Back in the saddle

By: Chris | January 2nd, 2009

Howdy. Sorry for the long time between posts, but with Christmas and New Year’s, and a death in the family mixed in the past week, something had to give, and unfortunately, it was the Hamburg Offside. Away we go . . .

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•Thimothee Atouba has rejected a contract extension from the club and now the club has withdrawn the offer.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.