Schalke 04 have not yet found a new coach after Frank Kramer was kicked out. For the time being, assistant Matthias Kreutzer is sitting on the bench.
Rouven Schröder adapted quickly. The sports director of Schalke 04 has already fired two head coaches in just under eight months. On Sunday he will sit on the bench next to the fourth coach. He is still looking for the fifth, who should still lead the Bundesliga penultimate to relegation.
“It’s clear that everyone is itching about the topic. But we will take our time and make decisions without hectic,” said Schröder on Friday. But because the ejection seat at Schalke is apparently becoming less and less popular in the industry, Schröder and sports director Peter Knäbel are finding it difficult to find a successor for Frank Kramer, who was released on Wednesday.
Bruno Labbadia, who has been without a job for almost two years, gave the climber a basket according to consistent media reports. The Austrian Christian Ilzer from Sturm Graz, who was traded in the Bild newspaper, is also not available. Schröder spoke of rumours, “we did it in private and know what we’re doing”. In the “next week” he wants to present the new coach.
The day before, the training had been postponed from the morning to the afternoon so that the new boss could lead it – but he didn’t come. In the afternoon, assistant coach Matthias Kreutzer was given provisional responsibility for the away game at Hertha BSC on Sunday (5:30 p.m. / DAZN).
FC Schalke 04 is looking for its 30th coach since 2002
That Schröder and Knäbel are rejected is nothing new. Even before the start of the season, the search for a coach after the breakup with Dimitrios Grammozis in March took much longer than planned. “We’re not on a bed of roses,” said Schröder, “but Schalke are still attractive.” Not least because of extreme financial constraints – and the refusal to release the preferred candidate Thomas Reis from neighboring VfL Bochum – Kramer was committed. The 50-year-old, who failed to stay up in the league in Fürth and Bielefeld, confirmed the fears of many fans and observers in the first ten matchdays with largely aimless defensive football.
The enthusiasm for Reis, who publicly fibbed about his summer flirtation with Schalke before being thrown out in Bochum, has apparently cooled off significantly. At VfL, where the 49-year-old is still under contract, Schalke has reportedly not received a request. Other coaches such as Domenico Tedesco, who is favored by many fans, are not available for the promoted team with a personnel budget of just 37 million euros.
Because the original Schalke player Mike Büskens, who was still a hero in the spring as a temporary help, stuck to his categorical no to another promotion, Kreutzer now stepped in. The 39-year-old, once Knäbel’s assistant coach at Hamburger SV, joined Gelsenkirchen in March 2019 as a video analyst. He is the seventh Schalke coach in two years – and the 29th since 2002.
