basel, Cristiano from Sao Bento, and most recently Prelec from Genoa to try and improve their attacking output. The latter should fit the bill nicely, and is experienced at this level. Despite that, they've recently said in public that they're also in the process of finalising a deal for another young forward. Barry has arrived to strengthen their midfield options too, and they've added more depth at the back. The balance of the squad looks good although a little lacking in quality overall. More couldn't be asked of a club that is constantly struggling with debt though. What they've assembled should be enough to see them compete for a top six berth but whether they make it or not depends on how the newcomers gel and how injury-free they stay.