* - a squad player who will be regular on the bench and play only few minutes (unimportant player)

** - player that usually play and brings some quality to the team (important player)

*** - player that plays if he is available (key player)

Positions:

LW – Left wing RB – Right back GK - Goalkeeper

LB – Left back RW – Right wing

PM – Playmaker LP – Line player

Transfers in:
Andreas Palicka (Redbergslids Göteborg, GK **)
Alfred Gislason (VFL Gummersbach, coach)

Transfers out:
Matthias Andersson (TV Großwallstadt, GK **)
Viktor Szilagy (VFL Gummersbach, PM **)
Noka Serdarusic (coach)


Analyse:
 
Kiel won Bundesleague title for the fourth time in a row, but lost in Champions league final, which was large disappointment. They didn`t change their team a lot, but the biggest change was made on bench. After 14 years Noka Serdarusic left the team because of too many argues with team manager Uwe Schwenker. This might be the biggest mistake of any team in handball, because Noka is irreplaceable. Also best player Karabatic wanted to get Noka back, but it was not possible. New coach is Alfred Gislason from Gummersbach and I really don`t like this. He wasn`t my favourite in Magdeburg, neither in Gummersbach. He said that Kiel will play even quicker, if this is even possible.
 
Kiel changed second GK, Andersson left to Grosswallstad and younger Palicka came from Redbergslids. This is actually not so important transfer since Kiel has currently best GK in the world Thierry Omeyer. Viktor Szilagy also left and this is also more or less unimportant, because Viktor didn`t get many chances to play, mostly because his injury problem.
 
Kiel can again win Bundesleague, but this year this will be even tougher than in last season. I am really curious how Kiel will work without Noka Serdarusic. Every new thing brings something good, but I am quite sceptical in this case. They still have the best team, but I am really not sure how they will work under Gislason. Kiel can win the title, but this will be extremely tough.

Transfers in:
Nicklas Grundsten (Hammarby IF, LP **)
Arne Niemeyer (GWD Minden, LB/PM **)
Marcin Lijewski (SG Flensburg Handewitt, RB **/***)
Blazenko Lackovic (SG Flensburg-Handewitt, LB **/***)
 

Transfers out:
Iwan Ursic (Kadetten Schaffhausen, LP **)
Bruno Souza (BM Alcobendas, LB */**)
Kyung-Shin Yoon (Back to South Korea, RB ***)
Jürgen Müller (SC Magdeburg, GK *)
 

Analyse:
 
HSV looks really great. They have many superb players and they are serious title challengers here. The biggest loss is transfer of Yoon, who left back to South Korea, but Lijewski brothers will probably cover his loss. Grundsten will replace Ursic on the line, but probably he will get only few minutes, because Bertrand Gille is irreplacable here. Niemeyer is one of the most adaptable player and he can play on all back positions if needed. Lackovic is great replacement for Souza. Anyway, the biggest plus for squad would be Oleg Veliky if he stays fit.
 
HSV is even stronger than last year. If they skip injuries, they can even win the league and they can be extremely dangerous in Champions league. They have at least two quality players on every position. HSV kept their main stars and bring some fresh faces and I strongly believe they will get one title this season.

Transfers in:
Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson (VFL Gummersbach, LW ***)
Jan Filip (HSG Nordhorn, RW ***)
Johannes Laskawy (HG Norderstedt, LB *)
Matthias Baur (SG Köndringen/Teningen, GK *)
Patrik Hruscak (MHK Kosice, RB */**)

Transfers out:
David Szlezak (Retired, RW ***)
Daniel Buday (Kadetten Schaffhausen, PM */**)
Michael Haaß (Minden, PM */**)


Analyse:
 
Rhein-Neckar Löwen strenghten their team where they were weakest, on both wings. Sigurdsson and Filip are one of the best wings and both are huge addition to the squad. If we add Bielecki and Tkaczyk, both came in January, then we get super team. RNL is also thinking on their future, Laskawy and Baur are huge talents, also RB Hruscak should be big investment for the future.
 
Löven are surely candidate for title. Their weakness is that they make some mistakes against poor teams every season and they lost too many points here. They are always playing great against big teams. If they change their mentality and win »small matches«, they can win in Germany.

Transfers in:
Lasse Boesen (TBV Lemgo, LB, PM **/***)
Alen Muratovic (BM Valladolid, LB ***)
Oscar Carlén (Ystads IF, RB ***)
Jendrik Meyer (Wilhelmshavener HV, GK **)
Lasse Svan Hansen (GOG Svendborg TGI, RW **/***)

Transfers out:
Marcin Lijewski (HSV Handball, RB ***)
Blazenko Lackovic (HSV Handball LB ***)
Dane Sijan (Viborg HK, GK **/***)
Anders Eggert (Skjern Handbold, RW **)
Einar Holmgeirson (TV Großwallstadt, RB/RW **)
Sören Stryger (Retired, RW ***)


Analyse:
 
Flensburg lost a lot in this summer. Two players from their starting back line, Lackovic and Lijewski, left and they will surely need some time to compose new players. They bring Boesen, Muratovic and Carlen as replacements and they look stronger than these two, but question here is how they can adopt and how quick. Boesen was quite big disappointment in Lemgo, but I expekt him to make superb season here. Hansen is replacement for their captain Stryger and Eggert and Meyer replaces Sijan between posts.
 
Flensburg will need some time to adopt on all these new players, but they can be quite strong with this new team. Because of good pace of new players, they can play little faster this season, but we must wait some rounds to see what they can do in comparison to other big teams. I think this will be their worse season in last few years, but still they will finish in top 4.

Transfers in:
Tobias Karlsson (Hammerby IF, LB ***)
Jan Richard L. Hansen (Drammen HK, LW **)
Csaba Szücs (HC Erlangen, LB **)

Transfers out:
Daniel Kubes (TBV Lemgo, LB **/***)
Jan Filip (Rhein Neckar Löwen, RW ***)

 
Analyse:
 
After many years Nordhorn will have to live without their captain Jan Filip who left to Löwen. It is almost impossible to find replacement for him and they are with only one right wing at the moment. Kubes is defensive specialist, but I think this won`t be huge miss, because they have enough players that can play in defence. Good replacement is Karlsson, who was in Kiel for few months, but he couldn`t get his chance. Nordhorn should look for another player that can fully take responsibility, because sometimes too much is depended on how Glandorf plays.
 
Nordhorn didn`t change a lot and this can be good for them. They are almost unbeatable at home and they always make problems to big teams. They are almost sure team to finish on places for European ticket in next season, or they can get Euro ticket in Cup.

Transfers in:
Viktor Szilagy (THW Kiel, LB/PM **)
Audray Tuzulana (US Ivry, LW **/*** )
Adrian Pfahl (Bayer Dormagen, RB **)
Drago Vukovic ( Gorenje Velenje LB **/***)
Yohann Ploquin (US Ivry, GK **/***)
Sead Hasanefendic (coach)

Transfers out:
Sverre Andreas Jakobsson (HK Kopavogs, LP **)
Dennis Zakharov (TSV Dormagen, RB *)
Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson (Rhein-Neckar Löwen, LW ***)
Oleg Kuleshow (PM **/***)
Alfred Gislason (THW Kiel, coach)


Analyse:

Gummersbach changed their team a lot, again. Szilagy will bring some more experience, Tuzulana and Vukovic will bring some fresh power on left side. Ploquin is solid GK and will help them quite a lot. The biggest plus for the team is that Gislason left the team and that they have appointed Hasanefendic as new coach. Maybe they will change their style a bit, from very fast to a bit slower handball and my opinion is that they can make some good results with this style. Still Gummersbach has superb power in offence and they can play fast or against formed defence. They will miss their best scorer Sigurdsson a lot, but Tuzulana looks like solid replacement. It is also good that Jakobsson left the team, they sufferd too much for his stupid fouls in defence. Zakharov was injured all the time and they won`t miss him. Last news is that Gummersbach made mutual contract termination with their playmaker Oleg Kuleshow, who was injured most of the time. He played important role in Gummersbach game, but I don`t think they will miss him, Victor Szilagy is around the same quality and he looks also healthy now.
 
Gummersbach was always close to the top and I expekt the same this year. They have some big talents and they can make some upsets to big teams. Who will fail to win against Gummersbach, will lose important points. In any case they will fight for European ticket next season. 

Transfers in:
Jürgen Müller (HSV Handball, GK **)
Nicolay Hauge (Haslum HK, PM **)

Transfers out:
Ole Erevik ( KIF Kolding, GK **)


Analyse:
 
Magdeburg made good thing to left Bielecki and Tkaczyk in winter to Löwen and that Bogdan Wenta left the team. Polish players are great and Wenta is great coach, but not for current Magdeburg. With Biegler as a coach we have young and fighting team who never gives up. Big stars are currently not for Magdeburg, only young and talented players. They didn`t change their team, the most important players stayed and that is the most important for them.
 
Magdeburg will probably beat worse teams and lose against big teams, but all these big teams will have to »die« to win points against Magdeburg. It is really hard to predict where Magdeburg will fininsh, but I am almost sure they will have some big ups and downs this season. I expekt them somewhere in the middle of the table.

Transfers in:
Martin Strobel (HBW Balingen, PM **/***)
Mark Schmetz (Tusem Essen, RW **)
Vignir Svavarsson (Skjern, LP **/***)
Daniel Kubes (HSG Nordhorn, LB ***)
Martin Galia (FA Göppingen, GK ***)

Transfers out:
Daniel Stephan (Retired, PM ***)
Michael Hegemann (GWD Minden, LB/PM **/***)
Lasse Boesen (SG Flensburg Handewitt, LB/PM **/***)
Julian Lahme (TV Grosswallstadt/TV Kirchzell, GK *)
Sven-Sören Christophersen (HSG Wetzlar, LB **)
Jörg Lützelberger (TUSEM Essen, LP **/***)


Analyse:
 
Lemgo is in transition time, they change their team every year. They are still searching for the team that can bring them back on top. They made good transfer with Strobel and Galia, also we can`t say that Svavarsson, Schmetz and Kubes won`t bring quality to the team. Maybe I don`t like Kubes, because he is useless in attack as he is defensive specialist. From players that left, I think they will miss only captain Stephan, but he was mostly injured in last seasons, but still he gives a lot to the team with his experiences. Hagemann disappointed, same as Boesen. Christophersen is still only big talen and Lützelberger doesn`t have body to be great lineplayer.
 
Lemgo can be big guess for all the teams, because they are always changing something. With legendary Markus Baur as a coach they have really great knowledge and experience on the bench. They can play really great, but they can even fail to win against poorer teams. Kubes and Galia will surely bring some experience and strenght in defence, but attack is still »under construction«. I expekt them in mid table and they can beat some of favourites at home.

Transfers in:
Matthias Andersson (THW Kiel, GK ***)
Steffen Kneer (HBW Balingen, LB **/***)
Julian Lahme (TBV Lemgo, GK *)
Einar Holmgeirsson (SG Flensburg Handewitt, RB/RW ***)
Oliver Köhrmann (Wilhelmshavener HV, PM **/***)
Joakim Larsson (HP Skövde 90, LP **/***)
 
Transfers out:
Chrischa Hannawald (GK ***)
Marco Hauk (TV Bittenfeldm, RW */**)
Hannes Volk (Tuspo Obernburg, LP **)
Philipp Müller (HBW Balingen, LB **)
Andreas Blank (SG Köndringen/Teningen, LW */**)
Bostjan Hribar (RK Koper, RB/RW **)


Analyse:
 
Grosswallstadt is one of the hottest home courts, but they disappointed last season. For this season they got some good new power and I believe they will be much better than last season. After one season in Flensburg, Holmgeirsson is coming back, also transfers of GK Andersson, Kneer and Köhrmann are superb for this team. With Andersson on court, they can forget on their legendary keeper Hannawald. Other players won`t miss too much. Transfer of Joakim Larsson is surely good for the team, because German international Jens Tiedke needs some help on the line and Larsson is capable to replace him fair enough.
 
Grosswallstadt is much stronger this season. With fresh faces I am sure that they will be unbeatable for teams from low table and tough to beat for better teams. I am not expekting them in Europlaces, but they will survive another season on midtable.

Transfers in:
Rares Jurca (Kadetten Schaffhausen, RB ***)
Adam Weiner (Wilhelmshaven HV, GK **/***)
Enid Tahirovic (RK Koper, GK ***)

Transfers out:
Michal Shejbal (TUSEM Essen, GK **)
Gergely Harsanyi (PLER Airport Budapest, RW */**)
Vukasin Rajkovic (FC Kopenhagen, RB ***)
Martin Galia (TBV Lemgo, GK ***)
Silviu Baiceanu (HCM Constanta, LP **/***)


Analyse:
 
Goppingen is always somewhere in the mid table and same will be this season probably. They lost their super keeper Galia and his replacement Shejbal, but they bring two very good keepers. Weiner is Polish international keeper who already has good name in Germany and second is Enid Tahirovic who came from Slovenian runner-up Koper. Another good transfer should be Jurca from Kadetten, he already has some Champions league experience from the time when he played for Zagreb. Vukasin Rajkovic left the team, but Jurca should be equal replacement. Baiceanu has some injury problems. Göppingen still has two very solid lineplayers, so I am sure that they won`t miss Baiceanu much.
 
Goppingen has around the same power than last season. They can`t compete with big team, but they are better than teams in second part of the table. Their main weapon should be their defence and good GKs.

Transfers in:
Michael Hegemann (TBV Lemgo, LB ***)
Gylfi Gylfason (Wilhelmshaven, RW ***)
Ingimundur Ingimundarson (Elverum, LB **/***)

Transfers out:
Arne Niemeyer (HSV Hamburg, LB/PM ***)
Einar Örn Jonsson (Haukar Hafnjördur, RW **/***)
Björn Buhrmester (TuS N-Lübbecke, GK **)
Jiri Hynek (Ahlener SG, LB **)
Milan Kosanovic (GK **)
 

Analyse:
 
Again and again Minden stays in the league, despite small number of quality players, but they are really big fighters and resuls are here. After many years we can expekt a lot from them. Only big loss is Niemeyer, who is player that can play on every position, but they brought replacements. They sold also Jonsson, but Gylfason is equal replacement. Hegemann is great addition, despite he didn`t show much in Lemgo, Ingimundarson is also very good catch. If we add that in January they bring von Behren and Haaß, they have really nice team.
 
Looks like Minden can be surprise of the season. They have really great team with many experienced internationals. After few seasons I don`t see even close to relegation zone, they must only avoid some injuries.

Transfers in:
Spyros Balomenos (MT Melsungen, LB ***)
Philipp Müller (TV Großwallstadt, LB **)
Markus Wagesreiter (Hildesheim, LB */**)
Robert Weber (Alpha Hard, RW **)

Transfers out:
Martin Strobel (TBV Lemgo, PM ***)
Steffen Kneer (TV Großwallstadt, LB ***)


Analyse:
 
Balingen stayed in league for the second time in a row. Now they shouldn`t be relegation candidate anymore, but they are starting to lose their important players which must be replaced. Strobel and Kneer was their main powers, but they replaced only Kneer. Balomenos has many Bundesleague experience and can be equal replacement. Kneer was not replaced, Daniel Brack will get even more minutes. Müller looks like solid adition between posts. Weber is solid player, but the question is how he will adopt to stronger German league, he came from Austrian league.
 
Balingen will stay in the league, this is not questionable, but they have to keep good results against equal and worse teams. I am quite impressed with their coach Brack and I believe they will continue with good work. Their biggest problem will be, if they lose talents like Strobel and Kneer every year.

Transfers in:
Nenad Vuckovic (Chambery Savoie HB, LB **/***)
Pawel Orzlowski (Lubin, LP **/***)
Torben Ehlers (Stralsunder HV, RB **)
Simon Herold (Stralsunder HV, GK **)
Frank Junillon (Montpellier, LB **/***)

Transfers out:
Anders Jacobsson (Ystad, LB */**)
Petr Hruby (Stralsunder HV, LP **)
Spyros Balomenos (HBW Balingen, LB **/***)
Dennis Klockmann (TuS N-Lübbecke, GK **)
Radek Musil (Thsv Eisenach, GK *)
Andrej Kurchev (HSG Düsseldorf, RB **)


Analyse:
 
Melsungen is really interesting team. They had one of the best attacks in the league and maybe the fastest attack, but on the other side they had the poorest defence. With their pace they were making problems to all teams, but when attack didn`t have good day, they could lose against every team.
 
With Vuckovic they made good transfer. Orzlowski is defensive specialist, but I am scpetical he can play in this team with his 35 years. Hruby and Balomenos are not irreplacable and I think they are even stronger this year. I hope they will work a lot on defence and keep great attack. If they manage to stop opponents under 30 goals and score their average over 30 goals, they can make good results. But in reality they will hardly stop anyone under 30 goals, because they didn`t bring any good GK. We will probably watch same »run and gun« on their matches and a lot of goals.

Transfers in:
Peter Jungwirt (SC Magdeburg, RW */**)
Sven-Sören Christophersen (TBV Lemgo, LB/PM **/***)
Chen Promeranz (HC Kriens, PM **)
 
Transfers out:
Vlatko Mitkov (ASV Hamm, RB **)
Marius Kasmauskas (LB */**)

Analyse:
 
Despite Wetzlar ended season just above relegation zone, they were quite safe. In last 11 rounds they won only 2 points, but first part of the season was quite good. Volker Mudrow has solid team and I doubt it is possible to bring more from it. They got Christophersen, who was under Mudrow in Lemgo, but he is still only a talent and didn`t show anything special yet. Actually this is only transfer that should be mentioned, so nothing has changed in Wetzlar.
 
I expekt the same results from them also this year. They will probably have good first part and after they secure place in Bundesleague for next season they might drop and let points to others. Against equal teams we can expekt big fight for every ball and against better teams we can see relaxed matches with many goals and good action.

Transfers in:
Rico Göde (Stralsund, LP **/***)
Jonathan Rivera (Dessau, RB **/***)

Transfers out:
Pavel Prokopec (THSV Eisenach, LB */**)
Frank Schumann (Hamm, LB */**)
Andrius Stelmokas (Hannover-Burgdorf, PM **)
Marc Hartensuer (Retired, LW *)
Toni Kern (Amicitia Zürich, LB */**)
 

Analyse:
 
Berlin managed to stay in the league and quite in style. They didn`t have any special problems with this, they were even far away from relegation. For next season they didn`t change a lot, they didn`t lose any of important players. Füchse brough giant lineplayer Göde and after 2 years they can welcome back Rivera.
 
Berlin looks equal strong than in last season. They won`t have such »easy« job to stay in the league, but probably they won`t relegate, because newcomers looks to be poorer. It is interesting that some bigger teams had big problems in Berlin and smaller didn`t have chance for points. They only have to stay on this level.
 

Transfers in:
Evgeny Vorontsov (VfL Edewecht, RW **)
Maris Versakovs (Achim/Baden, LB **)
Michal Shejbal (FA Göppingen, GK ***)
Jörg Lützelberger (TBV Lemgo, LP **/***)

Transfers out:
Mark Schmetz (TBV Lemgo, RW ***)
David Katzirz (Pick Szeged, LB ***)
Torsten Friedrich (ASV Hamm, GK **/***)
Mark Dragunski (Retired, LP **/***)
Gunnar Dietrich (TSG Friesenheim, LB */**)


Analyse:
 
Essen lost a lot of quality here. Schmetz, Katzirz, Dragunski and also Friedrich were their main powers, so it is hard to replace them. Still they made good job with Shjebal to replace Friedrich. Lützelberger is good in attack, but can`t bring Dragunski`s quality and strenght in defence. Vorontsov came as replacement for Schmetz, we will see if he can replace him.
 
Essen will have really tough job to stay in the league, looks like they are not so strong like in last season. At the begining of the season they made some surprising results, mostly because of underestimation of opponents. This season I don`t expekt such results, because opponents will prepare on their matches better. Tough season infront of Essen and tough job to stay in the league.

Transfers in:
Denis Zakharov (Vfl Gummersbach, RB ***)
Sebastian Faißt (HSG Konstanz, RB */**)

Transfers out:
Alexander Koke (SVH Kassel, PW/PM **/***)
Adrian Pfahl (VFL Gummersbach, RB ***)
Roland Mainka (TV Korschenbroich, GK *)


Analyse:

Dormagen is newcomer in Bundesleague. They didn`t change their team a lot, but they lost their best scorer Adrian Pfahl (Lochtenbergh scored 10 goals more, but also more from penalties). Alexander Koke also left the team, he was their first choice penalty shooter, but I believe they have enough players who can replace him. Mainka didn`t play on any match. As replacement for Pfahl they got Denis Zakharov from Gummersbach. He is talented player, but he has too many injury problems, so this is quite risky transfer. If he stays healthy, he can give more than Pfahl probably. Faißt is another right back player, but he will probably get less chances, he is still young and they brought it as future investment.
Dormagen looks like serious relegation candidate, other teams look much stronger. Good thing is that they didn`t change their team a lot, so they won`t have problems with many new players. They have only one player to compose in first team and this is their main positive point. Anyway I see them as a serious relegation candidate.

Transfers in:
Konstantinos Tsilimparis (Algeciras BM, GK ***)
Petr Hruby (MT Melsungen, LP **/***)
Martins Libergs (Dessau-Roßlauer HV, LB **/***)
Christian Schwarz (HC Empor Rostock, LB */**)
Eric Hoffmann (SC Magdeburg II, RW */**)

Transfers out:
Simon Herold (MT Melsungen, GK **)
Torben Ehlers (MT Melsungen, RB **/***)
Marios Efstathiadis (Cyprus, LB **)
Rico Göde (Füchse Berlin, LP ***)


Analyse:
 
Stralsunder is coming back in Bundesleague after four years. They changed their team quite a lot, losing 4 quite important players. Replacements are good enough that we can say that they are stronger this season, but they question is if this is enough. Hruby and Tsilimparis are good internationals and they can give a lot to the team. Hruby is good replacement for Göde, Hruby is even better player, but they didn`t bring replacement for Ehlers. Stralsunder still have one solid right back in Chantziaras, but one right back is not enough for Bundesleague. A lot of strenght can give GK pair. Tsilimparis and Levsin are both very experienced keepers and if they get some help from defence they can be tough to beat.
 
Despite Stralsunder has experience in Bundesleague, I think they will relegate, because they simply don`t have enough quality players for competition and their bench is not long enough. I am sure they will make problems to some teams, but at the end they can be too short for some points to stay in the league.

Final analyse:
 
Season 2008/2009 might be the most interesting in the history of German handball. We have four serious candidates for the title (Kiel, HSV, Rhein Neckar Löwen and Flensburg) and many other teams that will fight for European tickets for next season (Nordhorn, Gummersbach, Lemgo, Magdeburg). Some teams are somewhere in the middle, they can upset any team in the league, but probably they are too short for the top part of the table (Göppingen, Grosswallstadt, Melsungen, Wetzlar, Minden, Balingen). At the end we have four teams that came last in the league (Essen, Berlin, Dormagen and Stralsunder).
 
Despite Kiel changed coach, they are still the main candidate for the title. Kiel still has the best team, but I am sceptical about new coach Gislason. Just behind them are HSV and Rhein Neckar Löven, who can also become champions. Both have really superb team and I wouldn`t be surprise if I see some of these two teams on top after 34 rounds. Flensburg is probably not so serious team to win the title, but they are really close. Still I believe Kiel, HSV and RNL are the biggest candidates.
 
Nordhorn, Gummersbach, Lemgo and Magdeburg are teams, that will fight for European tickets for next season. All have quality to make upsets against the big four, but they simply can`t go to the top. Gummersbach and Lemgo might be quite unpredictable at the begining, but I see them both on places just behind main favourites. As usual, Norhdorn can be quite dangerous also in German Cup.
 
Göppingen, Grosswallstadt, Melsungen, Wetzlar, Minden and Balingen looks safe to avoid relegation. They have enough experience and quality that can sail safe in Bundesleague. Wetzlar and Balingen might have some problems if some injuries come, but my opinion is that they are pretty safe. As I wrote under Minden preview, they are my favourites to be the biggest surprise this season.
 
Essen, Berlin, Dormagen and Stralsunder are main favourites for relegation. Despite Essen and Berlin survived first year in first league, I expekt really tough job for them to keep their place among best teams in Germany. Teams, that might be in this »club« strenghten their teams, so it will be really hard to see them again here next season. There are two relegation places, one qualification place and four teams. Fight will be really hard.

Author Rok