Football Season Guide

Admira Wacker

In


Fabio Strauss (def) (SV Grödig), Andreas Leitner (gk) (Austria Klagenfurt - back from loan), Mustafa Yavuz (def) (Wiener Neustadt - back from loan)

Out


Philipp Malicsek (r) (mid) (Rapid), Christoph Schösswendter (k) (def) (Rapid), Rene Schicker (sp) (att) (Stripfing), Marvin Egho (sp) (mid) (Ried), Peter Zulj (sp) (mid) Ried)

Admira are coming from a widely successful season which saw them qualify for Europe via the league and make the final of the Austrian Cup, which was far above the expectations that they had going into the campaign. The big news regarding the Modlingers is that Oliver Lederer and Ernst Baumeister have finally received separate roles. They have co-managed the side last season, mostly due to Lederer's lack of a UEFA Pro licence, which prevented him from being the official manager, but he has since acquired the licence and is now Admira's sole manager, with Baumeister now being the club's sporting director, meaning that Lederer, who always had the final word regarding coaching and tactics, will now work by himself. As usual, Admira are working under strong financial constraints, so the fact that they have lost two key players during the summer without replacing them is hardly a surprise. They have lost their skipper Christoph Schosswendter as well as highly-rated young midfielder Philipp Malicsek, who have both joined Rapid. The likes of Rene Schicker, Marvin Egho and Peter Zulj will not be missed, having hardly featured last season, but what will cause concern to their fans is that the list of arrivals is even more underwhelming than is usually the case, with Fabio Strauss being the sole new arrival at the moment. What is clear is that in Lederer Admira have an excellent tactician capable of organizing them well and getting the most out of the players, but what is also clear is that the Modlingers have even less quality in their squad than was the case last season. Combined with the fact that teams are unlikely to take them lightly following the 2015/16 season that they have had, the Modlingers could be set for a tough campaign now.

Target


Few will expect them to repeat their last season's heroics - staying clear of danger would certainly be seen as mission accomplished.