Football Season Guide

St. Pauli finished far closer to the relegation zone than they would have liked and certainly underachieved compared to the talent in the squad. This will be a big season, not only for the players in the squad, but also for head coach Markus Kauczinski. Pauli have done the least business of any side in the league with just two senior players joining the squad for this season, one of whom is a returning loanee. The only player added fresh into the team is centre back Marvin Knoll who is a direct replacement for Lasse Sobiech who moved to promotion favourites Köln. Head coach Kauczinski is clearly happy with the balance of his squad with only a handful of members of the first team squad from last season departing. One of the biggest losses however will be the failure of the club to keep hold o Marvin Ducksch who returned to the side after a year on loan with Holstein Kiel. One of the biggest weaknesses in the team last season was their goalscoring record and Ducksch would have almost certainly solved that problem. While Pauli do not have any big-name players, their general squad depth is very strong and if used properly by the coaches that will be a major strength. Most importantly for the Hamburg club the strikers have to start finding the net after scoring the fewest goals of any side last term. However if Pauli do manage to play to their strengths and find consistency then they should have a chance of a high mid table finish and will certainly be able to stay away from the bottom three.