Schalke 04 in crisis: how it should go on now

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Peter Knäbel (right) now has overall sporting responsibility at Schalke 04, U19 head coach Norbert Elgert (left) is one of his supporters

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HORSTMUELLER GmbH / Schröder / imago images / Horstmüller

It is actually a promotion: Peter Knäbel, previously “Director of Young Talent and Development”, now has “overall sporting responsibility” for a Bundesliga club.

However, it is FC Schalke 04 that puts this responsibility on the 54-year-old Knäbel.

The club that has only won one game this season and is stuck at the bottom of the league with nine points.

Knäbel's task is realistic: to say goodbye to the club from the Bundesliga with dignity and to set it up in such a way that it returns immediately after a season in the second division.

The new strong man at Schalke will soon have to make a very important decision.

It's about the fifth head coach of the season, and so many changes in what is probably the most important position of a football team after only 23 of 34 match days already tell everything about the season.

The Sunday after the 1: 5 at VfB Stuttgart will be remembered from this season, because it was remarkable, even by the standards of modern Schalke.

The supervisory board released sports director Jochen Schneider, coach Christian Gross and his assistant Rainer Widmayer, as well as team manager Sascha Riether and the "head of performance licensed players", Werner Leuthard, had to leave.

Presumably the decision to wrest Schneider the overall responsibility for sport comes too late.

The deficit of the bottom of the table on the relegation place is nine points with a miserable goal difference.

But at least the way is now clear for a transition to a real restart - even if this will probably take place in the second division.

But there are so many problems, hurdles, and obstacles for Knäbel that his new job is somewhere between promotion and punishment.

For years there has been persistent discussion among the approximately 160,000 members as to whether the registered association will become a commercial enterprise as a legal form.

The statutes of the eV are a brake for those who hope that the club can plan the future with vigor and fresh, competent staff.

First a revolt, then a coach's expulsion

Only on June 13th, five positions in the eleven-member supervisory board will be filled at the general meeting.

It can hardly be assumed that the current composition of the Supervisory Board will make decisions of major importance before June.

Even when Schneider was released, he hesitated and hesitated.

The two heavy defeats against VfB and Dortmund (0: 4) recently made it easier for the control committee.

The situation had also escalated after it became known that some players at Jochen Schneider should have asked for a replacement of the coach before the game at VfB.

This was called a revolt (and denied as such by the club), but could also be understood as a cry for help to do everything again to make it possible to stay in the league.

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He's back in the past at Schalke: Christian Gross had to leave as a coach

Photo: Alex Grimm / Getty Images

Next Friday, the relegation duel against FSV Mainz, which is currently in 17th place in the table, is on.

It's actually a final - if Schalke loses again, then the latest change in personnel is unlikely to have any effect.

Before the Mainz game, Knäbel, who is supported by Mike Büskens and U19 coach Norbert Elgert, has to name a new coach.

Schalke had to "think beyond the season for every personnel decision still to be made," said Jens Buchta, chairman of the supervisory board, in a club announcement about the cutbacks in personnel.

The search for a permanent trainer solution

That can be read as an assignment to Knäbel to find someone who wears the royal blue tracksuit for the rest of this season, but also for a new start in the second division.

Knäbel is an experienced sports director.

After his active career, which he ended in 2003, he worked for the Swiss Association, FC Basel and Hamburger SV, among others.

His work in Switzerland is still praised by experts today.

At HSV, he found another Bundesliga club in chaos in 2014.

He himself involuntarily contributed to this chaos during his time in Hamburg when a backpack with confidential documents such as HSV payrolls and scouting reports was stolen and later found in a Hamburg park.

In any case, Knäbel could not stop the negative trend in Hamburg at the time and was released from his duties prematurely in 2016.

He should still have a good network today.

In the coming days, Knäbel should present his plans for FC Schalke 04.

There are huge tasks waiting, especially from an economic point of view, the personnel budget for the second division would have to be cut to around 30 million euros and thus by more than 50 percent.

High redemptions in the double-digit million range are hardly to be expected with the current squad.

The financial leeway for the sporting redesign of the club is small.

First of all, according to the club announcement, Knäbel is required "until further notice".

Knäbel's time as a person with overall responsibility for sport is initially limited in this way.

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