Coach of the century Huub Stevens has commented on FC Schalke 04’s complicated search for a new head coach.
The 68-year-old Dutchman rejects further cooperation with interim solution Mike Büskens as a trainer. “Mike should be back as an assistant and they should get a new coach as well,” Stevens said in an interview “Sky”.
The Schalke club icon does not believe that the new man could have a problem with the long shadow of Büskens. “The two can have a conversation and then the new coach will see what kind of assistant he has on his side,” said Stevens.
However, filling the coaching position at Schalke is basically “not easy. It’s complex, there’s always pressure. You have to perform, give everything, be a role model for the players”.
Huub Stevens advises FC Schalke 04 to sign newcomers
In the event of promotion, Stevens advises his Schalke core to make personnel changes in the squad. “You need quality when you get promoted. Then something has to be done. It’s going to be difficult with this team in the Bundesliga. One or the other has to come along.”
But Schalke “do not need mercenaries like they did a few years ago. I worked with them and it wasn’t easy,” said the “Knurrer von Kerkrade”, who was hired four times as head coach at Schalke, in 2019 and 2020 on an interim basis.
However, following the sacking of Dimitrios Grammozis, returning was not an option, said Stevens, who is officially retired. “I knew I wasn’t going to do that. And I knew that in Mike they had someone on the coaching staff who could do it. That’s why I advised Schalke to integrate Mike into the coaching staff so that someone would always be there if sometimes things don’t go well with the head coach.”
“Mike embodies Schalke, he exemplifies Schalke,” enthused Stevens of the interim coach of the Royal Blues.
FC Schalke 04: Mike Büskens has to “provide fun”
Under Büskens, Schalke have shown a clear upward trend in recent weeks and have promotion in their own hands with two games to go. Most recently, there was a much-celebrated 2-1 last-minute win at SC Sandhausen.
“It wasn’t good in terms of play. But the boys fought until the last minute. And now they have to put the lid on it. It won’t be that easy,” said Stevens.
Before the next promotion “final” against FC St. Pauli on Friday, Büskens “must calm down and make sure that the players know what is needed,” said the ex-coach. “The fact that they are in this situation must also be fun. You also have to make the team have fun, give them confidence. If they make it, they can celebrate. Now is not the time to bang on.”