Coaches tip Nikola Pokrivac's 'Bulls' to defend title

Four in ten Austrian Bundesliga club bosses said Nikola Pokrivac's Red Bull
Salzburg were favourites to win the 2010/2011 title.Sturm Graz
coach Franco Foda, Magna Wiener Neustadt's Peter Schöttel, Kapfenberg
manager Werner Gregoritsch as well as "Bulls" boss Huub Stevens said
today (Tues) they tipped last season's champs to win the trophy once
more.Red Bull won their third league ahead of Austria Vienna and
2008 champions Rapid Vienna, while ÖFB Cup winners Sturm Graz finished
in fourth.Mattersburg coach Franz Lederer, SV Ried boss Paul
Gludovatz, LASK Linz manager Helmut Kraft (LASK) and Wacker Innsbruck's
Walter Kogler expect last year's dominating trio to battle it out once
more.Austria Vienna manager Karl Daxbacher said he was convinced
his team had the potential to come first, while Rapid coach Peter
Pacult said the same teams as ahead of the past season must be favoured
this time around, Austrian Times has reported.Red Bull play Faroe Islands league champions HB
Tórshavn in the first leg of the second UEFA Champions League
qualification round tonight before the league kicks off on Saturday.Foda
meanwhile said his team will have to do without midfielder Klaus
Salmutter for around six weeks after the 26-year-old former LASK star
suffered a torn muscle fibre in the right thigh during warming up for
the friendly against English side Blackburn Rovers on Saturday (0-0).Rapid's
title bid was dealt a massive blow by news that Norwegian defender
Ragnvald Soma will be sidelined for more than a month with a complex
ankle injury he sustained last week.The team of Peter Pacult
lost against Belgium league champions RSC Anderlecht 1-2 on Saturday. It
was Rapid's final friendly before the start of the new season.The
squad is set to clash with Lithuanian cup winners FK Sūduva Marijampolė
in the second qualifying round of the upcoming UEFA Europa League on 15
July.Austria Vienna keeper Robert Almer meanwhile rubbished
reports he was about to join archrivals Rapid. "These speculations
mentioned an alleged statement of mine – which is totally made up," the
former Mattersburg goalie stressed.Almer is currently battling
it out with Heinz Lindner and Szabolcs Sáfár over who will keep goal for
the 27-time ÖFB Cup champions.Former Austria Vienna striker
Rubin Okotie has all chances to make 1. FC Nürnberg's starting eleven
next season after scoring three goals in the German Bundesliga team's
15-0 win against amateur club FV Bellenberg on Sunday.Okotie
left Austria Vienna a few weeks ago, while sports press claimed Red Bull
were also interested in signing him up.Sturm Graz star Daniel
Beichler is meanwhile expected to join Hertha BSC Berlin. The German
second-league club signalled interest in the national team striker, but
allegedly hope for Sturm to lower the requested transfer sum.Around
15 Austrian footballers are currently under contract with German
top-flight and second-league clubs.

Source: Croatian Times Online News