SV Ried appoints Mario Despotovic as new head coach

Previous stations of the new coach

Sporting director Wolfgang Fiala referenced the club's previous unusual coaching appointments in a press release: "The legendary Paul Gludovatz coached a club team for the first time with us, Klaus Roitinger began his professional coaching career at SV Ried. And predecessor Max Senft was certainly not an everyday choice either."

Club chairman Thomas Gahleitner emphasized the ambition to take new paths: "As SV Oberbank Ried, we must take bold and new paths with regard to both the coach and the players." The club is thus taking an openly contrarian stance against a conservative appointment to the sporting leadership.

Ried's tradition of unusual coaching appointments

Despotovic takes over a team that belonged to the Bundesliga in the past season. His predecessor Maximilian Senft was no longer considered for the position after the end of the previous season. The club did not initially comment in detail on its sporting goals for the coming season.

With this appointment, Ried is continuing a tradition of bold personnel decisions. Both Paul Gludovatz and Klaus Roitinger gained their first experiences as professional coaches in Ried. Both names remain closely associated with the club from the Innviertel to this day.

Outlook on the new season

The new coach will begin his work in the coming weeks and tackle squad planning for the new season. When the official presentation is to take place at the training ground was not mentioned in the press release.

SV Ried, which officially goes by the name SV Oberbank Ried, is one of the traditional clubs in Austria's top flight. The signing of Despotovic is considered surprising, as the Croatian has previously only worked in an administrative capacity in professional football.