The Long Way Home

A notable loss


Form was still strong throughout November as LASK began into 'will they bottle it' territory, which isn't a territory anyone's a very big fan of. The lads have been working hard under Holst's watch and seem destined to fight for the title this year as they run into the winter phase.

Unbeaten, but suffering a big loss

A fairly uneventful game against mid to upper table team Sturm Graz denied LASK 3 points, having to settle for one. Kirim was the scorer on the day, Hadzimesic was given a chance by Holst but couldn't do anything.

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A variety of players bagged for LASK as they pulled Rapid Wienna apart in great fashion. A 4-2 here is a great result and they should be very happy. Once again Mause gets MOTM, continuing the great form of last month.

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Despite statistically dominating Wacker, LASK could only managed a simple 1-0, Kerhe getting the goal nice and early to kill off the opposition really. Holst will be a bit confused by the inconsistency of the attack, scoring 4 in one game, then 1 in the next.

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Sarpei has a stormer against SV Ried, scoring 2, grabbing MOTM and basically being a genius as per usual. If it wasn't for his tendency to get sent off he'd be easily our most consistent top quality player. Unfortunately, on a sadder note, Adomat was injured in this game, a broken leg, putting him out for 5 to 6 months, and leaving his career in limbo.

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Still ahead

LASK continue their dominance of league, leading Salzburg by 7 points still, things look good for Holst and his underdogs. Of course, his side will have to warn off over confidence as they step slowly towards a title.

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Player of the Month

Simply put, this player is quickly becoming one of my favourites, not just in the save, but in Football Manager history. He's hard working, loves a good tackle, and turns in performance after performance. It is of course our summer signing Hans Sarpei

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Flop of the Lot

Unfortunately, staring down the barrel this month, is another summer signing, who was given an array of chances this month but can't seem to make use of them. Hadzimesic has been given a chance to contend with his other attacking team mates but just hasn't turned up.

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Coming up...

Just the 3 games for LASK in December as Holst looks to run into the Christmas break with an air of confidence. He then has to set about retaining his team, and their confidence through winter, and making them look sharp for January.

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Thanks for reading, comments are appreciated and reciprocated,
Cheers, Alex

A crucial win

A great final month for LASK as Holst guided them to 2 wins, one against Salzburg. A fantastic end of the year for the lads, Holst will be more than happy with the teams league placement and their form.

A decent end

A loss to 3rd place was a less than ideal start to the month for LASK as Holst feared the bubble may be bursting. On the bright side, it was only by a tiny margin, and even then it was a penalty that could on another day, not have happened. LASK will learn from this hopefully.

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LASK bounced back in their traditional emphatic fashion, battering Wolfsberger 3-0 to prove that loss was just a one off as usual. Holst has a real chance to push the team on from here with such a strong win, this time don't seem to get phased by the occasional loss.

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The big one. Thanks to Salzburg for providing the tools for their own demise as Kirim dominated the game and seemed to have the inside track on his opposition. He will be happy with his performance, as will Holst, a valuable win.

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On another happy note, Mr Hans Sarpei managed to win Austrian Player of the Year, what an achievement for such a cheap signing, and to win that award in just a few months of game time. What a talent.

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Top at Christmas

Look at LASK go, top and not stopping. They managed to beat Salzburg AGAIN, and look set to go right to the end in this unprecedented rise to the top.

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Player of the Month

It only felt right that POTM was given to this man, after winning such an award in this month, it just has to be him. Hans Sarpei is an absolute blessing to LASK, when he's around, Holst's lads seem so solid.

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Flop of the Lot

Blutsch has had a real chance to permanently steal his place in the team after Adomat's injury, but he just hasn't turned up this month. Maybe its complacency settling in, but whatever it is, it has to stop, fast.

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Coming up...

Just some mid-season games coming up next, some interesting ones too. January will be a good time for the LASK team, providing they can kick on with the same form as they had before the break.

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Thanks for reading, all comments are appreciated and reciprocated,
Cheers, Alex

A quiet January

In general, the Austrian month of January is relatively quiet in footballing terms, as there's no competitive games to be played. Therefore, if your club doesn't have players flying in and out, it can be quite boring, fortunately, LASK had a couple of players moving.

The Friendlies

A decent few games in all fairness, Holst wasn't happy with the result against Club Africain but the Paderborn game was a good performance, and definitely made up for it. It looked as though Holst may have been able to retain the form he installed in the side before Christmas.

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Transfer Time!

Just the one big signing coming in, a replacement for the rather sulky Ramsebner. This lad looks like the real deal at centre-back, hence the fee LASK forked out for him. He's young too, plenty of room to grow into a first team hero.

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So in came a centre back, so out went one too. Ramsebner was moaning a lot, he wasn't happy here so LASK got rid, Holst hasn't got time for annoying people. At the end of the day, there was a tiny price difference between these 2 lads, so the deal made sense in the end.

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In a last ditch decision LASK decided to loan out Rep for a bit to the second division team. The hope was to generate enough wages to fund a loan signing, however, nothing came to fruition.

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Coming up...

A hefty batch of fixtures great LASK on the other side of the new year, 2020, what will it bring? LASK are hoping it contains a bit of silverware, as is Holst.

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Thanks for reading guys, all comments are appreciated and reciprocated,
Cheers, Alex

Stuttering

All in all, results were decent this month. Holst isn't a fan of decent. He has a goal to achieve, and cannot do it with just 'decent' results. Still, recovering from the Christmas break was always going to be a struggle for the LASK lads.

Only 'decent'

LASK began the month with a loss, a bitter one too, after they fought back from behind twice, only to concede late on to a silly penalty. Sarpei getting sent off was no help, but Michorl gave LASK hope after a stupidly good effort went in to make it 2-2, only for LASK to be denied late on.

Honestly though, watch Michorl's goal.

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Fortunately, LASK managed to fight back with a 2-0 win over SC Neustadt, both of their new striker signings scored to give fans the impression the FC Admira game was a one off. Also, a clean sheet off the back of conceding 3 was great to see for Holst.

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In a less than perfect display, LASK ran out 1-0 winners over SK Sturm Graz, even after Sturm Graz had a player sent off before half time. Still, a 1-0 will do, but it's not exactly exciting fans for the fans, nor convincing for Holst.

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LASK made it 2 1-0's in a row, a decent defensive display meant that just the one goal from Djuric would be the difference between the LASK and Rapid Wien. There's not much to talk to when it's a 1-0 to be honest...

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Unfortunately for me, the one who's got to make all this sound interesting, another 1-0 came LASK's way. Again on the winning end, LASK were more dominant than the score line suggests in this game, but just couldn't put the chances away. However, a penalty in the second half made the difference as Mause was able to slot home.

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Yes, you guessed it, another 1-0. That's right, 4 1-0 games in a row, you couldn't make this up, and even if you could, why would you? Djuric scored another winner as LASK maintained their defensive solidity to grind out a 5th clean sheet in a row. You feel though, LASK are one defeat from crumbling...

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Still at the top

Despite the tightness of LASK's victories, they still lead the league by a decent margin. It'll take some catching if Salzburg want to take the title but I wouldn't put it past LASK to throw things away just yet.

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Player of the Month

A few may question why Djuric has been overlooked, but I think it only takes one look at our defensive form before, and then after Christmas to see a big change. El-Bouazatti has come into the side in January and made a great impression, let's hope it continues, I think all fans would like to see more and more clean sheets.

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Flop of the Month

On the other end of the side, the strike force hasn't been great. Leading that attack (normally) is a man named Tomas Malec, have you seen him? Because LASK are desperately missing him and his shooting boots up top.

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Coming up...

Just 3 games next month, let's hope LASK can squeeze out some nicer wins and assure themselves an easy end to the year.

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Thanks for reading, all comments are appreciated and reciprocated,
Cheers, Alex