The Long Way Home

The final day

Today was the big day. 2 huge games kicking off the in the Austrian Premier League, there will be a winner, one of Salzburg or LASK will take the title TODAY.

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We now hand over to a live commentary of both games, live updates as the title race comes to a conclusion.

It begins..

0' - Both teams get their games started, LASK Linz facing Wolfsberger, whilst Salzburg line up against Rapid Wienna

6' - GOAL FOR LASK! - What a start for LASK as they take the lead in the game, and in the league. Kerhe heads home from a good distance after a great cross from deep by Sarpei. LASK mean business!

23' - GOAL, 2-0 TO LASK! - Kerhe scores again! This time a lovely driven strike from the edge of the box, there was no way the keeper was stopping that! The captain is showing how it's done! LASK lead 2-0.

25' - RAPID WIENNA SCORE! - Salzburg are behind in Wienna! Their fans can't believe it! Schobesberger picks up the pieces from a scrappy corner and smashes it home. 1-0 to Rapid!

39' - WOLFSBERGER CLAW ONE BACK! - There are loud shouts off offside here but Hellqvist's goal for Wolfsberger will stand! He's been played in beautifully by Grgic after finding himself some space, a simple tap in at the end. 2-1, nerves are high!

HALF TIME - Holst has been hit by a rough bottle from the Wolfsberger supports on his way into the tunnel at half time! Investigation is underway on who threw it. LASK lead 2-1 over Wolfsberger whilst Rapid Wienna lead 1 - 0 over Salzburg. At this moment, LASK will win the league.

49' - WOLFSBERGER MAKE IT LEVEL! - A poor start for LASK in this second half after Sollbauer makes it 2-2 after a poorly defended free-kick from Wolfsberger. There was no stopping his powerful low shot, LASK are just 1 goal away from losing 1st place.

55' - IT'S 2-0 TO RAPID - Salzburg are being taken to the slaughter today, if they do win it, they'll be an awkwardness about it. Kalinic has scored a blinding first time effort here in Wienna, blasted straight into the top left. I doubt the keeper even saw it, never mind think about stopping it. The situation seems obvious now, Salzburg need Wolfsberger to get a winner.

67' - LASK GET BACK INTO THE LEAD - Blutsch has put LASK firmly back on the track to win the league! Considering what they goal meant, that was an unbelievably cool finish. Stroked home into the bottom left, Blutsch will be ecstatic if his goal wins LASK the league, 3-2 versus Wolfsberger.

92' - LASK ARE GOING TO WIN THE LEAGUE - Bar the most unlikely comeback, LASK have all but won the league now. A late goal by Kerhe has secured the match ball as well as the title. A calmly dispatched 1 on 1 effort means LASK are going to win the league, yes, you heard me.

FULL TIME - LASK HAVE WON THE LEAGUE AT SALZBURG'S EXPENSE! LASK have won 4-2, bettering Salzburg's calamitous loss against Rapid Wienna meaning they win the league! Fans are beginning to break on to the pitch in celebration here, Holst has been hoisted aloft by his players, what a moment.

WE DID IT

In the most dramatic end to a season I've ever seen on FM, LASK have come out victorious over Wolfsberger, and more importantly, Salzburg. Kerhe deserves all the plaudits today, after an inspiring performance featuring 3 goals has lead LASK to victory and a league title.

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THANKYOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT OVER THE SEASON, THE AUSTRIAN FA CUP FINAL IS ON IT'S WAY. LASK HAVE WON THE LEAGUE!

FA Cup

There was one more fixture to come in LASK's calendar this year, a trip to Austria's national stadium to play Rapid Wienna in the FA Cup final. After what they did for LASK in the league, I'm sure they felt an inclination to the give Wienna a win in this cup.

Personally, I don't really rate the FA Cup in comparison with the league, so I'm not going to do a huge 'thing' on this final.

The final

It took a 97th minute winner from Mariappa to secure LASK a domestic double in Holst's first year in charge. Though the game started badly, with LASK conceding to an early Achilles chance, the lads managed to fight back convincingly, and ultimately came out winners in extra time.

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Player of the Month

This lad has scored 2 goals in the final 3 league games including a crucial winner against FC Wacker meaning took home 3 points on the day, a help towards LASK winning the league this year at the death. Blutsch has been excellent this month, and definitely has shown he's ahead of Adomat in the team.

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Flop of the Month

In contrast, Djuric has had an uncharacteristically poor spell of form recently, playing poorly in our league games, arguably being carried by the rest of the team in the final legs. He's fortunate that none of his performances mattered in the end as LASK still won, but he was poor throughout.

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THATS ALL FOLKS, thanks for your great support throughout the season, up next is a season review. Then onto 2020/21.

Awards for the Year

I always have found the need to hand out awards to the team I'm managing at the end of the season. It's a good way of recognising the trajectory some of your players have taken over their time here, sometimes when a player becomes so good, you forget the struggle it was to get them there.

That said, their will be 4 awards given out, Player of the Season, Flop of the Season, Surprise of the Season and Goal of the Season.

Player of the Season

This man has been mad this season. Easily my favourite player from this season, he's our beast in the middle. In many ways he reminds me of Kante, and if he carries on like this, he'll be better than him, I can dream anyway. It simply has to be Sarpei, I simply can't rate him highly enough.

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Flop of the Season

It has to be said, whilst we did sign our Player of the Season, we also signed our Flop of the Season. This lad just hasn't lived up to the fee we paid for him unfortunately. He also doesn't look to have much of a future ahead of him, so maybe it won't be long for him at LASK. Unfortunately, it was Thomas Schrammel who just didn't seem to turn up.

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Surprise of the Season

Surprise of the Season goes to another signing from this year! I think most people expected to see Malec have a stormer and maybe even be POTS, however, he struggled throughout the year. So someone else had to step up, introducing Jannik Mause, the man who bagged most of our goals this year, thanks to him we find ourselves top.

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Goal of the Season

Not only was this LASK's goal of the season, it was also the best goal of the season in the whole league. Therefore, you can imagine how good Michorl's effort against FC Admira was. Here's a link for your perusal...

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And with that, the season closes. I will be taking a break from FM Scout for about a week, probably less because I can't resist FM. Thanks for your support over the season you bunch of lovelies.

See you soon.

Holst set for big move

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That's right, it would appear Korbinian Holst has been offered the chance to manage in one of the top five leagues in the world. What an opportunity! The question is, will he take the job?

Ultimately, Holst's goal is still to get back home, back to the UK, away from his father and the misery in Austria. Despite the glory of last season, he still wants to find his feet in the UK, but will he move to Augsburg before going to home?

Find out next time...

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