WITHAt least one question has been clarified over the past few days in the dense fog of Mönchengladbach’s uncertainties. Rouven Schröder, the sports director of FC Schalke 04, will not move to the Lower Rhine to move into the office of Max Eberl, who has resigned exhausted and which has still not been emptied. After a series of rather unclear statements from Schröder, the Gelsenkirchen team announced on Thursday evening that their transfer specialist, who had recently become more and more a defining figure of the second division club, would remain with FC Schalke “beyond the summer”.
It is not known how deeply this news hit the Gladbachers, who are still in shock. It is clear, however, that the most conclusive successor to Eberl – at least at first glance – will not come. Schröder is one of the few specialists who have two important qualities that also distinguished Eberl: the ability to represent a club emotionally, entertainingly, convincingly and credibly to the outside world, and the expertise to plan a squad that is successful in sport and business.
