When Felix Magath, a master of black pedagogy, wanted to call a player to his senses, he is said to have resorted to unusual means: he called the professional into his office and let him sit down.
Then the former coach and manager of Schalke is said to have stood at the window and looked out. He was silent for minutes. When the player asked after a while, and rather confused, why he had to come at all, Magath roared off: “What? You don’t know? ”Then he kicked the player out of the office.
Grinder of the league: Felix Magath also worked as a coach at Schalke
Source: AFP
The times when unwilling or undisciplined professionals were put under such pressure on Schalke are a thing of the past. As a result, there is a lot of talking these days: Amine Harit, Nabil Bentaleb and Vedad Ibisevic – three of the bottom of the table had to report on Tuesday. 22-year-old Harit drove up in a Lamborghini.
The traditional club that has crashed and has been without a win for 24 Bundesliga games is fermenting. The negative series is so annoying that on Friday there were already several scandal during the game against VfL Wolfsburg (0: 2).
Investigations with video recordings
After Harit had been replaced after 39 minutes after a completely uninspired performance, he went wordlessly past coach Manuel Baum into the dressing room. It must have been very loud there during the break – according to Sky, several players must have behaved “disrespectfully”. Benjamin Stambouli also reacted very emotionally after learning of his impending substitution.
Without a will on the pitch, loud in the cabin: Schalke’s team is fermenting
Quelle: picture alliance/ SVEN SIMON
What has actually been said remains unclear. It was noticeable, however, that Baum had excluded Harit and Bentaleb, who had already suffered several indiscipline in the past, from training on Sunday. Stambouli, who was accused of having left the arena early out of frustration, would not have been guilty of anything serious, contrary to reports to the contrary.
“Benjamin reacted disappointed to his substitution, but he did not leave the stadium early,” said Schalke’s sports director Jochen Schneider on Tuesday. As the club found out, it shows the club’s crisis mode pretty well. Witness testimony and video recordings from the surveillance cameras would prove that the player was on the site until “well after the final whistle”, the club said.
Harit and Bentaleb, who also did not train on Tuesday, could face a longer suspension – because there have been justified doubts about their attitude for some time.
In addition, the contract with Vedad Ibisevic will be terminated on December 31, 2020. The player caused a scandal on Sunday. After assistant coach Naldo gave an emotional speech on the training ground, Ibisevic’s collar had apparently burst – the Brazilian and the Bosnian would have been head to head. The unit was then canceled. However, this was not the reason for the premature separation of the attacker who only came to Schalke in the summer.
“I would like to emphasize that the emotional outburst in training last Sunday has absolutely nothing to do with this decision – something like that happens in football,” said Schneider.
Regardless of the massive upset within the team – what makes it so difficult for Schalke to get back on track is the large number of construction sites in and around the club.
There is the displeasure of the fans, which is no longer just attached to the long-standing supervisory board chairman Clemens Tönnies, who stepped down in June, but to the current management of the club. Schneider and the marketing director Alexander Jobst are accused of “de-calcifying” the association. They would try to part with long-term employees – presumably in order to slim down the club in view of the planned spin-off. The boards deny this. There will be no redundancies for operational reasons, assured Jobst.
The fan protests, however, remain and are primarily directed against Jobst. “Hey, Alex, traditional work is the club’s business and nothing for your outsourcing!” It said on a banner that on Saturday the Schalke U23 game against Borussia Dortmund (1: 5) was hung at the Park Stadium on the sidelines of the game.
But regardless of the massive financial difficulties – the total liabilities are likely to amount to around 240 million euros – the fear of relegation also ensures mutual blame. So far, Schneider has not been able to convincingly answer the question of how it could have come to this. It is clear that his assessment that the team is too strong despite all the problems to be in serious danger could be a misjudgment.
First victim: Michael Reschke and Jochen Schneider were seldom of the same opinion
Source: dpa / Sebastian Gollnow
The technical director Michael Reschke has to pay for this first. The 63-year-old, whom Schneider signed just before last season, was released from his duties on Tuesday. The squad planner was accused of not having made any significant contribution to strengthening the team – but the financial leeway he had available for player commitments was also very limited.
In addition, however, there are apparently some differences of opinion with Schneider – for example in relation to ex-trainer David Wagner, from whom Reschke would have liked to part earlier. In addition, Reschke is said to have already agreed with goalkeeper Alexander Schwolow from SC Freiburg. The transfer did not take place because Wagner and Schneider wanted to sign a right-back instead.
The scandal is said to have arisen because Reschke allegedly negotiated with Hertha BSC about the sale of Omar Mascarell – without informing the player and without the tailor. Schneider allegedly reacted horrified. This is what Sport1 reported.
In the press release on the separation, it reads like this from the club side: “Ultimately, we had a different view of the sporting future of the club.”
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