Third bankruptcy in a row: Why Schalke 04 refused a coaching discussion

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Sport Third bankruptcy in a row

Why Schalke 04 refused a coaching discussion

After three defeats, Schalke’s sports director Rouven Schröder has made a clear commitment to Dimitrios Grammozis. The coaching discussion ended before it began. However, there is one crucial question that those responsible have to answer.

Dhe statement was as brief as it was clear. Rouven Schröder was asked whether there was now a debate about the future of coach Dimitrios Grammozis. The sports director of Schalke 04 didn’t think twice and answered with one word: “No.”

Schröder is now at Schalke for a little over five months. He has had a busy but also instructive time. And the 46-year-old quickly learned one thing: the mood in Gelsenkirchen can change faster than the sporting situation. To encourage it with an ambiguous statement would be fatal.

Something is turning again in the royal blue cosmos

Source: Getty Images / Lukas Schulze

So it was initially doubted whether it was even possible to put together a competitive squad for the second division. Then, after Schröder and sports director Peter Knäbel had succeeded in doing just that and the completely renewed team gradually seemed to find each other, the euphoria broke. Suddenly, many fans saw the immediate return of the traditional club to the Bundesliga as almost a foregone conclusion.

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After the 2: 4 home defeat against Darmstadt there can be no question of that. Already at the break of the third royal blue competitive defeat in a row there were first expressions of displeasure from the fans – and after the final whistle, the coach question was asked, not only by the broadcasted TV channel Sky.

However, it ignores the topic. The blows to the neck, which the team first in Heidenheim, then in Munich – where Schalke said goodbye to the third division TSV 1860 from the DFB Cup – and now against Darmstadt are painful, but somehow also priced in with this comprehensive sporting rebuilding.

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That is the tenor of Schalke’s management team. The road to sustainable stabilization can hardly be accelerated by opening new construction sites. The top of the club seems to be in agreement there too. Rather, it depends on unity, so Schröder. “In spite of everything we will get out again because one thing is clear: Schalke is alive,” he said.

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Board member Peter Knäbel with sports director Rouven Schröder (right)

Source: pa / augenklick / firo Sportphoto / Marcel Engelbrecht

If Schröder had let even the slightest doubt about his attitude to Grammozis shimmer through – the coach, who is already controversial among the fans, would have been hard to hold. That in turn would have put the club under pressure.

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In fact, Schröder and Knäbel have to make a weighing decision. How much time do you want to give Grammozis? The 43-year-old came to Schalke at the beginning of March. At that time there was chaos in the club, the team stumped towards relegation. It would have been presumptuous to expect him of all people to get a team on track that was going to fall apart. His mission only began with the descent.

The start was difficult. 16 new players, some of whom came after the start of the season, had to be integrated. A bumpy start. The team was alienated both with itself and with the new league. Grammozis found it difficult to convey a dominant style to her. It was not until the fifth match day that they achieved their first home win with a 3-1 win over Düsseldorf. The team seemed to gradually acclimate itself in the new league fields, climbing up the table. On the tenth day of the match, Schalke finished third and thought they were on course. Sticking to Grammozis seemed to be paying off. “A coach must also discover his team and learn which buttons to press,” Knäbel said in an interview with WELT.

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Maybe they thought about Schalke, they would be further – maybe they just hoped. It is noticeable that the team is still having a hard time in possession of the ball – but hardly any opponent takes the burden of shaping a game from the most favored Schalke. Against Darmstadt this became clear again. The hosts tried hard, but were unable to concentrate on building up the game. Impatience was the greatest enemy: mistakes made the opponent more or less invited to goals. “We played too much with our hearts and thought too little,” said Grammozis: “We were brutally punished for that.” It was a “day to be forgotten”.

The former professional, whose contract runs until the end of the season, will still have the chance to form a real aspirant for promotion. The risk that a change of coach would involve would still be greater than the likelihood that Grammozis could still have resounding success. However, a resilient positive trend should be visible by Christmas. Otherwise it should be tight for Grammozis.

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