Football Season Guide

Despite finishing second from bottom in the Relegation Group last season, it never really looked like WSG would be relegated. They finished there because the teams that were in the mixer (and subsequently panicked) had to move heaven and earth to get out of the mire, which ultimately led to WSG finishing where they did. It was a decent campaign for them though. It's going to be another tough one for them though. They've let two of their best midfielders - Taferner and Muller - go, which looked avoidable. Even one of their backups - Naschberger - has gone. On top of that, loanee Wels has returned to FK Austria Wien, and he will be sorely missed. He was quite literally the only one that could glue their midfield to their attack with any consistency last season. LWB Bockle had a great campaign too, but he returned to SK Rapid Vienna. Weirdly, they opted to sell him but that's another story for another day. It's yet another gaping wound for WSG to fill. There shouldn't be any real concerns about regular GK Stejskal moving on, though. Hamzic joins from Salzburg, and he's a very good goalkeeper on his day. Naturally, as a club that generally doesn't spend money, they've had to get creative in solving said issues. Satin, Striednig, and Celic as alternative CMs are gambles that were worth the risk. They also seem intent on going a bit more direct this season, hence the arrival of Olakigbe in attack. Husein Balić has joined to lend some experience and composure too. Adding Murray at the back is a good choice too - he'll help stabilise a defence that does tend to crack under intense pressure. The biggest win for this club was that they somehow kept boss Semlic on. He has done a simply superb job with an incredibly limited team and no budget. Whilst he's there, they'll be ok. Make no mistake, though - this is not a good team on paper. It's only a decent team if Semlic assembles them. Expect entertainment from them, particularly at home, but they're not good enough to be trusted in general. A bit of a wildcard, but one that the divsion wouldn't be the same without.