Karel Geraerts and the FC Schalke 04this relationship is – not surprisingly after the debacle against Darmstadt – History since Saturday morningAnd it is not very likely that in the distant future anyone will say that the Belgian shaped an era as coach at Schalke. But who knows?
Geraerts has held on to the position of the notoriously agitated club from the Ruhr region for almost a year. By Schalke standards, that is quite an achievement. Frank Kramer, Christian GrossManuel Baum and Roberto di Matteo have not managed to do this in the recent past, and not even close.
Di Matteo, for example, came to the Ruhr region in October 2014, almost exactly ten years ago, with the recommendation to Chelsea FC led to Champions League win He stayed at Schalke until the end of the season, then he had to leave again.
The Italian was one of a total of 16 coaches who have tried their hand at Schalke over the past decade, and in a way he is symbolic of the club’s personnel policy, which has experienced a rapid decline in recent years.
16
trainer Schalke 04 had in the past ten years
Because di Matteo was, above all, a big name when he was signed. Just like Karel Geraerts, who was signed by the Belgian Overperformer Union St. Gilloise had narrowly missed out on the championship title in his home country and had caused quite a stir on the European stage with his team.
But his superpowers were nowhere to be seen at Schalke. Last season, the team was relegated from the Bundesliga and was once again in danger of being relegated; this season, which is still young, is not looking much better, with four points from six games. Is there a better way to describe S04 than with the game on Friday evening, when Geraerts’ team was leading 3-0 against the previously winless Darmstadt team in their own stadium shortly before half-time – and ended up losing 3-5?
Schalke has now become a dysfunctional club where plus times plus equals minus. The new strong man in the sporting management, squad planner Ben Manga, also has a reputation like thunder. The former professional is considered to have a diamond eye in the industry because he initiated several successful transfers during his time at Eintracht Frankfurt.
However, Ben Manga’s commitments this summer seem to have aroused suspicion in Karel Geraerts’s mind. Instead of pursuing a common plan, everyone worked on their own – with the result that the two senior managers have become increasingly distrustful of each other.
Such a situation cannot last for long. And it hasn’t.
