Karel Geraerts has paid the price for Schalke 04's disastrous start to the season with his dismissal. The 42-year-old coach saw his team squander a 3-0 lead on Friday against SV Darmstadt 98. Technical director Marc Wilmots must also leave.
The once-mighty Schalke 04, a club with a rich history and a dedicated fan base, now finds itself struggling in the lower regions of the 2. Bundesliga.
With only four points from six matches, the club is off to a disastrous start this season, and drastic changes have followed. Head coach Karel Geraerts, who was appointed in October 2023, has been dismissed following the team's failure to perform. Schalke’s collapse was most notably highlighted in their recent match against SV Darmstadt 98, where they squandered a 3-0 lead, only to end up with a disappointing result that sealed Geraerts' fate.
Prior to taking over at Schalke, Geraerts had earned a solid reputation as the coach of Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium, guiding the team to notable successes. However, his tenure at Schalke has been marked by frustration and underachievement, with injuries and inconsistency plaguing the squad. Despite his potential, the board felt that his time was up, and the search for a new leader has already begun.
This will mark Schalke’s seventh coaching change since 2020, reflecting a deeper problem within the club. The last manager to maintain stability for more than two years was Mirko Slomka, whose tenure between January 2006 and April 2008 remains a distant memory. The constant turnover at the managerial level has only contributed to Schalke’s decline, making it difficult for the club to find a sense of identity or consistency on the pitch.
Adding to the turbulence, club legend Marc Wilmots, who had been appointed as Schalke’s technical director earlier this year, has also been shown the door. Wilmots, a former star of the club and a key player during their UEFA Cup victory in 1997, had been seen as a symbol of hope for many fans. However, chairman Matthias Tillmann revealed that differing visions for the club’s future led to Wilmots' departure. "In recent weeks, we’ve come to the conclusion that we have different views on how Schalke should develop," Tillmann explained, leaving supporters to wonder what the next steps for the club will be.
Schalke’s fall from grace has been dramatic, from competing regularly in the Bundesliga and European competitions to now fighting for relevance in the second tier of German football. The club’s financial struggles, exacerbated by their relegation from the Bundesliga, have made it even harder to rebuild. Despite their proud history, Schalke finds itself in unfamiliar territory, far from the glory days when they were competing at the top of German football.
Within the current squad, there are still players with recognizable names, such as Derry John Murkin, formerly of FC Volendam, and Amin Younes, who previously played for Ajax and FC Utrecht. These players were expected to help Schalke regain its footing, but the results have not followed. Fans remain hopeful that with the right leadership and a united vision, the club can once again climb the ranks, but patience is wearing thin as the team faces mounting pressure to perform.
The club’s next steps will be critical as they search for yet another head coach to guide them out of the crisis. Whether they can find someone capable of restoring stability and rekindling the spirit of Schalke remains to be seen, but the challenges ahead are daunting. For now, Schalke is a club in search of answers, and time is running out to turn things around before the damage becomes irreparable.
