Football Season Guide

Sturm have had a very disappointing season that saw them barely make the Championship Group, which they finished on the bottom of after badly struggling throughout the second half of the campaign. They never really adapted to Nestor El Maestro's ideas, with their football being disappointing throughout the campaign, and they opted to part ways with their boss late in the season, with Christian Ilzer taking over shortly after the campaign ended. This could be a match made in heaven, with Ilzer's attacking philosophy being in line with what the Grazers have been insisting on as a club for more than two decades, and with both the club and the manager having it all to prove after struggling last time around. The bad news is that Sturm were unable to agree any sort of an extension for Kiril Despodov, their by far best performer last time around, who has returned to parent club Cagliari following the expiry of his loan. As usual, their signings are a mix of youth and experience, with Andy Kuen in particularly looking like a potential star signing after enjoying a superb campaign at Mattersburg last time around. On the other side, a big problem is that Thorsten Rocher has also left, while the sole striker to sign so far is Francisco Mwepu, a 20-year-old Zambian with no experience of playing in Europe. If none of their strikers step up, Sturm might end up playing a lot of pretty football without a cutting edge, which would obviously be a big problem for them to achieve their targets.