FC Schalke 04 is acting in an important position: The club announced that it separated from squad planner Ben Manga.
football-Second division Schalke 04 has separated from squad planner Ben Manga. The association announced this on Monday as part of a “structural adaptation in the areas of scouting, transfer system and club smithy”.
Sports board member Frank Baumann will take on manga’s tasks in the interior. “As announced when I took office, I have used the past few months to get a comprehensive picture of our sporting area,” said Baumann. “After the end of the main transfer period, we carefully analyzed what works well and where we see potential.”
Transfers didn’t work
“Both the results of the work and the underlying processes” were evaluated. “With the measures we identify, we will set up Schalke 04 in these areas in a future -oriented manner,” emphasized Baumann. The search for manga’s successor is “conscientiously, thoroughly and holistically”, and concrete conversations with candidates will be recorded shortly.
Manga was appointed director of squad planning, chouting and shortcuts in May 2024. He had previously worked as a chief scout and as director of professional football for Eintracht Frankfurt before moving to England to FC Watford. He quickly crashed into Schalke with coach Karel Geraerts, who did not want to set up mangas. Internally, manga weak transfers and the coaching error Kees van Wonderen were blamed.
“Check content process”
Schalke therefore also wants to check “the content of the squad planning”. “We will deal intensively with which target markets we focus on and which profiles we are looking for. This is team work and requires a successful interaction from live, video and data scouting based on the Schalke-DNA developed,” said Baumann.
Under the new coach Miron Muslic, the Schalke started the season promising – with twelve points from six games and connection to the promotion places.
Our sources:
- Press release Schalke 04
- Sports information service SID
