Football Season Guide

Despite saving the club from relegation, boss Tomas Oral's contract was not renewed. The reason for this became clear in the summer as Blau-Weiss Linz boss Gerald Scheiblehner, courted by Grasshopper Club Zurich for at least twelve months prior, was finally able to take over. In 2024, the Austrian club were not so receptive but they had no choice but to listen this time around. Although unfamiliar with the Super League, boss Scheiblehner is the perfect type of person to help the club in their current position. He's proven at working with small budgets, getting the best out of limited players, and ushering in young talent. GCZ have some very talented players in their academy, not least Leart Kabashi (although he's out until October due to injury), so it could prove a good appointment. That said, this club walks hand-in-hand with chaos, which is how they went from flying last season to almost getting relegated. It's difficult to envision how they'll do for a full campaign. The potential is there for them to be dark horses this season though, particularly with Veron joining on a permanent basis, Arigoni coming 'home', and wonderkids Jensen and Mantini joining on loan. The problem they're likely to encounter is a slow start though. They lost some big players pre-season, particularly in attack. Bojang and Irankunda weren't firing on all cylinders toward the end of the season, and Morandi fell out of favour when they were informed behind the scenes that he would run his contract down. Attack is something they need to improve this season too, and nomadic striker Luke Plange is the one they've gambled on - but it's a risk. Arigoni's return should negate the departure of Schmitz, although with LB still a problem area with Persson having returned to Young Boys Bern, he may be needed there instead. Their new manager generally favours a WB formation though so some wingers could be considered there. It's an area to keep an eye on. Again, lots of experience have now left the team though, so a slow start seems likely. If they can galvanise though, and they stick to their manager's instructions, this team has the potential to spring more than a few surprises this season, potentially even battling for a place in Europe. The remaining players have the same hunger and attitude, which is why the usual chaos GCZ tend to invoke may not be there this season. Time will tell.