“Number that laughs” – the unprecedented accident of the proud FC Schalke 04

“Laughing number” – the unprecedented accident of the proud FC Schalke 04

Few people will fondly remember the turbulent year 2020. FC Schalke 04 fans not only have to contend with Corona, but also experience the rapid decline of their club.

Tasmania Berlin had recently shown concern. The worst club in Bundesliga history – a questionable strength – is worried about its record against the desolate FC Schalke 04. “It belongs to Tasmanian history,” board chairman Almir Numic told SID. In 1965/66 the Berliners fielded 31 Bundesliga games without a win, Schalke is “only” at 24.

But with the bottom of the Ruhrpott table, a lot, almost everything, is badly close to the seat. “Sportsman at the end, economically at the end, cabin at the end, leadership at the end”, lists the newspaper “Bild” and writes that “the bottom from the bottom has finally arrived”.

Individual training, contract termination, dismissal – all in one day

The magazine “Kicker” also writes in a comment on the “laughing stock of Schalke”. Anyone who is sad that they cannot go to the movies at the moment due to Corona only needs to watch Schalke’s hits this Tuesday for entertainment.

Indeed, the events in Gelsenkirchen repeated yesterday. The company separated from technical director Michael Reschke, the contract with summer striker Vedad Ibisevic will be terminated at the end of the year, Amine Harit and Nabil Bentaleb – the latter for his 26th birthday – have been growled at the individual lineup.

It is not the measures that make you think, but their triggers. After Saturday’s 2-0 defeat to Wolfsburg, Ibisevic and assistant coach Naldo had a fight on Sunday. They had such a fight that training was stopped. Harit was substituted at Wolfsburg before half-time and is therefore said to have disrespectfully messed up manager Manuel Baum. The Bentaleb causes riots repeatedly: it is already clear that the “stink boot” (kicker) will not receive a new contract in the summer.

Debt is pressing hard

Now it is the case that those in charge are watching the surveillance cameras in the stadium. Thanks to their recordings, they were able to put out another fire, which is to disprove the claim that the disappointed Benjamin Stambouli left the arena prematurely after being replaced on Saturday. There are testimonies and video recordings that would prove Stambouli left the stadium with two other players only after the final whistle, Schalke said.

At least they still found the money for the electricity bill, one might mock. Eventually, the club accumulated around € 240 million in debt. The club is still breathing thanks to a guarantee from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The tenure of entrepreneur Clemens Tönnies as chairman of the supervisory board ended in June after two decades.

If he was still able to stay in office after the previous year’s racist statements, Tönnies was now doomed by a corona epidemic in one of his slaughterhouses. In the course of the case, business methods emerged that led politicians to demand a prison sentence for Tönnies. It became a mortgage for Schalke.

From top to bottom in two years

It wasn’t long ago that the club was in top shape. In the summer of 2018, the sky above Gelsenkirchen shone in the most beautiful royal blue. Thanks to the second place behind the champions Bayern Munich, FC Schalke 04, the pride of the poorest city in Germany, entered the Champions League. It was the beginning of the end. Two years later the club is in ruins.

The following season was already disappointing. Schalke have always occupied a place in the lower midfield of the Bundesliga standings, they finished the season at 14. In the Champions League, “Knappen” wintered, but the round of 16 was over. With one more man, Schalke failed to take home a 2-1 lead in the first leg against Manchester City and lost 3-2. And he was dismantled in the second leg in England with the 7-0 victory of the “Citizens” according to all the rules of art.

There was a need for new hope and this came in summer 2019 with David Wagner. As a player, he was one of Schalke’s legendary “Eurofighters” who won the 1997 UEFA Cup. As a manager, he coached outright outsider Huddersfield Town in the Premier League. And in reality things started to improve with Wagner: Schalke finished the first half of the season in 5th place, tied with historical rivals Borussia Dortmund.

Schalke fans are tough from experience. But what happened next, not even the last and the last trailer could not have imagined. A sporting downward trend has begun, which has stopped only because at the end of the season it cannot go beyond 18th and last place.

Even in the Cup against a fourth division team, it was not without effort

Wagner is gone. It is true that he miraculously managed to stay in office despite 16 straight games without a win. But when Schalke also lost their first two games of the current season, Wagner had to leave. Eventually, they received an 8-0 defeat at Bayern Munich and lost at home to Werder Bremen, who had struggled to save themselves in the relegation.

But there has been no improvement, the wait for the first Bundesliga victory from 17 January 2020 continues. Even in the DFB Cup against fourth-class Schweinfurt, Schalke had to tremble when they fell 0-1. In the end they won 4-1, after all, once again a sense of accomplishment. It had no lasting effect.

“I could go into the cabin and cry”

Striker Mark Uth didn’t let his heart escape after the 2-0 draw against Wolfsburg last time. “I am so served, you can’t even imagine. It’s so sad to play football helpless every time, “he admitted tirelessly in the” Sky “interview.” We come one step too late every time, every time. We can’t even get into duels, I don’t know how we want to win a game of the like. I could go into the cabin and cry. “

It is this perplexity that leads to despair. How will this team, stumbling upon the places of the republic, how will this financially mind-boggling and understaffed club do to avoid relegation?

Confrontation with Donald Trump

Defender Bastian Oczipka had to stop training yesterday due to an injury. The 31-year-old veteran was placed on the far left, also because there is simply no viable alternative in the squad. There is little evidence of a streak ending without a win ahead of Saturday’s away match against Champions League participants Borussia Mönchengladbach. Although Tasmania Berlin keeps its fingers crossed in the capital.

For the newspaper “Bild” the matter seems to be over. He makes a comparison with the presidential election in the United States: “That FC Crisis 04 can still prevent relegation to 2nd division is currently less likely than a subsequent election victory by Donald Trump.”