Ostbahner - Austrian Road to Glory

I wasn't really intending to carry on with this, down to a general lack of enjoyment with FM, so I started playing this again, and I am enjoying it, so I should be continuing it!



To begin with, we got our most convincing win of the season so far, in the league, with a 4-0 demolition of Wiener Neustadt. Youngster, Richard Gerritsen grabbed a brace, and Njongo Priso and Navarone Foor also scored. It was a great result as this is the sort of team we need to beat if we want to stay in the division



The only negative is Jhoao Rodriguez got a 6 week injury, unfortunately.

There was only one game after the Wiener Neustadt game, which was against RB Salzburg, which we lost 2-1, but we were in the game for its entirety, and their goals came from us, as we scored two own goals. Two games before that, we lost to, arguably, the best team in Austria, by only a one goal deficit, which I wasn't too disappointed with. Other than those, we had a very disappointing defeat to Ritzing, where we were completely dominated. We also played two games which we broke our 'goals scored in a game' records. We beat Natternbach 7-0 and 9-0, and therefore a 16-0 aggregate score. The following cup game, we won 19-0 on aggregate, with Jermaine Hylton, coming in from the shadows, to score 7 in the two legs.



After these results, the table stands like so:



We sit in 11th, which is pleasing, as I expect that we'll narrowly avoid relegation at best. SV Reid have sacked their manager with them sitting in last place

We were on a great run of form before this, but we lost to second bottom of the league, SV Ried, 3-1. We controlled the early stages of the game, but we weren't creating enough chances, so I changed the instructions to make us go more direct, and it backfired. They scored almost immediately afterwards, from a 30 yard longshot. Raul Rusecu, formerly of Sevilla and Steaua Bucharest, doubled their lead. We got one back in the 89th minute through and own goal, but the same guy redeemed himself by scoring their third. We still sit in 7th which is 2 positions away from Europa League knockout qualification, which, as it stands, is still likely.

With us flying high in the league, the board rewarded me with a new contract.



As usual I asked for the smallest wage they'd offer to save some extra money

The worst injury that we could have got, however it comes at a good time only a few games before the transfer window. I may look to bring in a keeper on a short term loan depending on two things; how Van der Linden performs, considering he is really not a Bundesliga standard goalkeeper, and how Dioudis recovers

Another two significant injuries, to two of the brightest talents at the club:



Firstly Bill Barnett. He is the starting striker now, but is out for 5 weeks. Jermaine Hylton is our top scorer despite half of his 14 goals coming in two of the cup games. Anyway, he should step up.



At the start of the season, I was considering loaning him out, with Bearzotti underperforming, and Priso declining as his age takes its toll, he earned a starting spot and has been incredible. However in the game he got injured in, Priso scored off the bench. Priso has requested to leave, which I am not against allowing him to do, but he will have 3 months in the starting line up, so maybe he can take the chance and prolong his career. If not, Bearzotti will have a lot to prove to live up to last seasons form.

A 3-0 win against a surprisingly poor Wacker Innsbruck side, has now put us in 5th and well in contention for European qualification

In the two months, I have reached 200 games as manager of the mighty Ostbahner.



There weren't any really challenging fixtures that I haven't already shown you, however we did lose twice, to the two better teams; SV Reid and Wolfsberger. The first loss, we were ahead in, through two own goals, however they came back, and their star man Silvio, scored in the last minutes to snatch the 3 points. The SV Reid game was another we failed to score in as it was another own goal. It came in the 89th minute to make it 2-1 however the player scored the own goal scored at the other end to make it look more convincing. We're also into the 8th round of the cup, despite a slip up against Linz in the second leg of the 7th round.



We currently sit in 5th, and the next game is against Rapid Wien. At the start of the season, I would have never given us a chance, however, with them sitting a point behind us, I am hoping we can get a positive result at least, to consolidate our 5th place position.



Finally the stand out player in these fixtures is Vanzo; he was initially signed as a striker, however, he wasn't scoring. I didn't want him to just sit and rot, but he was never going to fit into any other position in the team. We were short on central midfielders, and he didn't have central midfield as one of his listed positions. For some reason I began playing him there, and it's working.

Here is the retained list as it stands.



The two highest profile names set to depart on a free are Njongo Priso and Abderrahmane Yousfi, however as I mentioned earlier, with the injury to Gerritsen, I may reconsider the Priso decision. Yousfi is now a 4th choice striker, and isn't playing, leading him to become a forgotten man in many ways. Hammouti may also leave, as he is 5th choice centre back. Cy Goddard, Florain Uhlig and Maximilian Berghold are all also set to leave. Goddard has been unable to secure a starting spot and has complained a few times, Uhlig has been on loan for the last two years, and on the fringes for that time too, and finally Berghold. After 99 games for us, the 22 year old will leave. He is one of the first signing I made as the manager of Ostbahn, and it'll be sad to see him leave. I may look to find him a new squad so he doesn't just leave on a free.
All our staff members have been offered new deals except for, assistant manager, Dennis Zilavec. He wants £1.2k per week, which I don't want to pay, as most of the first team aren't on that much, and he isn't even that good anyway.

Although I said I was expecting a positive result, I certainly didn't expect it. We were on top for the entire game, and finally capitialised on it when Jermaine Hylton got his 17th goal of the season, in a week he signed a new deal. Alex Ibrahim got a knock so I took him off at half time, and 2 minutes into his game, Arthur scored to double our tally and fire us towards an unlikely victory. Noel Soumah got sent off in the 65th minute, so I sat back, and looked to defend, which we did. It is worth mentioning in the 6 games Van der Linden has played, he has kept 5 sheets, however the one game he did concede in, was a cup game. So, in other words, in the 4 league games he's played, he has kept a clean sheet in each.

Transfer Targets



One player that has really caught my eye is Ismael Tajouri. Can play left or right wings, centre midfield or striker. Not only that, but he looks really good, and a better version of what Sharifi was in the lower leagues, as them both being Libyan.



With it looking ever more likely that Cy Goddard will leave at the end of the year, we need a new backup defensive midfielder. Sandor Torok was released by MTK in Hungary last year, and is only 19, so will improve.



Finally, Nikola Storm is on the fringes of Club Brugge. He'd mainly operate as a right back should he join, and would take the starting spot of Mathis. However as you can see from his positions, he can play a range of attacking roles too. The only problem is his wages. He wants £3k, which we can't afford, so maybe I'll wait until he is released and I will see if his demands have been reduced.

Potential Departures



Yousfi just doesn't play enough. He had a great season last year, but is surplus to requirements now. I will look to sell him as I think we can get a small sum of money



He was a very promising youngster when we signed him, but due to a combination of better players in his position, and me just not giving him a chance, he hasn't reached that potential.



Someone I didn't expect to be including on this, but Wolfsburg came in for the 19 year old. He has a £1.1m release clause, and if they meet that, I don't get a say in the transfer. However I will look to tie him down for another 5 years.

More Injuries...





A more significant injury, as we are down to our last striker. Hylton is out for 4-5 weeks, meaning Koglbauer will have to come in for a rare start. Yousfi is coming back, however, so we'll have 2 strikers

Unfortunately Alex Ibrahim's interest has increased, with 6 teams now wanting him. I have said if they met the £1.1m buyout clause, they could have him; which each of them did. So it looks like he will be on his way out to a big European club

The inevitable has occured. Ibrahim left for Benfica for £1.1m. It has shown me the talent that we actually have, and that I have to make sure to remove clauses from contracts.



Here is his replacement; Ismail H'Maidat. The 23 year old has Crystal Palace, Anderlecht and Roma on his CV, and he played 6 times in the league for Roma last year, before being released.



An interesting transfer for the future. Amine Monnin comes in for free from Anderlecht. The 17 year old, for some reason, was not offered a contract by Anderlecht, despite being in the first team this year. He is on quite a big wage for a 17 year old, and will probably start next year.

We hired a DoF. I'll be honest, I'd never heard of him. But he made 100 appearances for Germany, scoring 34 times. He was also a Bayer Leverkusen legend after making almost 350 appearances scoring 181 goals for them..



This is getting slightly concerning now. The 18 year old is beginning to show signs of an injury problem. He is now out for 3-4 months. Not good

Former Austrian international, Christoph Leitgeb, is now the Head of Youth Development.



With the injury to Bill Barnett, we needed a new striker. Ismael Tajouri comes in. He will compete with Hylton, who is also injured at the moment

Another, in a string of difficult games, but this time we lost. Adeleye scored an own goal on the turn of the half, and we stay in 5th, when we had the opportunity of moving up to 4th

We lost to second placed, Austria Lustenau, 2-1. We went ahead through Ismael Tajouri, but were unable to hold on, and ended up losing in an unfortunate manner. We still sit in 4th, but Rapid Wien are only a point behind us, and our next game is against top of the league Austria Wien

Another loss. This one was deserved although we did take the lead, through none other, than Benjamin Koglbauer - the man who has been at the club since the Landesliga days, and he is still good enough to compete for a starting spot. He also came through the ranks at Austria Wien, but never made and impact and was released. However we were denied a famous point by a 2 minute double by Alexander Gorgon.

The last of the particularly challenging fixtures, against RB Salzburg. As some of you may remember, we played them in our first season in the cup. We lost 3-1 and 4-0. This time, we recorded a historic victory, as we won 3-2. We did get a significant chunk of luck, but we led 2-0 at half time as Gerritsen scored on his first start since returning from injury. However, they came out of the traps, for the second half, flying. They scored after 53 minutes, and then Hrgota had a goal disallowed. The then scored late on in the 86th minute, but the main man, Richard Gerritsen scored again, in the dying embers to seal the deal. We are back into 5th, as Rapid Wien lost to SV Horn

After a pretty uneventful transfer window, the only other transfer that happened was:

Faris Hammouti will be leaving to club to join Anthering at the end of the year

As the transfer window slammed shut, we also left the part of the season which could prove to define where we finish come the end:



The first game was against Rapid Wien, which we won. Then a draw against SV Horn, which we drew. They are having a good season and are in the mix with us and Rapid Wien for 5th spot. Then the two losses on the bounce, that I'd already shown you. As a result of these two, we couldn't afford to get anything other than a win against Polten, but we were hit on the counter and only managed a 1-1 draw. These results leave us in



We're one point behind Rapid Wien in 5th, but 4 points ahead of SV Horn in 7th. No matter what happens, we have over achieved. However we dont play any teams in the top 5 so we should aim to not lose but we'd have to hope that Rapid Wien lose some. It's going to be an exciting end to the season!

They've been relegated again! For those who don't know, Allerheiligen were the team predicted to trounce the lower leagues, which they did in the Landesliga and Regionalliga. However, again they were predicted to crush the Erste Liga, however a poor summer, in terms of signings, they slumped to a relegation. They then released their whole squad, and replaced them with a range of players, none of which were as good as the ones before them. This then resulted in another relegation from the Regionaliga. So now, they have suffered their third successive relegation to a league below the one they started in. It's crazy what one poor season can do.

Devastated. Such a promising youngster, who has had an incredible season. This could be the end of his career, as he will obviously decline and I'll obviously have to replace him.

A narrow 2-1 victory over the bottom side, Austria Klagenfurt. However we did have the more clear cut opportunities, but some individuals were very poor, one of which being the legend, Daniel Gramman. As much as I love him, he is a real liability. However, I took him off and put Noel Soumah on, and took of Sergi, and put on Chara. Both defensive changes, however they changed the game in an attacking sense, as they both scored.



One of two knock on effects that this game had, is that Klagenfurt were relegated. It also meant that, unless we win 8-0 against 15th placed Mattersberg and Rapid Wien lose, we finish 6th. Although we miss out on the Europa League knock outs, it is probably a good thing, as we don't have the squad yet, as proven by the poor end of season form.

There it is. We were unable to score the 8 goals needed, but Rapid Wien won 5-3 so it wouldn't have mattered anyway.



This result relegated Mattersburg, and secured our place in 6th.

So here are the end of season results:



We slipped up in three of the games which cost us, in the end, 5th place. That aspect of our season is disappointing, however to finish 6th is a great achievement



Austria Wien won the league and cup double, and Klagenfurt, Wiener Neustadt, Grodig and Mattersburg were relegated. Mattersburg finished 5th last year, so some of their players may be worth a look at signing. Floridsdorfer survived via the playoffs against First Vienna, who lost in the play-offs for the 3rd time in 4 years. 68 points, last year would have got us 5th place, but to generate that amount of points is very impressive for a newly promoted side

Next season is going to be fun...

Floriano Vanzo was fans player and signing of the season. Ismael Tajouri won goal of the season, and Raphael Mathis won the young player of the year. However in the team of the season, interestingly, Van der Linden was ahead of Dioudis in goal, and Coussement was ahead of Mathis, despite Mathis being the young player of the season..