FC Schalke 04 is ending its search for a coach and is obviously counting on Frank Kramer after being promoted back to the 1st Bundesliga. A surprise that is viewed and discussed critically in fan circles. There is much speculation about the background to the decision.
Schalke sports director Rouven Schröder had raised the bar for the new coach a few weeks ago: The successor to hero Mike Büskens, who is retiring to the post of assistant coach after his successful interim interlude, must be a “really good” be. Now you can say: This is a white mold. No club will hire a coach that they are not convinced of. Even if one could assume the opposite in Gelsenkirchen in the recent past. The failed experiment with Christian Gross is still remembered. At FC Schalke 04 they had just said offensively that it had to be a “really good” player and that this created great expectations.
As the first interim conclusion of the discussions in fan forums and social media, they were badly disappointed on Monday. Although it is not yet official that Frank Kramer will be the new coach of the traditional club from Gelsenkirchen, numerous media are unanimously and independently certain. So it will happen. Kramer, who was released a few weeks ago in the final sprint of the relegation battle at Arminia Bielefeld, will be in charge of the team from the first division again.
And from East Westphalia not much good is reported about the 50-year-old afterwards. He had tactical weaknesses and also fell out with numerous top performers, including goalkeeper Stefan Ortega, who was under discussion as number one at Schalke after Arminia’s relegation. Things that are now being thrown after him via various media. Is that all true? There is always a lot of talk in football, especially after early breakups.
At Schalke, however, these things are not the dominant issues. Much more is being tried to find out in the environment why the week-long search for a new man has now ended with Kramer of all people. He’s not a man for big dreams. However, they are not allowed in Gelsenkirchen either. The financial situation remains extremely tense. The fact that the convincing defense chief Ko Itakura could not be retained after his loan, his purchase option is said to have been 5.5 million euros, grounded all growing ambitions.
The economic situation is also likely to have extremely dwarfed the circle of candidates on the sidelines. The “Bild” newspaper reports that Kramer should earn less than one million euros per year. And thus less than his pre-predecessor Dimitrios Grammozis, whose contract had been extended due to promotion – without him having a job in the club. Two other criteria (according to “Bild”): Schröder and Kramer know and appreciate each other very much from their time together at SpVgg Greuther Fürth. There the coach experienced his most successful time in men’s football, which also includes the stations Fortuna Düsseldorf and Bielefeld.
In addition, Kramer does not appear to be bringing any assistant coaches to Gelsenkirchen, which would have been difficult because Büskens is considered unassailable. Other candidates, writes the “WAZ”, would not have wanted to work with the existing coaching team around Büskens.
Büskens himself had already made it clear before his successful recent interlude that he really didn’t want to be in the front row: “I didn’t want to take it on, definitely not,” revealed the coach, who once won the UEFA Cup as a player with FC Schalke had won and later always jumped in when someone was needed again somewhere. “I’ve spent more than half my life here,” said Büskens. And when you’re so attached to the club, “then things just don’t let you go, you can’t switch off anymore”. After the great triumph, Büskens will now step back into the second rank as agreed.
While fans are skeptical, two club icons remain relaxed. Coach Kramer “did a good job” at Bielefeld despite the relegation and his dismissal at the end of the season, said Rüdiger Abramczik. “But you have to wait and see if he’s the right man. You won’t know until the season has started.” Kramer makes a “good, serious impression. But if you lose three games in a row, stress comes up everywhere.” Former team captain Dietmar Schacht spoke of “high expectations” of Kramer. “I hope he lives up to this one.” Rouven Schröder has made good moves so far, “I hope this one is good again,” said Schacht. The 59-year-old emphasized that it was “very important” to further involve Büskens.
Regardless of all the criteria: FC Schalke 04 takes a risk with Kramer. He doesn’t know the club and comes with the mortgage of having recently failed in the relegation battle. However, he could be involved again in the next season, and staying up in the league should be declared the primary goal.
But the plan is also risky because it doesn’t want to fit in with what had welded the club together so extremely in the final weeks of the promotion struggle. A connecting emotionality. With the promotion of Büskens, the decision was not made for tactical genius or gigantic innovation, but quite simply for heart and courage. At FC Schalke they surfed the finish line on a spectacularly growing wave of euphoria in the previous lap. With the spirit of the “Eurofighter”, still the most revered generation in the history of the club, “Buyo” – as he is nicknamed – has emotionally revived the team from the struggling town of labor. For Kramer, that’s a huge mortgage.
