Marked for Marcel Prass
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Red Bull Salzburg for Heinz Prass was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Mattersburg can pretend not to have heard.
Match22 Aug 2026
No end in sight to Mattersburg's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Mattersburg has to find a result from somewhere.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Sandro Ingolitsch was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Market24 Aug 2026
Marcel Prass has left for Wolfsberger AC in a $620.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market24 Aug 2026
Austria Wien pay $410.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.58 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.15 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Wolfsberger AC can pretend not to have heard.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Olympiacos have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nikolas Polster. The answer from Wolfsberger AC has not changed — yet.
Market24 Aug 2026
The fee is $620.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Mattersburg drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Marvin Peersman was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Marked 8.97 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.90 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Fabian Wohlmuth
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market10 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market10 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Raphael Laimer and Mattersburg agree another 4 years.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Raphael Laimer was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.80, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad10 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch10 Aug 2026
“I watch every Mattersburg game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Red Bull Salzburg runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match8 Aug 2026
1‑1, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.