Schalke fires head coach, eyes former Bochum boss

Schalke fired head coach Frank Kramer on Wednesday. The sacking certainly did not come as a surprise to many around the club. Kramer’s last match in charge was a heavy 5-1 defeat to Hoffenheim in the German Cup.

The cup loss was the club’s fifth consecutive defeat in all competitions. In the last game before that 5-1 loss to Hoffenheim, Schalke lost 3-0 to that same Hoffenheim side. Then, in the fixture before that, Bayer Leverkusen beat Schalke,, 3-0. The Leverkusen loss was former star midfielder Xabi Alonso’s first game in charge of a senior club.

“After achieving promotion last season, our goal for the new campaign was to remain in the Bundesliga,” claimed Schalke sporting director Rouven Schroder. “Until recently we were convinced that we could turn things around with the current coaching setup, but from our point of view, we’ve now reached a point in time that we have to make a change.”

Schalke sack head coach amid losing streak

Schalke currently have just one win in Bundesliga play and sit in 17th place in the standings. Its sole victory came in a September matchup with VfL Bochum, a team currently sitting bottom of the league.

“The way that we’ve been playing, especially in the away games against Leverkusen and Hoffenheim, is not worthy of FC Schalke 04,” proclaimed team board member Peter Knabel. “This analysis stretches beyond just the head coach as an individual. We need to improve significantly in all areas to be able to achieve our common objective for the season – remaining in the Bundesliga.”

German outlet Bild claims Schalke eye Thomas Reis as Kramer’s successor. VfL Bochum sacked Reis last month. In fact, Bochum only fired Reis after losing to Schalke on Sep. 10 by a score of 3-1.

Schalke suffered relegation to the German second tier following the 2020/21. The Royal Blues quickly, however, gained promotion back to the top flight. Nevertheless, it will be an uphill battle for the club to remain in the Bundesliga.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Kirchner-Media