Ostbahner - Austrian Road to Glory

COMPLETE BOTTLEJOBS

We finally won...just! We're now in 5th and just a point behind 4th placed Gratkorn.

Goalkeepers



Tobias Schutzenauer has been good since he's come in, and will remain number 1 for the foreseeable future. Tim van der Linden is a sufficient backup but I don't see him wanting to stay as a backup at only 21, so he may leave next year

Centre Backs



Daniel Gramann and Jesse Wijnen are going to stay as the first choice centre backs, but Gramann is now 30. None of our centre backs have been particularly good for some reason, in terms of average rating. Berghold is the pick of the backups, but Da Graca and Hammouti are both great replacements with bright futures. Schoberl is there for cover

Left Wing Backs



Sergi has had a stuttering start as he has been unable to hold a consistent starting spot due to injuries and suspensions. Hopefully he will improve next year. Daniel Jank is a good backup and he has finally learnt to play left wing back! Tomislav Kantolic was there to provide cover on both wing back slots, but will be leaving at the end of the year

Right Wing Backs



Mathis has to be up there for player of the season. He got 18 assists in 44 games which was a league high, and is still only 21. It is because of him that Schoberl didn't get many starts. Yusuf Sayin is going at the end of the year, along with Kantolic as I mentioned before

Defensive Midfielders



Florian Uhlig is the starter. Wasn't comfortable in DM when he arrived, but has learnt it well. Stefan Bergmeister did well when he was needed, and the same can be said for Noha Sylvestre, although his gametime was limited. Schoberl, yet again, is there for cover.

Centre Midfielders



Cy Goddard has been incredible since he joined, and is the only centre midfielder in our team. Uhlig can also play there, but Ercan Kayhan is a very strange one. He began the season as a starter, and then Goddard came in. Kayhan just fell off a cliff. I will look to shift him on in the summer. Turkmen, Dervisevic and Umprecht will all be leaving as well, as they are not good enough for this level. Dervisevic wasn't good enough last year, not sure how he has managed to stay here this long.

Wingers



Basically all of our wingers can play upfront as well, but Renfurm was the starting attacking midfielder. Unfortunately will be going back to his parent club, but I may try and get him back next year. Bruno Souza has been a utility player, and has played striker, all the attacking midfield spots and either side of midfield. Only managed one goal in 28 appearances though. Turkmen played attacking midfield, left wing and centre midfield. Unfortunately he isn't good enough and won't improve enough to warrant staying here. Finally Ziajan Sharifi played attacking midfield. Didn't start a game, but is only 19 and has good potential so I will look to loan him out next year

Strikers



Koglbauer, Horvath and Galan. Koglbauer was our top scorer with 18, Horvath was second with 14. Since Galan came in, he has been influential to the rest of the team, especially Koglbauer. When he was on the poor run, I brought in Galan, and he started to score again, instantly.

With the new season around the corner, here are the end of season 'things':



Benjamin Koglbauer got top goalscorer despite having a pretty poor season. Rafael Matis got the most assists, with 18 and the highest average rating. Ercan Kayhan got the highest pass completion again, like last year, and Renfurm got the most PoM awards. Daniel Jank got the most yellow cards, but most pleasing of all, we didn't get a single red card all season.



I came runner up, again, in the manager of the season, but it's fair to say Karl Kraxner deserved it



Only Rafael Mathis made it into the team of the season, but thats probably fair.



Cy Goddard, proved to be an inspired signing. He won the over the fans in 6 months, winning the fans player of the year, ahead of Mathis and Renfurm. And he was obviously the signing of our season, and he also won young player of the season. Stefan Bergmeister got the goal of the season, with a thunderbolt. It was a good goal to be honest



Finally, the end of season review. We were predicted to come high mid table, and we surpassed those expectations again. However we had the chance to go 2nd on the last game of the season, and that is something that will be looked at in a disappointing light. Also the Samsung Cup was poor from us. We were knocked out in the first game, against a team two divisions below. It goes without saying that we need to improve that next year. Finally, Youandi Renfurm will be returning to his new club now after 82 games and 17 goals

Transfers:

I have brought in two players so far, and they're both defensive players:



Abdou Rahman Dampha has been at Nancy, but was released from a Semi-pro team in France. I signed him and he is on relatively cheap wages. Will go into the starting eleven, but as a DM set to deep lying playmaker, as his defensive stats are not great, to say the least.



Another African player, but he is from Sierra Leone. He has got one cap for them, and I expect he'll add to it in the future. Slightly unnecessary signing, given that we already have 5 centre backs, but Gramann is 30 going on 31, and Hammouti, Da Graca and Berghold were unconvincing at best. Hammouti will be loaned out, and maybe Da Graca as well, but Loof will go straight into the first team. He was signed on a free after being released by PSV

I have been pretty busy in the transfer window so far, and here are the 'outs' at the moment:



Dalibor Derisevic; pretty useless player and wasn't good enough for the Landesliga, let alone the Erste Liga. He has gone to a low league team in Romania after 12 games for the club



Sinan Turkmen; a pretty sad depature. Had a very good first season with us, but just wasn't good enough for the Regionalliga. Moved for £18k to Anthering, who are in the division below the Landesliga, even though he could perform in the Landesliga very well



Jesse Wijnen; didn't want to sell him but he had a £95k buyout clause in his contract. He leave to Bundesliga side, Kapfenberger, the same side Kevin Hacker joined last year.



Faris Hammouti; Is a very promising centre back, but his gametime is limited here even more so than last year, so I sent him out on loan for the good of his career but also so he can continue his development



Romano Denneboom; Despite being a woeful footballer, he is actually an incredible staff member, so it's not surprising to see he only lasted a month and a half as an U18s coach before being snapped up by a smaller club to make him their manager

Now for the 'ins':



Jermaine Hylton; this was arranged a while back, as he comes in on a free, and was signed initially to play attacking midfield, but can also play striker. Will probably start ahead of Horvath



Njongo Priso; Was released by a Maltese team, and I instantly snapped him up. An incredible player who is now our best player. Will start ahead of Koglbauer at right wing



Abderrahmane Yousfi; we only had two strikers, other than the ones on the wings, so I brought the Algerian in on a free. He has previously played for Marseille and PSG, but comes to us as a third choice



Enrico Bearzotti; only on loan, as we have got a new affiliate, and they are Hellas Verona, in Serie B. I needed a rotational winger, and he was available on loan for no money so I went ahead and brought him in on loan



Jamiro Monteiro Alvarenga; Another loanee, as we are short on centre midfielders. I wanted Liverpool's, Kevin Stewart, but they were asking for too much. JMA is a capable alternative and will be starting the first few games of the season due to a 4 week injury to Cy Goddard. We also have an option to buy him for £19.5k



Denis Zilavec; a name that might be familiar to a few people. He played for us at the end of our Landesliga campaign, but has since retired and will replace the vacant U18s coaching spot left by Romano Denneboom

The first game of the season has come around, and we gave a team predicted to be relegated



But unfortunately, we couldn't turn chances into goals, and we endured a tough nil nil. JMA performed well, however, in the absence of Goddard

Comes in on loan from Genk. Will provide needed cover for DM and centre back



Another loanee, this time from Admira. Will provide more cover for centre midfield and DM



A very big signing for the club. Ogbonna Adeleye came in on a free transfer, and is only 20. The Nigerian is now our best centre back, and has a lot of potential.



Lukas Umprecht has finally left the club. Have been wanting to move him on for a while, but nobody was interested, unsurprisingly, so I had to offer him out for free. He leaves to Axams

This is most likely to be my final signing of the window, but, what a signing it is! He is on loan from Verona with us having to pay nothing towards his wages.



We're going to have to wait to see how he performs, as he got an injury 3 minutes into his debut

We began the season, with a positive outlook, with an outside chance of another promotion, except this time to the big league, the Bundesliga.



But it didn't begin well, as we were winless in 5. I tried a few different formations, but the one for the first 3 games, was too defensive and we didn't score in 3.I then went back to the 5 at the back that had we'd used for the previous two seasons, but again, it wasn't very successful, but we scored at least. Njongo Priso got his first goal for the club, and the first goal for the club in the Erste Liga as we drew to one of the better teams in the league. However we then lost to a team predicted to be battling relegation 2-1, Borja Galan getting his first goal of the season. It is then that I thought, none of my tactics that I am creating seem to be working, so I went to the steam workshop, and downloaded this (ignore the starting 11), and we got our first game of the season, against Lafnitz, which I have already uploaded. We then won four in a row, although two were in the cup against a semi pro team. We won the first leg 3-0, Uhlig scored his first goal for the club. We also won the second leg 3-0, this time Sergi scored his first goal for the club. In between these games, we played Hartberg, and we won 2-1, Priso scoring again, and Koglbauer, who came in for an out of form Jermaine Hylton, scored his first goal for the club, and subsequently kept his place in the team for the cup game which he also scored in. However we slipped up and lost 1-0, despite us dominating the game, but we bounced back with a 1-0 of our own, Jermaine Hylton ending his goalless run, which spanned back to his time at Swindon. But we were seemingly destroyed against Weiz, but the stats show, it is a game that could have gone either way, but they took their chances, unlike us. Priso scored again, and he has been, hands down, the best played so far. We won again in the cup, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing draw against another semi-pro team. Borja Galan grabbing a brace.


After the slow start, we have climbed out the relegation zone, the same can't be said for Lafnitz, who are stuck in there. Liefering have also endured a very poor start to the season, as a team predicted to come second this year. Reichenau have proved the critics wrong so far and are enjoying a successful start to the season.

I will do a full squad overview next, with a breakdown of each player, as I did last season, as the window has now closed, and there have been a lot of movements.

Would have had this squad overview out earlier, as I had already done 75% of it, until my computer decided to freeze, so I had no option other than to restart my computer, bearing in mind these overviews take a good 45 minutes to 1 hour to do. Should be out later on today

Goalkeepers
Tobias Schutzenauer - The club's record signing is the first choice keeper. I am still undecided whether he was worth £80k, but he is good nevertheless and is still young
Tim van der Linden - Is only the cup goalkeeper now, but is still good when he plays. Will probably be leaving at the end of the year on a free

Centre Backs
Daniel Gramann - Is currently performing the best out of all our centre backs even at 30 going on 31. He is 2 shy of 100 appearances for the club and I want him to retire here as well
Augustine Loof - The Sierra Leone international is also performing well, and is profiting from the experience of Gramann, as he is only 21. *New Signing*
Ogbonna Adeleye - The first regen signing for the club, and according to my staff he is one of the better players at the club. So far I am not convinced, as you can see he managed to get a 5.1 match rating in the 3-1 defeat to Weiz. He is going to have to improve if he is to reach his lofty potential *New Signing*
Maximillian Berghold - Doesn't play a lot anymore, but is still useful, and is only young. I think he could be here for at least another couple of years
Kristopher Da Graca - The same story as Berghold, except I'm not sure he'll want to stay much longer if he is 5th choice

Right Wing Backs
Raphael Mathis - The assist king from last year, is still here. He is still performing despite being, stats-wise, the weak link in the starting 11
Noha Sylvestre - Is more suited to the DM/MC role, however he won't play there much, but with Schoberl getting on a bit, it is time Sylvestre got his chance to fill his spot
Phillip Schoberl - As I mentioned, he is getting on a bit. He is 27 but not improving but also not decreasing too much. He did have one good season which I am grateful for, but he'll only fill in very rarely

Left Wing Backs
Bruno Martella - By far the best player at the club, and probably in the league too. Is only on loan, but we're paying nothing towards his wages at Verona *New Signing*
Sergi - Will be battling Martella for a first team spot as he is unfortunate to lose his spot - he hasn't done much wrong.
Daniel Jank - Hasn't improved at all since he joined, and will probably end up leaving in the near future

Defensive Midfield/Central Midfield
Abdou Rahman Dampha - The Gambian international will start almost every game in DM operating as a DLP. He has done well so far and is only 25 *New Signing*
Lorenzo Matarrese - Wasn't originally brought in as a starter, but has done well since joining. Is only on loan, and I don't think I'll buy him at the end *New Signing*
Marcus Maier - Another loanee, but this one is only a backup. Done nothing spectacular since he has come in but he does the job at DM *New Signing*
Florian Uhlig - Due to the arrivals, he is getting less and less gametime, but he can play DM and AMC so he'll definitely get some gametime this season
Ercan Kayhan - Age hit him hard. Was a starter less than a year ago, then was dropped from the starting line-up due to Goddard's arrival and then got 2 injuries which has set him back incredibly. He is now probably going to leave, but nobody is willing to take him off us. I'm guessing he'll retire at the end of the year though

Wingers
Njongo Priso - Has probably had the best start to the season out of the entire squad. The 28 year old Cameroonian is the starting right winger but I only envisage him having 2-3 more years playing at this sort of level *New Signing*
Borja Galan - Can play on either wing and also up front, but this season he is primarily going to be a left winger. Has also had a very strong start to the season, and is also only 24
Benjamin Koglbauer - With the abundance of player who can play striker, it is likely that Koglbauer will be pushed back out to the right wing. Is another player that is closing in on 100 appearances and is only 22
Enrico Bearzotti - Is on loan from Verona. Was going to play second fiddle to Priso, but with Koglbauer being pushed out there, he is unlikely to play too often *New Signing*
Bruno Souza - Doesn't play enough so he'll be sold in January

Attacking Midfielder
'JaMonAl' - Is yet another loanee, except this time we can buy him, and with every game, it is looking more and more likely that I am going to do so. He is also a Cape Verde international. *New Signing*
Cy Goddard - Has struggled with injuries a little bit so far this year, but he still has a part to play in this team. I am training him to play attacking midfield centre, but if he is out, Jermain Hylton can play there too

Strikers
Jermaine Hylton - The Englishman is going to be the starter at striker. Will also play at attacking midfield, but not as often. *New Signing*
Zoltan Horvath - Is only a rotational player now, but is still good. Has asked for more gametime so I'll see how he does in those
Abderrahmane Yousfi - I didn't realise but I set him squad status to first team for some reason, so he has complained about gametime, so I may have to give him some more *New Signing*

We had our first game against one of the 3 Vienna sides I am looking to over throw, in the shape of First Vienna.



...yeah. I don't think we deserved to concede 4 times, as we were in the game all the way through. Our only goalscorer in the game was Kristopher Da Graca, who came off the bench.

Another staff member leaves to become a manager. Yuksel Sariyar has left and now we are back to the all too common problem, no assistant manager

How? These are the sort of games we have to win and close out. I was thinking when we were 2-0 up "this shows how far we have come, beating last years champions convincingly" but we just lost concentration from the 85th minute and they scored 2 late goals, and instead of being up in 11th, we drop down to 16th. We have to improve

I understand their concerns, I have only got the team promoted twice in a row, and are now competing at the highest level in the clubs history, but yeah, I forgot being slightly below mid table in our first season in the 2nd division is enough to kick up a fuss. Especially as Souza has done nothing for us and Schutzenauer hasn't done anything extra ordinary. Souza is definitely leaving now

The pressure, as I mentioned, is getting to the squad. Tobias Schutzenauer has been talking to the media about a move, Bruno Souza and Borja Galan have also questioned my management. But despite all this, we have only lost 4 times in 2 months. As it stands, we're progressing to the next round of the cup, which will surpass the previous record of the 6th round. We haven't lost too often, but in the games we have lost in, we have conceded at least 3. The first 3 losses were against teams in the top 6 at the time we have played them, but the Reicheneau game was the only really disappointing one. We should have won it as well as the Liefering game. We have top of the league in the next match, and if we lose, it could be our 3rd consecutive loss. I don't think it'll happen but it'd be an incredible result for us if we do.



We are 1 position above the relegation zone. This is the closest we have been to the drop zone in the 3 divisions we have been in. We have played 1-2 games less than the teams above us and we could potentially move up to 15th should we win both games.

Finally, I'd just like to acknowledge the form of JaMonAl. For a team in 19th, to have a 7.46 match rating is incredible

Just what we needed at this point. Arguably our best player this season is out for 3-4 months

EDIT:



What has happened to them. They completely destroyed every team in the Landesliga and were predicted to do the same last year, but flopped. Similarly to Union Gurten, their entire squad left on frees, and they were replaced with less adequate replacements. They now are winless in 24 games and look certain for relegation. Unbelievable.