FC Schalke is back in the 1st Bundesliga – and even as a champion! But while fans and players are still celebrating, those responsible are already focusing on the new season, after all, the demands in the German upper house are much higher. Michael Rummenigge, former star of FC Bayern and BVB, sees the miners on the right track, but also warns of the challenges of the future.
With his 30th goal of the season, Simon Terodde gave FC Schalke the Bundesliga 2 title on Sunday. The Royal Blues then celebrated a big promotion party together with their fans and friends of 1. FC Nürnberg.
At the same time, preparations for the coming season in the 1st league are already underway in the background. A project that, according to Michael Rummenigge, the Ruhrpott club should approach with a good deal of humility.
“Despite all the justified euphoria about promotion, you shouldn’t make the mistake of dreaming of the Champions League again, but consolidate first. In the next one or two years, Schalke can only be about staying up,” he said 58-year-old in his “sports buzzer“-Column clear.
Rummenigge said S04 had to add more personnel in particular: “The squad was well put together by Peter Knäbel and Rouven Schröder with significantly less money, but it is not yet so solid. And since you cannot immediately throw the bills around again, every decision must continue to sit.”
Rummenigge: FC Schalke 04 “a special club
The work done so far by sports director Rouven Schröder and his colleagues gives Rummenigge hope.
“Killing coach Dimitrios Grammozis eight games before the end was damn brave, but absolutely right – he didn’t suit Schalke from the start,” he praised the action taken by the Schalke management, who replaced the German-Greek with club legend Mike Büskens at the beginning of March had.
Finding a successor for the interim coach is now the “most important task” for the S04 bosses. “Schalke is a special club, so it certainly needs different qualities than in other places. Mike Büskens has impressively demonstrated and lived it with his hard-working mentality,” explained Rummenigge.