We head into Thursday’s Europa League match in Vienna versus Rapid with a couple of big questions. Like, can Marcus Berg fill the rather sizable shoes of injured Paolo Guerrero (in case the Hamburg Offside is your only source for HSV news–and God help you if it is–Guerrero is lost for [most likely] the season with a blown knee, suffered in a World Cup qualifier for Peru against Venezuela. And when did Guerrero get back on the good side of the Peruvian FA?)? Can HSV continue their great run of form against Champions League qualifiers VfB and Rapid? Well, I can answer yes to the first part of the question as Die Rothosen dispatched Stuttgart 3:1 in a match that wasn’t really that close, on absolute blasts by Mladen Petric and my new fave Eljero Elia, and a very handsome goal by Ze’ Roberto in stoppage time. Let me say this about that–Elia seems to me to be the piece that we’ve been missing for so long. He’s a guy with great pace, great finishing ability and some (OK-A whole lot of) flair. My hope is that he and Berg and Ze’ combined can not only fill the scoring void left by Paolo Guerrero, but give us a better goal differential than last year. My two cents for this week:  David Rozehnal started at CD with Joris Mathijsen and did not impress at all. For a big guy, he was waaaaaaay to passive. I think we see Boateng paired with Mathijsen in league and Cup play, and Rozehnal in Europa League matches.

This week HSV travels to Vienna to take on Rapid. Rapid find themselves in the group stage of the Europa Cup on the strength of their 2:2 aggregate defeat (on away goals 1:2) of EPL side Aston Villa.  We face Rapid again in the group stage, but not until Matchday 5 (2 December).

Not sure what else to say at this point, other than I don’t know if I want to start talking about our successes for fear of jinxing the club. But isn’t that a supporter thing to do? I think Nick Hornby would agree.  .   .

I won’t be live blogging the Rapid match, as it happens during the workday in the US, but I will *hopefully* put up a post where we can all sound off on the match.

Thanks for your patience everybody. B-T-W, I am looking for a new wing man, as Evan seems to be missing in action. This is your chance to get in on what looks to be a very memorable season. If you are at all interested, please email Daryl [at] theoffside [dot] com and mention the Hamburg Offside co-blogging position.

De Jong did not return with the team to Hamburg following the conclusion of the training camp in La Manga, Spain (he travelled to Manchester for a physical) and did not play in yesterday’s 3:0 victory over Hansa Rostock. And as a complete aside, has there been a more precipitous fall in recent memory than Rostock? Two years ago they were in the 1. Bundesliga, then were relegated after last season, and now are in danger of being relegated from the 2. Bundesliga. Yikes.

So our attention now can turn to three topics: 1) New transfers; 2) the DFB-Pokal match versus 1860 Munich on Tuesday; 3) the Bayern match on 30 January.

For new transfers, there have been a number of rumors reported in the comments of the last post regarding players from Belgium, notably Steven Defour of Standard Liege and Lucas Biglia of Anderlecht.  In today’s online edition of Kicker.de, the name of Stade Rennes defensive midfielder Stephane Mbia was bandied about and HSV are reportedly negotiating a transfer. From what I found on the Rennes club website, I like this Cameroon international. Mbia is 22 years old and is under contract with Rennes until 2012. Mbia has been capped 12 times scoring 3 goals, and his national coach says he is the real deal/next big thing/all that and a bag of chips/etc. He is also being scouted by Newcastle (who isn’t?). Christian Paulson and Demy de Zeeuw are still rumored to be in the mix.

As for the Cup tie with 1860, Ivica Olic still does not know his status following the red card in the Hoffenheim “friendly” last week. A suspension looks likely, but since the match was a friendly (and not a DFB sponsored contest), there is some speculation that only a fine to be donated to charity is in the offing. Mladen Petric sat out the Rostock match with a sore calf, but is expected to train and play versus 1860 Munich.

That’s all well and good, but what should HSV do with the dough? I’d love to hear your comments on:

•Replacement for De Jong. The name we continue to hear is Mark van Bommel of Bayern, but lately we also are hearing Christian Paulsen of Juve, *and* newly trialed Marcel Ndjengs (formerly of ‘Gladbach). The old Demy de Zeeuw rumor from the fall doesn’t appear to have any legs, so I don’t know what to make of it. Personally, I’d love to see Van Bommel.

•Replacement for Olic. My good friends at the Abendblatt say that Serb striker Milan Jovanovic of Standard Liege would be a good fit and is available for around €7M. I have *no* idea on this one.

•Any other moves before the 30 January match at the ‘Bank with Bayern. I think we need some additional depth on defense. When Alex Silva comes back, he may take De Jong’s spot (he was outstanding there while De Jong was rehabbing his knee) and we may be looking for more defense. There is another rumor swirling around that Rafael van der Vaart may be coming back to the fold, but it wouldn’t be until this summer.

Bear in mind that Alex Silva is out until approximately the first week of February and that Atouba is done for the year.

Since we last checked in, HSV laid a pretty good beating on the Aston Villa reserves at the ‘Bank, with the final being 3:1 for Die Rothosen. As a result, HSV won Group F and drew a third place side from the UEFA Cup (and not one of the CL dropouts), and lo and behold, we have NEC Nijmegen in the knockout round. Nijmegen finished third in Group D behind Udinese and Spurs. They currently sit eighth in the Eredivisie table on 26 points, 15 points adrift of surprise leaders AZ Alkmaar. Winner of the HSV-Nijmegen matches take on the winner of the Bordeaux-Galatasary.

News:

•We are still waiting on Ivica Olic’s “decision” about whether to transfer to Bayern this summer or to stay with HSV. Olic’ agent, Gordon Stipic, originally told the press that Ivi would make an announcement on New Year’s Day, but here we are a day later and still no news. When the announcement comes, if anyone is surprised that Olic chooses Bayern, he/she shouldn’t be–Bayern has offered a 3 year deal worth €4.5M per year, with mutual options for 2 more years, plus a €4M signing bonus. Contrast that with the extension HSV has on the table at €3M per year (up from the €2.5M he earns now and no signing bonus, for a whopping €8M less than Bayern. . .), and it’s easy to see why Olic is outta here. If there is any good news in this story, it’s that he is not going to transfer in January but will wait until his contract with HSV is up and move on in the summer. Good luck, Ivi, it was fun while it lasted.

•Thimothee Atouba has rejected a contract extension from the club and now the club has withdrawn the offer. Another very poor decision by Atouba, whose contract expires at the end of the season. Those of you who read this blog with any frequency know that I have no love lost for Atouba. I think that BMJ coming in really rejuvenated him. BUT, his contract was up and HSV did not owe him an extension adn was really doing the right thing by offering him an extension when he was hurt so he didn’t have to worry about not getting a contract while he was rehabbing. And frankly, a guy who is recovering from a pretty severe injury is not, IMO, going to get too many good deals on the open market. Really stupid move by Atouba’s camp. Atouba has released his agent and that agent has told the MoPo that he will sue Atouba and his new representative if he does end up re-signing with Hamburg.

•The side are in Dubai for their annual winter training camp and play a friendly versus AC Milan on Tuesday 6 January. And yes, Becks is expected to dress and play for Milan. While in Dubai, HSV management hope to negotiate a new shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines. The current deal, which expires later this year, pays €5.5M per year, and the club had hoped for a 3 year extension with a significant increase in value. Instead, the sheiks are said to want a new deal, probably for only €7.5M per year. This will be an interesting story to follow for a couple of reasons: One, Emirates already is the primary shirt sponsor for (in no particular order) Arsenal, PSG, and aforementioned Milan as a co-sponsor, and they could balk at HSV’s demand for more dough; On the other hand, HSV are a staple in European competition now and are contending for the Bundesliga crown regularly (if not winning it, SIGH). Add to that the fact that ‘Gladbach and Hertha both have endorsement deals ending and the market for both clubs and sponsors would appear to be, to coin a financial term, fluid.

•Nigel de Jong continues down the road to recovery after rehabbing his sore knee. He looks to make his comeback against Milan on Tuesday and play15 or 20 minutes according to BMJ. In an interview with Bild, he says he looks to sign a contract extension in early January. BMJ has stated that there has been no continuity in the midfield since his injury. My feelings exactly.

•An HSV player made an all first-half team–Surprise! It’s Thiago Neves . . .

•A nice little rumor story in Bild last week about current German national and Hannover goalie Robert Enke leaving when his contract is up in 2010. That happens to be the same year that current HSV ‘keeper Frank Rost’s contract runs out .  .  .

And finally, Happy New Year’s to everyone who reads the Hamburg Offside. If you celebrate Chinese New Year, you may want to use some of your red envelopes to place a wager on HSV. Over at Statto.com, Hamburg are getting 21:1 odds, which are high, considering Bayern are going at 3:2 right now and Hoffenheim and Leverkusen are 7:1 and 13:1 respectively, but oh what a payout you’ll get. By the way, Statto, while arguably a betting site, has the *best* Bundesliga statistics on the Internet. Period. I give them a hearty endorsement.

Hamburg come into tonight’s match riding high, following a 1-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. Once again, Mladen Petric did the damage, heading home the match winner at the fifty-nine minute mark, on a sweet cross played in by Marcell Jansen(who, remarkably, has gone nearly 3[!] weeks without an injury). With the win over Frankfurt, HSV are now 4th in the Bundesliga table, level on points with Hertha (behind on goal-differential), and 2 points behind leaders Hoffenheim and Bayern.

HSV once again have a number of injuries, but what side doesn’t this time of year? Colin Benjamin suffered a strained calf muscle in the Eintracht match and is doubtful for tonight; David Jarolim is nursing a bruised knee (but may still play); Alex Silva is still recovering from an severe ankle sprain; Bastian Reinhardt took the drugs and started the Eintracht match. Fortunately, Guy Demel returns this evening from a 1 match Bundesliga suspension and should step into the starting XI.

HSV, Villa and Ajax are all even on 6 points in Group F. Tonight’s action will determine the group champion, and therefore a more advantageous draw in the UEFA Cup knockout stage. Remember, in the UEFA Cup, group winners draw UEFA Cup group third place sides, while the second place side draw the eight third place clubs from the Champions League (don’t get me started on that little detail-IMO, you are either in one competition or the other . . .). HSV are coming off a 0:1 loss to Ajax in Hamburg (the only defeat in all competitions at the ‘Bank this campaign), while Villa lost at home to MSK Zilina 1:2.

Aston Villa, for their part, find themselves in fourth place in the Premiership on 31 points with a +9 GD, just ahead of Arsenal, who sit fifth on 30 points. Martin Jol knows Villa well from his days at White Hart Lane, and he believes that Villa are flat better than his old rivals. Unfortunately, we Hamburg supporters won’t get to see the XI that are making so much noise in the EPL this season:  Villa boss Martin O’Neill left England nationals Gabriel Agbanlahor, Gareth Barry, Ashley Young, James Milner (who could play for England–he’s that good), and Danish international Martin Laureson off the squad who travelled to Hamburg. We will get to see rising star Nathan Delfouneso start however.

After tonight’s match, Hamburg have 7(!) weeks to rest, get healthy and get ready for the second-half push in the Bundesliga, so we will see the first team (well, those who are healthy). It would be very pleasant to head into the break with some momentum from a big win over a high quality opponent such as Villa. With HSV’s record at home now standing at 6-1-1 in all competitions, coupled with the fact that Hamburg will be playing Villa’s B-squad, I say make mine an HSV victory, 2-1. We shall see. . .