The Belgian Karel Geraerts will be the new coach of FC Schalke 04. The 41-year-old will receive a contract with the second division soccer club until June 30, 2025, as the Gelsenkirchen-based company announced on Monday (October 9, 2023).
Geraerts, who signed the new contract on Sunday evening, was most recently employed by the Belgian surprise club Union Saint-Gilloise. Despite a successful season with third place, the club parted ways with him.
Vote on Geraerts “particularly with Youri Mulder”
“Over the past two weeks, André Hechelmann and I have worked intensively to find the right trainer for the profile we were looking for. The process took place in close coordination with the sports committee and in particular Youri Mulder, who is very well connected, especially in the Netherlands and Belgium “, explained sports director Peter Knäbel.
Geraerts was the absolute dream solution, he emphasized at the press conference on Monday afternoon. An assistant coach is currently being sought, as sports director André Hechelmann explained. However, he is currently under contract elsewhere.
Schalke is lagging behind demands
In Geraerts, Schalke is getting an internationally experienced coach. With Saint-Gilloise he beat 1. FC Union Berlin in the Europa League in the round of 16 last season and then failed in the quarter-finals against Bayer Leverkusen.
A completely different and difficult task awaits him at Schalke. The Revierklub is currently running far behind its own standards. As a relegated team from the first division, the goal for the season is actually direct promotion.
Instead of being in the top group, Schalke is in 16th place in the table. After only two wins in the first seven league games, the traditional club parted ways with coach Thomas Reis on September 27th and Matthias Kreutzer took over on an interim basis.
Geraerts confirms the team has “great potential”
Geraerts will make his debut as S04 coach on October 22nd in the away game at Karlsruher SC. The fact that the Gelsenkirchen team is relying on a coach in this tricky situation who doesn’t know the league, for whom Schalke is only his second stop as a professional coach and who only speaks a little German, is definitely a “courageous decision,” as Knäbel admitted.
“In the end it’s about content and conviction,” emphasized sports director Hechelmann. “And he will convey this to the team in the language in which he currently feels most comfortable.”
In any case, Geraerts said the team had room for improvement. Looking at the 1:2 against Hertha BSC on Sunday, which Geraerts watched live in the stadium with his family, he said: “After ten or 15 minutes I said to my wife: ‘I see great potential in this team.'”
The goal is one “Winner mentality” in the team
Geraerts had already introduced himself to his players in the morning. “I already told them in the dressing room: ‘I want to bring a winning mentality into the team.’ S04 didn’t have that recently and lost three games in a row.
Geraerts wants to bring back success with “well-structured football from the back.” “For me, football is about intensity, whether with or without the ball,” he said.
The first conversation with Hechelmann and sports director Peter Knäbel, which lasted five to six hours, convinced him about S04 – and that he could work longer at the Revierklub than his predecessors.
