Gross and Schneider are free at Schalke

Together with coach Christian Gross, Jochen Schneider’s sporting director must leave his post at Schalke.

Friedemann Vogel / EPA

FC Schalke 04 is making Bundesliga history. On Sunday, the day after the 1: 5 loss to VfB Stuttgart, which was only part of a series of poor results, the club not only parted ways with coach Christian Gross. Sporting director Jochen Schneider and team manager Sascha Riether also have to go.

It may seem strange, not only to soccer fans in the Ruhr area, that Borussia Dortmund also released Lucien Favre in December after a 1: 5 against Stuttgart. This is how he hit the two most renowned Swiss coaches after the duel with Stuttgart coach Pellegrino Matarazzo. However, the unusual constellation is the only thing Gross and Favre have in common.

Bad rumors

Unlike Favre, who stayed at Dortmund for two and a half years and had a sizable squad, Gross found those conditions at Schalke that would have made any other colleague fail. As the fourth manager this season, he was a losing proposition from the start. The accusation that he does not make the team does not hit him as Schalke’s head coach this season.

Over the weekend, events had assumed an unprecedented dynamic. On Saturday morning it was reported in various media that a revolt against Gross was taking place. The recently recruited Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac had approached the Riether team manager. The replacement of the coach had been requested, “Sky” initially reported. With Gross, according to the professionals, the goal of relegation cannot be achieved. It is alleged that professional accusations were made; In addition, the compromising rumor circulated that he did not have the names of the players ready.

It doesn’t actually speak for Gross that the whistleblowers are said to have been the same players who recently joined the team to help with their routine in the relegation battle. Riether publicly and vehemently denied a riot, but admitted that there had been a meeting. It is normal for players to feel the need to talk at one point or another. But the person you are talking to is the coach per se for such situations. Such objections are rarely used to praise the superior.

Riether’s denial was therefore only of limited duration. The revolt, which should not have been one, took him out of his job, as did his superior, sporting director Schneider. The decision made by Schalke’s supervisory board should mainly stem from the experience of Peter Knäbels, one of the latest football experts in Gelsenkirchen. Meanwhile, the club announced, Knäbel was solely responsible for events at Schalke.

It should primarily be about setting the course. A fifth manager this season is probably not someone who is willing to accept Schalke’s environment beyond the season after David Wagner and Manuel Baum had already been fired before Gross. Huub Stevens, who is still allowed to wear the Schalke “Centennial Coach” label, was only intended as a stopgap from the start.

If you want to clarify the dimension of staff burnout, you just have to look at SC Freiburg – in the last 30 years, no more than five coaches have been working there. Schalke’s supervisory board chairman Jens Buchta said: “We don’t need to talk about it – the sporting situation is clear, so we have to think beyond the season for every personal decision that has yet to be made.” That sobriety is necessary: ​​statistically nothing feeds the hope of a miraculous league. In the last 13 months the team has won two games.

No credit from Tönnies

Schalke’s discomfort points far beyond the situation of the squad. The high level of indebtedness greatly reduces the room for maneuver. Schalke 04 recently rejected the loan offer of former supervisory board chairman Clemens Tönnies. Tönnies had vacated the position after a large number of Covid 19 infections occurred at its meat factory last year. How bad things are for the club shows that Tönnies becomes a transfigured figure only six months later. By the tenor of some observers, things only deteriorated rapidly after the scandalized businessman resigned from office.

What was initially celebrated as liberation is now being reversed. The new direction is problematic not only because of the financial corset. In recent years, Schalke 04 had not only tested several coaches, but also several sporting directors. Christian Heidel came up with the best recommendations from Mainz 05. The tailor, who was released on Sunday, previously worked for VfB Stuttgart, his performance almost two years ago raised hopes for continuity. The separation of squad planner Michael Reschke at the club, who had previously worked for Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, also caused discomfort.

This has consolidated a trend that is difficult to correct: Schalke is not only obviously ‘impassable’ as a team, the club also rejects any idea of ​​leadership. The scope of the Schalke case may be enormous, it is not unique. Schalke can see what the future of such a club could look like with the help of Hamburger SV and other traditional clubs looking to make a living in the second division. Regeneration at the second level may be the only plausible goal. It is far from guaranteed.