Football Season Guide

Mattersburg are coming from a somewhat turbulent season that saw them undergo a controversial early managerial change and spend time fearing relegation, having finished the regular season inside the bottom half. However, the Burgerlanders did rather well in the Relegation Group stage and finished second, meaning that they gave themselves to battle for a European place, but were edged out by Rapid. Klaus Schmidt, who was appointed until the end of the season, opted not to extend his deal, having stated that he made his mind up a month before the end of the season or so. The Burgerlanders have put their former academy manager Franz Ponweiser in charge, with the club's state being that they will monitor the results early in the season and then decide whether to go with Ponweiser on a permanent basis. Mattersburg are among the most stable Bundesliga clubs and it is therefore hardly a surprise that they hardly recorded any ins and outs during the summer. The sole important player to have left is Rene Renner, while the sole signing so far is Fabian Miesenbock. Their summer transfer activity means that their squad is smaller than last season and this is hardly a surprise, given that they had a rather bloated squad last time around and some trimming was in order. While their playing cadre is certainly of sufficient quality for them to stay up, the big question mark over Mattersburg going into the new season is their managerial situation. If Ponsweiser proved good enough or they manage to find an apt permanent manager quickly enough, they should do fine.