Schalke has officially fired manager Karel Geraerts and sporting director Marc Wilmots. The move to cut ties with the duo comes after the club suffered yet another demoralizing defeat on Friday. The German side quickly found themselves ahead 3-0 in the home game against Darmstadt after just 40 minutes.

Nevertheless, the visitors stormed back to eventually win the matchup 5-3. Not only was the loss shocking for Schalke, but it was their fourth defeat in the young season. As a result, the Royal Blues currently sit 14th in the 2. Bundesliga table. While the 2024/25 season is still in the early stages, the club is close to the relegation zone.

Schalke chairman Matthias Tilmann claimed that the decision to part ways with the coach was a reflection of the start of the season. “The board’s decision not to continue with Karel Geraerts is not based solely on the lack of results and the defeat against Darmstadt, but rather on the negative overall development of the past few weeks,” stated Tillmann.

The exec also claimed that Wilmots shared a significant difference of opinions with the rest of the team officials. “In recent weeks we have had to realize that there are different views on how and in what direction we want to develop football at Schalke,” Tillmann continued.

Club faced the threat of going out of business earlier this year

Schalke has now fired 13 total head coaches since March of 2019. During this timeframe, the German side has parted ways with several high-profile managers.

This includes former United States men’s national team forward David Wagner and Italian Domenic Tedesco. The latter coach went on to manage big clubs such as Spartak Moscow and RB Leipzig before taking over the Belgium national team.

Schalke was sitting middle of the pack in the Bundesliga table at the time of Tedesco’s sacking. Nevertheless, they have since become a mainstay in the German second division. The drop to the 2. Bundesliga has significantly affected the club’s finances in recent years.

In fact, Schalke even faced the threat of going out of business altogether just last season. Reports claimed back in February that the club would be unable to handle the financial consequences if it suffered relegation to the third division. The Royal Blues sat 15th in the standings at the time, dangeriously close to potential relegation.

Despite these fears, Schalke staved off the drop by finishing the 2023/24 season fairly strong. Geraerts ultimately led the team to a 10th-place finish in the final table.

Schalke looks to get back to their place as a top German team

While they did avoid relegation and possible extinction, Schalke has started the current campaign just as badly. The Royal Blues began the season with a commanding 5-1 victory, but have not picked up a league win since. Because of these failures, Schalke is now just one point from qualification for the relegation playoffs.

Despite their recent struggles, Schalke is historically one of the most successful teams in German soccer.

In fact, they have previously collected over a dozen significant trophies throughout their illustrious history. Their most recent triumph came with a DFB-Pokal title in the 2010/11 campaign. They also finished Bundesliga runners-up behind Bayern Munich as recently as 2018.

Photo credit: IMAGO / DeFodi