FC Schalke 04 and Hertha BSC are also unable to compete in the second division. Now there is a direct duel between the two relegated Bundesliga teams.
Simon Terodde has returned to team training at FC Schalke 04. The 35-year-old was missing with a calf problem and last played in the 1-1 draw at SV Wehen Wiesbaden at the beginning of September. After the negative headlines of the past few weeks and months, this was finally good news for the Gelsenkirchen fans. In the duel between the two relegated Bundesliga teams against Hertha BSC on Sunday (from 1.30 p.m. in the live report and in the ticker at sportschau.de), the second division record scorer will probably be back in the squad.
Schalke on the Relegation relegation place
Otherwise the mood among the “Royal Blues” is modest: only seven points from eight games, most recently two defeats in a row, 16th place in the table. That is the relegation relegation place.
The promotion places are already nine points away. Given the dynamics, some fear that Schalke will be pushed through to the 3rd league like Arminia Bielefeld last year. But missing out on promotion would be hard for the financially troubled club. And that was actually the declared goal for the season.
After the separation from coach Thomas Reis, the two interim coaches Matthias Kreutzer and Mike Büskens will again be on the bench against the “old lady” from Berlin. Under the duo, the “Knappen” recently lost 1:3 at SC Paderborn. There was no positive reaction from the team to Reis’ expulsion.
Who takes the ejection seat?
“We’re still in the relegation zone – still! There are only two places left at the bottom”said sports director Peter Knäbel. “Sadly naive” the team’s performance was: “We can tell each other all the time how good this team is, how much quality the players have. But in the end what matters is: What do they do with the jersey of the club that pays them?”
And now the search for a coach is apparently also difficult. Former Hertha and Mainz coach Sandro Schwarz is said to have declined, as did ex-professional Raul.
If, given the performance, anyone actually wants to use the ejector seat. The new coach will be the 16th in the last ten years. “But I’m not afraid that one of the candidates we spoke to will now say: ‘Uiuiui, what a shitty performance, I don’t want to go to that mess’.”said Knäbel. Former coach Peter Neururer sees it differently: “Which coach is willing to do that?” This job is “probably not necessarily the further development or the next step in your career”said Neururer.
Hertha is already coming to terms with league two
Things aren’t quite as chaotic at Hertha BSC. The Berliners are only in twelfth place with nine points and, like Schalke, have already suffered five defeats. After an interim high of two wins, there was a 1-2 home defeat against FC St. Pauli. The lead over the relegation relegation place is only two points.
“It wasn’t easy, and it won’t get any easier”said coach Pal Dardai. When it comes to direct promotion, that almost sounds like a task. “We don’t have to talk about promotion. We are still in this year in which we are building something”said Dardai too.
Dardai sees good developments
But it seems that calm has returned to the capital club. “It was really hard work. We had over 30 in-and-out transfers. A team like that has to grow together, and unfortunately that takes time.”, explained Sami Allagui, assistant to the sports director. And she seems to trust Dardai. He’s obviously firmly in the saddle, and the fans are playing along too. There were no whistling concerts after the defeat against St. Pauli, but there were minutes of applause after the final whistle.
The defeat against Hamburg was also a step forward for Dardai. “We didn’t know the situation. You have to keep up with an opponent like that and we missed that in the first half. At some point we realized that we needed more physical effort, more passion.”said Dardai and praised his team’s development process within the 90 minutes. And Allagui also stated that it would “better from game to game”.
Hertha expects Schalke to fight
In front of around 60,000 fans at FC Schalke, the Berliners need a similarly committed performance as in the final phase against St. Pauli. “Schalke will definitely be aggressive to no end. It will be physical”said Dardai.