After that scandalous season, where the blackies from Graz finished on 6th position, Club president Hannes Kartnig now wants to pull the consequences. At first, Coach Franco Foda is going to be fired, possibilties for a new head coach are: - Gilbert Gress (61 years old, Swiss) - Joachim Löw (German, last at FC Tirol) - Klaus Toppmöller (German, last station was Bayer Leverkusen) - Frank Pagelsdorf (German, last club: HSV) Other consequences could be that the players Masudi, Weber, Amoah, Badia, Golemac, Korsos, Rojas and Bosnar could get fired... Maybe star player Ivica Vastic will return, if not, Sturm (maybe) is in contact with Thomas Hässler, world champion of 1990. Also tyrolian defender Michael Baur could join the styrian squad. So that's pretty much i'd say...
I don't know... It seems to me Hannes Kartnig is overreacting (like he often does). A new coach seems like a good idea, but getting rid of that many players seems somewhat foolish to me. I really don't know what happened to Amoah in Graz, he used to be such a good player in the Swiss NLA. Hell, he was the main reason FC St. Gallen eliminated Chelsea in the Uefa Cup that year. Masudi on the other hand did well once he went to Austria. Masudi was a nobody when he was with Lausanne-Sports... About the possible coaches you listed, I would go with Gilbert Gress. Joachim Löw would have been the best option since he knows Austrian football, but it seems Austria Wien already took him. I would not sign a german coach like Toppmoller or Pagelsdorf. As the example of Daum illustrated, coaches from the Bundesliga don't quite know the limits of clubs in small countries. Gilbert Gress coached many years in the NLA and knows how to accomplish much with very little, so he would be my choice. PS: Signing aging stars like Vastic or Hassler should not be the answer.
At the moment we are going the young way. Short summary about our biggest talents: - Jürgen Säumel (19 years old, Midfield): He could be the new captain. With 19 years he's so much better than other players with over 100 games in Bundesliga... - Klaus Salmutter (19, ofensive Midfield): He loves to play behind the strikers. His best position is right between midfield and the strikers. He can give deadly passes from everywhere. - Ekrem Dag (22, Midfield): That guy who was actually born in turkey is very good for the left or right midfield. Barely loses 1-1 fights. - Christian Gratzei (20, Goalkeeper): Made the breakthrough this season because our other 2 keepers are real jackasses. Unfortunately he injured himself at an away game at FC Kärnten. We are really missing him in goal. - Herbert Rauter (20, striker): Also a very well player. He scored his first goal at his first game (he was brought on as a substitution), which was a very important one.
Noticed Säumel is listed on the Austrian U-19 team that qualified for the European Championships. The others are probably too old...
Quaker Säumel is the best of them by far. He is a traditional number 10. Could be our captain in future...
Today we signed 2 new players: Marc Ziegler (GERMANY) Goalkeeper, from Austria Wien Martin Hasek (CZECH REPUBLIK) Midfielder, also from Austria Wien.