VfB Stuttgart - Pushing for Europe, 08/09 Season Thread Part III (R)

[benztown]

Actually our defense has been the problem the last half of the season, with injuries and a ton of individual blunders. Tasci sounds like a interesting player. Word is his contract is up next summer so, unfortunately for you, he might leave for less then market value.

Would be a shame...I hope he'll stay...;)

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Day one after Gomez:
- Babbel has begun to make his trainer license.
- Boka is going to have mini operation on a small problem.
- Rumours from Spox: Trochowski and Gignac, leading scorer in France. Trochowski would be a good addition I think. Gignac sounds great, don't know whether he's a real possibility though.

@Fussballgott:
I don't see things as pessimistic as you do.
If we get either Helmes or Gignac (wouldn't have to be them, anyone their calibre would be suitable) we'd already have a great replacement for Gomez. If Hleb comes, which as I said last page I for some reason believe he will, then already with these two purchases we have a stronger side than last season imo.
And then with extra money we'll have space to strengthen some other areas of the squad as well, perhaps get another rightwinger or wingback.
Not to mention players like Schieber, Niedermeier and Rudy are developing well and could play a bigger role in the squad. Traesch an Gebhart are already consistent members of the side and will continue to develop as well i'm quite sure.
Delpierre won't leave I don't think, he's exactly our level, couldn't go anywhere much better than us and wouldn't want to leave for anywhere worse. Tasci, well maybe, bad news that Juve's interested, but they were interested in Meira, Gomez in the past and nothing came of that so i'm not too concerned for the moment.
Let us not forget that the side was the second best of the rueckrunde. Gomez is gone, big blow, but we are being linked to other top strikers so I think there's a good chance we can lan someone quite big to replace him.

And, if these things all come together, keeping in mind we've now got one of the biggest coaching talents in Europe (yup, I said it) heading our side, then we'll have a good chance to be near the top 3 next season as well, and who knows, maybe higher. We shall see.

This is a big IF, but the summer's long and if Heldt makes the right moves we can still start with one of our strongest sides of the last decades going into next season.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

I think Helmes is an unrealistic goal. No matter how much money you guys get from Bayern, it doesn't change the fact that Leverkusen doesn't need your money and one of the reasons Helmes signed with Leverkusen was to remain close to Köln.

Helmes is happy in Leverkusen and thinks they will win something in the near future.

Well, yeah, they have chance to win something in only a few days.

But here's where you misjudge: I'm guessing you didn't know this, hell neither did I until today, but Stuttgarter Zeitung reports Helmes has a departure-clause if the side does not play in Europe. So they'd HAVE to sell at a certain price. StZ also says we've already held some negotiations with his agent Gerd von Bruch.

If Leverkusen win DFB Pokal, then nothing will come of this. BUT....... if they were to lose..... then this rumour could become serious.

[benztown]

Some local Stuttgart radio station apparently said that Hleb is as good as in Stuttgart.

Might be wishful thinking on their part, but don't forget that Hleb and Gomez both have the same agent. So I'm sure they've had plenty of talks already about that subject...plus, Heldt has already been seen in Barcelona weeks ago...I'm getting more and more confident that this will work...

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

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:D

[squidward123]

Some local Stuttgart radio station apparently said that Hleb is as good as in Stuttgart.

Might be wishful thinking on their part, but don't forget that Hleb and Gomez both have the same agent. So I'm sure they've had plenty of talks already about that subject...plus, Heldt has already been seen in Barcelona weeks ago...I'm getting more and more confident that this will work...

good luck!! i hope he comes back to the league.

How is sebastian rudy doing?

[humin12]

Gignac would be a great addition for you guys. You'd be replacing one great goal scorer for another. I know that you guys are understandibly upset, but you earned 34 million euros. That's more than enough to make this squad better than the one of this past season.

[Duck Manson]

Delpierre won't leave I don't think, he's exactly our level, couldn't go anywhere much better than us and wouldn't want to leave for anywhere worse. Tasci, well maybe, bad news that Juve's interested, but they were interested in Meira, Gomez in the past and nothing came of that so i'm not too concerned for the moment. Difference is we never really needed those guys. Now we are desperate for backs. We've been linked to everyone from Maicon and Evra to players no one has ever heard of.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

good luck!! i hope he comes back to the league.

How is sebastian rudy doing?

Well, he had gotten a couple of minutes at the start of the season, 11 on the fourth game against Hoffenheim and 13 on the 7th game against Bremen. He also got 17 minutes in Sevilla and has made one start for us - the home game against Cherno More Varna.

So he was starting to get a couple of minutes here and there but then got unlucky and got injured for like 2-3 months right at the time Babbel took over. Babbel said Rudy had been in his plans and it was unlucky that it happened. Missing the whole winter training it pretty much became clear he wouldn't play for a-team in this season.

However, after returning from injury he played the rest of the season for VfB II. There he's played 16 games, scored 7 goals(and he is a midfielder of course) and has a very high average rating of 2.88 with Kicker. I know it's only 3rd league, but that's still promising and of course he's only 19.

So I think he'll get some chances in the first side next year. Definitely one to keep an eye on. Some other VfBII players too.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Difference is we never really needed those guys. Now we are desperate for backs. We've been linked to everyone from Maicon and Evra to players no one has ever heard of.

Hmm, well we'll see what happens, I hope he stays.

[Duck Manson]

Hmm, well we'll see what happens, I hope he stays.I'd say there's a 95% chance he won't be joining Juve.

[benztown]

I'd say there's a 95% chance he won't be joining Juve.

Now that's a relief...

Back to Hleb: The newspapers report that Uli Ferber (Hleb's agent) will travel to Barcelona on Sunday and meet Hleb after the final game of the season. "Then, Alex will have to tell me what his ideas for the future are," he said.

So if all works out well, we might have a decision by next week...

[squidward123]

Well, he had gotten a couple of minutes at the start of the season, 11 on the fourth game against Hoffenheim and 13 on the 7th game against Bremen. He also got 17 minutes in Sevilla and has made one start for us - the home game against Cherno More Varna.

So he was starting to get a couple of minutes here and there but then got unlucky and got injured for like 2-3 months right at the time Babbel took over. Babbel said Rudy had been in his plans and it was unlucky that it happened. Missing the whole winter training it pretty much became clear he wouldn't play for a-team in this season.

However, after returning from injury he played the rest of the season for VfB II. There he's played 16 games, scored 7 goals(and he is a midfielder of course) and has a very high average rating of 2.88 with Kicker. I know it's only 3rd league, but that's still promising and of course he's only 19.

So I think he'll get some chances in the first side next year. Definitely one to keep an eye on. Some other VfBII players too.

thanks bro, nice detail. Let's hope he comes good. You also have another good German attacking midfielder making good progress in the first XI.

[benztown]

Now Kicker writes that Stuttgart might be looking at Argentinian striker Lucas Barrios (24, 1,89) who scored 37 goals in Chile this season...

...at this point it seems as if they're just throwing out names...each and every striker out there seems to be in negotiations with us...

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Either way, congratulations to Hleb on becoming a European club champion!

[benztown]

http://www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/stz/page/2037256_0_4129_-spielerberater-uli-ferber-ueber-gomez-transfer-das-ist-keine-entscheidung-gegen-den-vfb-.html

This is an interview with Uli Ferber who represents several (former) VfB players...it's mostly about Gomez move to Bayern, but he indicates that Tasci wants to extend his contract and that negotiations about this will begin shortly.

Also he says that if Hleb leaves Barca, he favors the Bundesliga. Which at this point means either Bayern or Stuttgart.
He also said that in 2005, Hleb and Jochen Schneider agreed over a glass of beer that Hleb would return in 2011 and that Stuttgart probably wouldn't mind should he return earlier...

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

I don't want to wait until 2011 :(
which is good 'cause we won't have to. He'll come, I continue to have faith.

The news on Tasci is awesome, especially with these Juve rumous and whatnot it's great to hear he wants a new contract.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Latest 'news' on Hleb and Helmes (no real news):

http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/stuttgart/2009/05/30/patrick-helmes/frei-fuer-vfb-aliaksandr-hleb-in-stuttgart.html

Lot of speculation about Helmes. IF Bayer lose tonight, they are out of Europe. BILD speculates that in this case Helmes could come to Stuttgart. Fee they say would be at least 20 million euros. Now that would be double our transfer-record fee, but if we consider it it's 10 million less than we got for Gomez and I don't believe that Helmes is a worse player than Gomez. He's also hit 20+ goals this season, and this on an underperforming side. And if he continues to develop we could eventually sell him for a very high price as well anyway. Soo........ while this is all just Bild speculation with questionable truth in any of their statements, it is a perspective.

On Hleb: No news, same old thing so far: Will he push another year with Barca, or make the move away, to us or Bayern? No developments on that. We'll probably know more next week.


Other rumours:
- Jovanovic from Standard Liege is being looked into as a serious possibility. He could play mainly on the wings. He wouldn't be cheap, around 7-8 million. Now, if he is meant to generally strengthen the midfield, be a starter in the side, then this buy sounds decent. But if he's meant to be the 'star' acquistion, then it's not enough. Either way, he seems to want to come here and apparently we'll know on June 10.

- Transfermarkt claims we are interested in Tim Borowski. But haven't heard anything in detail about that.

[Rainer24]

Jovanovic works for me as the second signing if we miss out on Hleb, but like you said, not the marquee acquisition.

I don't want to see Borowski in our shirt.

[benztown]

Latest 'news' on Hleb and Helmes (no real news):

http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/fussball/bundesliga/vereine/stuttgart/2009/05/30/patrick-helmes/frei-fuer-vfb-aliaksandr-hleb-in-stuttgart.html

Lot of speculation about Helmes. IF Bayer lose tonight, they are out of Europe. BILD speculates that in this case Helmes could come to Stuttgart. Fee they say would be at least 20 million euros. Now that would be double our transfer-record fee, but if we consider it it's 10 million less than we got for Gomez and I don't believe that Helmes is a worse player than Gomez. He's also hit 20+ goals this season, and this on an underperforming side. And if he continues to develop we could eventually sell him for a very high price as well anyway. Soo........ while this is all just Bild speculation with questionable truth in any of their statements, it is a perspective.

On Hleb: No news, same old thing so far: Will he push another year with Barca, or make the move away, to us or Bayern? No developments on that. We'll probably know more next week.


Other rumours:
- Jovanovic from Standard Liege is being looked into as a serious possibility. He could play mainly on the wings. He wouldn't be cheap, around 7-8 million. Now, if he is meant to generally strengthen the midfield, be a starter in the side, then this buy sounds decent. But if he's meant to be the 'star' acquistion, then it's not enough. Either way, he seems to want to come here and apparently we'll know on June 10.

- Transfermarkt claims we are interested in Tim Borowski. But haven't heard anything in detail about that.

1) €20 million is too much for Helmes...maybe 10-15

2) Hleb will come :D

3) Don't know too much about Jovanovic

4) Don't want Borowski