Football Season Guide

Last season did not go according to plan. They ended up having to come back from the dead to beat LASK in a play-off just to get into the Conference League, which honestly isn't even where they want to be, nor should be. Things went wrong just about everywhere so they'll be hopeful of a more solid campaign this time around. Unfortunately, that's going to be difficult to achieve. New manager Peter Stöger has his hands full with a plethora of difficult calls. For example, in attack Beljo's loan expiring, Burgstaller's retirement, and the offer that was too good to refuse for Jansson has decimated their options. Arnautovic was the star they wanted to bring in, and he was keen - but they couldn't afford him, even with their fans setting up an equivalent of JustGiving to pay his wages. Therefore, Mbuyi, Kara, Dahl, and Antiste are the optimistic signings to replace them; only Kara has a proven track record at this level, and there were few signs of that during his loan spell last season. Wonderkid Wurmbrand is going to have to live up to the hype if they're to achieve something. There was also the difficult decision to make at LB. Auer, a name on every fan's lips in the green-and-white half of the capital, is not consistent enough. Youngster Vincze impressed greatly at the back end of last season but has been loaned out instead, despite looking ready for this level. It could be that Demir, who impressed at RB(!) for TSV Hartberg last season, competes with Auer for the LB role this season. New CB Horn can also play there. Neither option is ideal. They've opted to make Seidl their new Captain, which is perhaps indicative that they expect to lose GK Hedl at some point. He's part of a strong enough midfield that should do well this season, although it's hard to fathom who their starting CDM pair will be as Romeo was signed to replace Sangare - but Sangare is yet to leave. Their CB situation is strong; too strong, actually. Much like the Sangare situation, they expected to lose Yao by now - but he's still there. Marcelin may have to wait for game time because he won't split up Yao and Cvetkovic. RB is very strong too - Scholler and Bolla are excellent options; the former is really starting to impress and challenge the latter. The start of the season is going to be challenging for them. New manager, almost entirely changed attack, question marks over key areas of the team, change of Captain - it's hard to see how such can go well, at least in the beginning. They'll probably do enough to be assured of a Championship Group place but it's tought to envision them making a title challenge, even with Salzburg struggling.