2nd league
Gelsenkirchen (dpa) – The ascent that is so important is becoming more and more unrealistic, the trust in the coach is gone: At the end of a week that was spectacular and eventful even by Schalke standards with numerous construction sites, the second division team parted ways with coach Dimitrios Grammozis.
The words with which those responsible justified the step were extremely clear – it remained unclear who should take over now.
“We are still convinced of the quality of the squad. But in order to be successful in the fight for the top positions, we need continuous development, which we discussed but didn’t see,” said sports director Peter Knäbel according to the announcement. Clear criticism of the coach’s work.
backlog is growing
At the latest after the bitter and at times bizarre 3:4 against FC Hansa Rostock the day before, Knäbel and his team-mate Grammozis no longer have the confidence to lead Gelsenkirchen back into the Bundesliga. Schalke, who were only sixth, are already six points behind the coveted top spots.
“We no longer had the conviction that our announced goal, promotion to the Bundesliga, still had a sufficiently high probability in the existing constellation,” said sporting director Rouven Schröder. “We therefore believe that the team needs a new impetus in the season finale.” In addition to Grammozis, his assistant Sven Piepenbrock and goalkeeping coach Wil Coort were released.
A return to the Bundesliga would not only be extremely important from a sporting point of view, but also financially – not least because the long-standing sponsor Gazprom will not be making any further payments in the millions in the future. 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.
New sponsor
Most recently, about nine million euros per season flowed from Gazprom Germania, a German subsidiary of the energy company, to Schalke. Just how ubiquitous the group was around the arena at Rudi-Assauer-Platz was evident even days after the end of the partnership from the logos and lettering around the stadium, which could not be removed in time and were partially covered provisionally.
The traditional club quickly presented a new financier and shirt sponsor in Vivawest on Saturday. But the proceeds from the “temporary partnership,” as Vivawest CEO Uwe Eichner called it, are likely to be well below those of the Gazprom era. If Schalke remains second-rate, it will make the search for a long-term sponsor successor much more difficult.
If the promotion is to be anything else, the Grammozis successor has to deliver immediately. Schalke urgently needs a winning streak, which doesn’t seem likely given the large fluctuations in performance in recent weeks. Only second division record scorer Simon Terodde, who scored all three goals against Rostock, delivers consistently at the absolute top level.
Schalke initially left open who would take over the Grammozis job. This Monday, the club wants to provide information on how to proceed.