Emotional match

Emotional reunion with the “old boss”

WSG Tirol coach Philipp Semlic is the fourth Styrian coach in the top flight after Ilzer, Schopp and Standfest.

(Bild: urbantschitsch mario)

GAK players Lichtenberger, Jovicic, Schriebl and Lang will be reunited with their "old boss" in Innsbruck on Saturday (17) - they all passed through the hands of Philipp Semlic, the new coach of WSG Tirol.

"I'm looking forward to seeing the next of my former boys," says Philipp Semlic (after Altach's Lukas Fadinger gave him his jersey at the start of the Bundesliga), "I trained Milos Jovicic, Thorsten Schriebl and Christian Lichtenberger in Lafnitz, I had Michael Lang at Sturm. And I know Dominik Frieser from my time in Hartberg, when I was with the second team there. They're all really good players with a lot of quality. GAK is a promoted team with huge appeal, an enrichment for the Bundesliga and above all for Graz. They showed at the start that they can even be dangerous for Salzburg."

Lichtenberger and Jovicic know Semlic from Lafnitz.

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

What does he think the Reds are capable of this year? "Salzburg, Sturm, LASK and Rapid will be at the front, the rest will be in a tight race in which anyone can beat anyone."

His sympathy for the Reds, where he once almost took over the coaching job himself, is high: "Back then, I still didn't have the UEFA Pro license and I didn't want to live with a temporary solution, so I stayed in Lafnitz. But the talks were very respectful. In hindsight, GAK has developed very well under Gernot Messner."

I'm really looking forward to my former boys. I trained Jovicic, Schriebl and Lichtenberger at Lafnitz, Lang at Sturm. And I know Frieser from Hartberg.

WSG Tirol-Trainer Philipp Semlic

His WSG Tirol? "With additions like Lukas Hinterseer and Tobias Anselm, we are taking a Tyrolean approach that is going down well. Even though we've brought in good reinforcements from Germany in the form of Jamie Lawrence, Quincy Butler and Lennart Czyborra, who want to use our platform, we still lack breadth and experience in the squad. We haven't finished putting together the squad yet."

Semlic was pleased after the 2:1 win in the league opener in Altach: "I'm glad that Joachim Standfest wasn't sacked. It's always the easiest thing to take the coach to task. I think that some people at the club are well aware that they were involved in transfer planning."

Jakob Meierhofer was once a "pupil" of Philipp Semlic.

(Bild: Sepp Pail)

Of the GAK players, Michael Lang warmed up for the reunion with Semlic with the "Goal of the Month" against Salzburg and is looking forward to seeing his former coach - like Jakob Meierhofer, who celebrated his second division premiere under Semlic in Lafnitz: "We're looking forward to Philipp, but there'll be no presents for him!" Postscript: "After the 2:3 against Salzburg, we were slightly disappointed at first because more would have been possible," said the 26-year-old GAK number one, "but we're still fine with it. Because if you can keep up against Salzburg, you can also keep up in the league!"

It's not the first duel against Semlic for Meierhofer: "I've played against him several times since my Lafnitz days, but now we're meeting at the top level for the first time, which will be great. But the main thing for us is to get our first points in the league."