Hands off, Harry
By: Chris | March 4th, 2008Reports over the weekend have Harry Redknapp and EPL side Portsmouth targeting Ivica Olic for a summer transfer. The report states that Pompey have put a solid ₤8M offer on the table. A move to Fratton Park may be attractive to Olic, as fellow Croat Niko Kranjcar is already at Portsmouth, and well, ₤8M is ₤8M. If the rest of the roster were to remain unchanged, this move would leave HSV thin at striker, with only Paolo Guerrero, Mohamed Zidan and local boy Eric Choupo-Moting up front, not to mention taking away a whole lot of goal scoring production. This is particularly concerning in light of Raphael van Der Vaart’s impending departure (with his goal scoring) this summer. This scenario, however, does not take into account the inclusion of Nigerian wunderkind Macauly Christantus to the squad (remember, he has not yet signed a professional contract), or the possibilty of signing an additional striker. In the end, I can’t see that Olic would leave Hamburg and a chance at playing in the Champions League for Pompey, though ₤8M is ₤8M. Harry, I love ya, but mind your own business.
On another note, Romeo Castelen had knee surgery to remove torn cartelage from his right knee this week and will miss significant time, if not the remainder of the season. He injured the knee during a friendly against FC Midtjylland in January. I think that this injury is significant, but HSV do have good depth at midfield and will be able to cover his absence.
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Speaking of Croatians, Chris, I happened to come across this from Goal.com just a while ago - http://www.goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=609298
Not sure how true is that current Croatia coach Slaven Bilic is in line for the Hamburg job, or so Goal.com reported that Kicker claimed that.
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Thanks for the link to the story, Diana–I hadn’t checked back after seeing the Olic story this AM. His (Rutten’s) current contract with Twente runs through 2009, so HSV are going to have to buy him out, and I am guessing that Twente want more than HSV are willing to pay. The manager search has been a pretty steady source of topics for my blog this year. Also nice to see that someone besides Jan and I are reading this blog.
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You are welcome, Chris.
Not a Hamburg supporter myself though but then I have a soft spot for the club somehow. Don’t know is it have to do with Kevin Keegan used to play for the club. 
Or maybe also given my father had been to Hamburg (the city, I mean) before once on a working trip in the past and he used to talk about it.I used to read about English footballers who had played abroad (I was just bored then :D), especially in Germany, and Keegan’s days at Hamburg got me intrigued. Until I read about Kevin Keegan’s Bundesliga days, I only know that Owen Hargreaves used to play for Bayern. Now Keegan (or ‘King Kev’ and the ‘Geordie Messiah’ as they call him over in Newcastle on the day he announced his return to his former club) is not doing well at Newcastle though.
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My guilty pleasure is the Premiership (and I follow one of the London clubs, though I won’t say which one), so I know all about Keegan’s struggles at Newcastle. I would say that the expectations of the Newcastle fanbase are (or would seem to be) out-of-this-world.
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Olic is in great form and is clearly the best striker Hamburg have at the moment. Though, should Olic show any signs of wanderlust, I’d let him go. Here’s why:
I hope that Hamburg manage to sell van der Vaart for around €20m. Add to that €10m from the Olic transfer. Then pay Ajax around €4m from the van der Vaart transfer and Hamburg end up with a war chest filled with €26m without even having to invest any of their own transfer funds. Then you could look which parts of the team need improving:
Goalkeeper: No need, Frank Rost is one of the best goalkeepers in the Bundesliga.
Defence: Hamburg’s crown jewels. Maybe another central defender to add depth and because Reinhardt is getting old. Otherwise I expect this part of the team to get even better over time. Boateng will only further improve, Kompany as well and maybe Odjidja-Ofoe comes good as well. No real need for expensive purchases.
Midfield: Difficult to say. I think Trochowsky and de Jong could still improve. There is/will be some young talent like Putsilo or Pitroipa. I also see Kompany probably playing in the midfield in the future and probably starting to pull the strings there. But Hamburg could definitely use more quality here when vdV leaves. Though, Zidan could actually play in vdV’s position.
Attack: There are two very interesting and very young players I’d like to see get some playing time. There’s Choupo-Moting, who some say is better than Podolski/Gomez were at this age, while others say he isn’t quite that good. But a great talent nonetheless. Same for Chrisantus, who also promises to be a potentially great striker. Should Olic leave, one of the two could get much more playing time…So, in terms of promising youth Hamburg could go into the new season without the need for a single purchase. But with the Champions League looming, this is probably too risky. So maybe a top class player at €13m each for the midfield and offence?
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