Football Season Guide

Inconsistency dogged them last season. At times, French boss Gourvennec was changing formation each week, and thus there was an unsettled air in Geneva. They played well at times, but also frustrated their fans at times. With some of the bigger names in Swiss football ailing nowadays though, this is the time for Servette to strike home their claim as one of the biggest clubs in the country, who were almost forgotten for a while due to the amount of times they went bankrupt/almost bankrupt over the past few decades. Servette seem to know that now. They moved heaven and earth to persuade midfield star Cognat to stay at the end of last season - and it worked. They made star winger Kadile's loan move permanent, and veteran playmaker Stevanovic is there too. With Roullier and Burch at the heart of defence, the pillars are in place for this to be a very successful team. However, in typical Servette fashion, they've also taken some gambles. Following Mall's departure, and being unhappy with the notion of Frick starting, they've opted to sign Lithuanian GK Gertmonas to be their number one. He has no experience at this level so it's a risk but there's no alternative for now at least with Frick out until late August/early September due to surgery. A bigger risk was the signing of French forward Mathis Lambourde. There's no denying his talent, but he's got a two year suspended sentence for manslaughter hanging over his head, and Swiss football fans were hardly welcoming when the likes of Benjamin Mendy joined FC Zurich, for example. Still, they signed two good players, and they got van Moos back from a successful loan spell at Luzern - if he stays fit, he can be big for them. Maceiras arrived to replace Srdanovic - no risk there. Naressi arrived to beef up their midfield, which should be a risk-free move. On top of that, they have some very gifted players coming through their academy. They think highly of Ishuayed, but the biggest star is Lopes, who is almost certainly in for a very big breakout season. Assuming they find some familiarity and consistency early on, they should be in the title race.