Karel Geraerts is still involved in a fierce relegation battle with Schalke 04 in the 2nd Bundesliga. Sportweekend visited the coach and his sporting director Marc Wilmots and found that there is a lot of work to be done in Gelsenkirchen. “I think I can still hold up well given the circumstances.”
“He hasn’t brought much yet. Things aren’t getting better and the players are out of shape.”
“He’s not doing it wrong, but there’s something missing. I don’t think he’ll last long.”
A quick visit to the supporters of Schalke 04 shows that Karel Geraerts has not yet won the hearts of the fans in Gelsenkirchen since he was appointed in October.
“19 points from 14 matches is indeed too little,” Geraerts admits. In the past, if I came home with a report like that, I wasn’t having a good day.”
“We have a lot of ups and downs. But they brought me in because there were a lot of problems. It is difficult to make adjustments because there are very few financial resources (Schalke has a debt of 175 million euros, ed.).”
“Almost nothing happened in the winter, while it was certainly necessary.”
It is up to Marc Wilmots, recently sporting director at Schalke, to give Karel Geraerts a team that is competitive.
“It is true that there is currently no stability, but that is also not possible,” says Wilmots.
“We can only judge Karel if he has a team that suits him. I am now trying to put it together for him for next season.”
But first Geraerts must save Schalke from another relegation to the 3rd division. “That would be the end of this club, or it wouldn’t make much difference anyway. So the pressure is enormous.”
“But I knew what I stood for before I started. Everyone had warned me about this in advance.”
“I am gaining a lot of experience here at a big club and I think I am holding up well given the circumstances.”
“They don’t expect me to take the club to the top 5 now. I just have to save Schalke and next year we can compete for promotion. Only then will my work here be successful.”
