Football Season Guide

St.Polten are set for their second season in the Bundesliga and cannot be too confident about their chances of staying up, having only barely managed to escape the drop last time around. The Wolf Pack spent the first third of the season looking pretty much certain to go down but the appointment of Jochen Fallmann as their boss definitely improved their fortunes. There have been spells under him during where it seemed that St.Polten would secure their survival with several games to spare but it was not to be and they only stayed in the Bundesliga after a dramatic final round, during which a win for rivals Ried would have resulted in St.Polten's relegation. Of course, St.Polten are not a particularly big club and have to heavily rely on trying to unearth hidden talents in order to be competitive. For this season, it is hardly a surprise to see Daniel Luxbacher being the only one of their signings with Bundesliga experience but even he was not a regular for former club Altach. Max Entrup did not play due to an injury while on loan with the club last season and will try again - he is reportedly a rather talented forward and St.Polten will have quite a player on their hands if he manages to stay fit this time around. When it comes to the list of players that departed, it was somewhat of a surprise to see Manuel Hartl depart. The biggest true blow is the departure of Cheikhou Dieng who played an important role for them last season but is now back with parent club Basaksehir. All things considered, St.Polten's squad looks to be on a level similar to the one they were on last season but whether or not this will be enough to stay up remains to be seen.