It appeared in the Swiss newspaper a week ago view an article that sparked unsettling associations. It was about “changes in the board of directors of FCB Holding AG”. Fortunately, this did not mean genetic changes, only personal changes. Among other things, the report contained the information that Christian Gross, 67, would change from one body of FC Basel to another body of FC Basel.
Almost 600 kilometers north, at the headquarters of FC Schalke 04, hardly anyone should have noticed anything about castling in Basel. Which is perhaps better that way: Knowledge of the process might have triggered traumatic experiences. Christian Gross’ 63 day engagement as head coach of the Gelsenkirchen Bundesliga club marks a particularly agonizing period in the history of relegation, which is rich in depressing chapters. The cooperation between the retired coach from Switzerland and the internally shattered large club had “features of desperation,” summed it up The New Zurich Times Meet at the beginning of 2021. When Gross was withdrawn from the command at the end of February, there was agony – and the last chance to remain in class was wasted.
Quite a few of the traditionally pessimistic Schalke friends thought their club was lost and prophesied imminent derbies with Rot-Weiss Essen and Rot-Weiss Oberhausen in the Regionalliga West – or even going to the bankruptcy judge. And those were not absurd visions. The combination of descent, loss of substance, leadership struggles, corona crisis and debts that piled up to the ceiling of the Blue Salon formed a perspective of doom for Schalke.
“I wouldn’t like to take three years”: Schalke’s sporting director Rouven Schröder is hoping for a quick return to the Bundesliga.
(Photo: Maik Hölter / Team 2 / Imago)
Six months later, Schalke’s head of sport, Rouven Schröder, 46, is sitting in a coffee kitchen at the office and tells relaxed about the new life of the club, which is obviously not different, but on the contrary, is remarkably lively. The people remained loyal to their club even in the disaster: With an average of 31,402 spectators, Schalke is close to the pandemic-restricted utilization optimum, the expected season ticket cancellations did not materialize, and the members did not run away from the shame of the second division. Instead, new Schalke citizens came in droves, 1013 newborns alone were registered in the current year. Behind FC Bayern and Benfica Lisbon, Schalke is number three in the world with the largest number of members.
“To measure oneself with the best in the world” – that was the self-claim of the club
Some problems, debt to the ceiling of the Blue Salon, are still the old problems. The club still has to “take a lot of small steps to achieve economic stability,” says CFO Christina Rühl-Hamers. It is said that the fact that employees should also contribute to recovery by waiving their wages is not conducive to the working atmosphere. On the other hand, manager Schröder declares the club to be sufficiently “capable of action” to move onto the transfer market during the winter break and take the sporty offensive from fourth place in the second division.
Although the club management does not require Schröder and his department to go straight back to the top, “within three years” that is okay, says Rühl-Hamers, but Schröder is looking for the challenge: “I would not like to give myself three years.” The competition for the first three places is open to half the starting field, point tips and calculations are superfluous in the capricious lottery operation of the second division, Rudi Assauer already knew that: “If you calculate beforehand, you have to calculate twice,” the late Oberschalker used to say .
Schröder, who comes from the Sauerland, has been known with Schalke 04 since childhood, visits to the blissful Parkstadion are among his childhood memories. In his professional career, which led him to MSV Duisburg and VfL Bochum, among others, it was “not enough for the Eurofighter”, he says, “but for a fighter”. With this awareness, he threw himself into work in the summer. He almost completely wound up the old, priceless team, with sales, rentals, gifts, severance payments and lots of good words. He collected the new team from all over Europe, often on the basis of a leasing principle.
Now Schalke has crowd favorites again like Thomas Ouwejan, Ko Itakura, Rodrigo Zalazar and Darko Churlinov, but also a dilemma. As soon as the fan has taken the players to their hearts, they are in danger of being lost again. The 22-year-old combat technician Zalazar, for example, could take possession of Eintracht Frankfurt again from 2023, as they contractually dictated. That shows the loss of status of the proud royal blues, but that is the penance for the mismanagement in the 21st century.
Rouven Schröder says that for him it always looked as if Schalke “euphorically and confidently” followed the urge to “want to compete with the best in the world”. Now, in his role as a sporty renovator, he has to pay the price for it, but so far nobody has heard him complain. It is already possible that the Dutch left winger Ouwejan or the Japanese defender Itakura will have to leave again in the summer because the club cannot pay them or have to sell them on, says Schröder. But at least they left a good message: “New players at Schalke are getting better instead of worse”. One year after the arrival of the unfortunate Christian Gross, the Schalke fans can think about their club again – and still celebrate a Merry Christmas.