2nd league
Gelsenkirchen (dpa) – The old coach is gone, a new one is not yet here: For this Monday, FC Schalke 04 has announced information about how to proceed in the coaching question. As a successor to Dimitrios Grammozis, both an internal and an external solution seem conceivable.
The many years of experience of many candidates at a high level speaks for a person from the outside. The new coach has to deliver immediately if promotion is to work. Schalke urgently needs a winning streak.
However, an internal replacement would probably be significantly cheaper. That could play a major role in the considerations of the decision-makers at Rudi-Assauer-Platz – not least because in the future there will be no more millions in payments from the long-standing sponsor Gazprom. Since 2007, the Russian state-owned company has been the most important financier of the Gelsenkirchen company, which is burdened with around 200 million euros in liabilities. As a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, FC Schalke 04 ended the cooperation. But which coaches could the club have at all? A selection of possible candidates:
The retirees
Coach veteran Friedhelm Funkel actually retired in 2021 after staying in the class with 1. FC Köln. “I would do it for nine games, but after that it would definitely be over, even if the promotion were to succeed,” Funkel is quoted as saying by the “Express”. According to his own statements, the 68-year-old does not consider employment to be realistic. “But no one has contacted me yet. And that’s why I think Schalke 04 has other plans. I can’t imagine that those responsible haven’t spoken to the potential successor 24 hours after the 3-4 defeat against Rostock .”
A return from Schalke’s coaching legend Huub Stevens would also be very surprising. The 68-year-old, who coached Schalke twice for longer periods and stepped in as interim coach twice in 2019 and 2020, had recently retired from active coaching.
Other external candidates
Bruno Labbadia can look back on many years of experience in the Bundesliga. Most recently, he had coached Hertha BSC, VfL Wolfsburg and Hamburger SV. Negotiations with the Italian first division club CFC Genoa 1893 burst at the beginning of the year shortly before completion. The coach of the U19 national team, Hannes Wolf, would also be an option. The 40-year-old took over temporarily at Bayer Leverkusen last season. Daniel Farke, who last worked in Russia, is also being treated as a possible successor in the media.
The Internals
In their own club, Schalke could fall back on the head coach of the U17s. Onur Cinel has been at the club for several years. Assistant coach Mike Büskens could also play a role in the considerations of those responsible. The 53-year-old had already led the training after the separation from coach Christian Gross.