Praise for coach Muslic
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From an economic perspective, Schalke’s CEO Matthias Tillmann sees no obligation for the leaders of the 2nd Bundesliga to be promoted. “Our economic foundation is stable,” said the 42-year-old in an interview with the “German Press Agency”. At the end of October, the Royal Blues had achieved a consolidated annual surplus of 5.5 million euros in the annual report for the 2024/25 season and reduced total liabilities and net financial liabilities (to the article). According to the latest figures, the latter is still at 110.8 million euros.
Tillmann explained: “Due to the DFL’s equity rule, we are obliged to generate profits every year. We can also do that in the second league, as you can see. So, as far as that is concerned, we could play in the second league for another ten years – of course, a permanent return to the Bundesliga remains the medium-term goal.” From his point of view it is also clear: “With every year in the second league it becomes more difficult to provide a budget with which you have a great chance of playing for promotion.”
Schalke boss about Muslic: “He has absolute clarity”
Schalke has 37 points after 17 games. This puts the Revierklub three points ahead of second-placed SV Elversberg and four points ahead of SV Darmstadt 98 in third place. Coach Miron Muslic played a large part in the upswing. He transformed Schalke from a relegation candidate into a top team in the second division. “He has absolute clarity. He knows exactly what he wants. And he has courage. He doesn’t just talk, he does,” said Tillmann about the 43-year-old, whom he describes as a “people catcher.” In the last market value update, the Muslic team achieved an increase in squad value of 7.6 million to 38.8 million euros – fifth place in the comparison of the 2nd Bundesliga.
“For me, the coach is the most important person in the club because he simply has the greatest leverage,” said Tillmann. “But a coach can only work best with his team if everyone in the club thinks in the same direction. That wasn’t the case with us before. It was the case that there were sometimes different ideas in the areas of scouting, analysis and the coaching team about what was best for Schalke. That’s different now.”