Schalke 04 has reacted to the weak start to the season and parted ways with head coach Thomas Reis with immediate effect.
Matthias Kreutzer will take over duties on the sidelines until further notice. This is the consequence of the negative development of the past few weeks, the Royal Blues announced on Wednesday (September 27th).
The decision was the result of an “in-depth analysis from the past few days,” it said. The relegated Bundesliga team is in the relegation zone after seven match days.
Reis, who took over as coach from Frank Kramer at the end of October 2022, only won two wins with four defeats and one draw. The promotion that was presented as a goal is already in danger. On Saturday, the Royal Blues lost 3-1 at FC St. Pauli, after which defense chief Timo Baumgartl indirectly criticized Reis’ tactics. Assistant coach Markus Gellhaus was also released.
Expectations not fulfilled
“After morale’s victory against Magdeburg, our expectation was that we would see further progress at St. Pauli. Instead, we had to accept a significant step backwards,” explains Peter Knäbel, member of the board and responsible for the area Sports. “We have used the last few days for intensive consultations and have come to the conclusion that we have to take this step now in the interest of the club. Our goal is to break the overall negative trend since the start of the season.”
Reis was fired in September 2022 after a three-year tenure at VfL Bochum, and a few weeks later he took over his neighbors from Gelsenkirchen, which had slipped to last place in the table. Despite a good second half of the season, they were no longer able to stay in the league.
The end for Reis came sooner than expected. “We did everything until the end to work our way out of the sporting slump together with Thomas Reis. However, after the internal discussions of the past few days, we lacked the necessary conviction that we could stop the negative development in the previous constellation and so short-term and be successful in the medium term. That’s why we decided to take a new path,” says sports director Andre Hechelmann.
