Marc Wilmots has never lacked self-confidence. Rudi Assauer had already had this experience. It was over twenty years ago that the Schalke crowd favorite, who was already getting on in years at the time, publicly complained. He said in October 2002 that he wasn’t willing to sit on the bench; he could also leave, putting a lot of pressure on then coach Frank Neubarth.
Assauer, the strong man from Schalke at the time, fumed when he heard about it. “If Marc wants that, he can actually leave – immediately,” replied the manager legend, who died almost four years ago. He won’t accept something like that.
Things turned out differently. Five months later, Neubarth had to leave – and Wimots took over his job. For the now 54-year-old Belgian, it was the start of his second life after a 16-year playing career, of which he spent six years at Schalke: Wilmots first became a club coach, then he led the Belgian national team to the 2014 World Cup European Championship 2016 and at the top of the world rankings. “Even though everyone said back then: ‘You’ll never be able to do that,’” says Wilmots.
A little of this self-confidence should also rub off on FC Schalke, to which Wilmots returned at the beginning of the year. The “fighting pig” from the “Eurofighter” team that won the UEFA Cup in 1997 still enjoys cult veneration among fans to this day. If you want to understand why Schalke’s supervisory board chairman Axel Hefer made Wilmots the new sports director, you have to know this story.
They called him “fighting pig”: Marc Wilmots with Denis Klujew and Ingo Anderbrügge (from right)
Source: picture-alliance/dpa/Franz-Peter Tschauner
Wilmots is supposed to stabilize his heart club, which has been in considerable turmoil in recent months. “When I see where Schalke is, I’m sorry. But I came to make a difference. That’s what I’m keen on, I’ll give it my all,” he promised. He knows what’s coming. “I don’t want Schalke to go dead,” he said when he was officially introduced on Friday. That sounds combative, but not necessarily optimistic.
Schalke’s upheaval fails
The club is a long way from what it represented when Wilmots left in 2003: The team, which starts the second half of the season on Saturday with a home game against Hamburger SV (8:30 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker), is languishing in the bottom Third of the second league table. After the relegation, a lot went wrong. In contrast to the time after the last relegation in 2021, the personnel change in the squad was not successful. And as soon as the season started, there were disagreements: an early change of coach followed. Thomas Reis had to leave and the Belgian Karel Gaererts took over.
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But the crisis management did not work, also because a leadership vacuum emerged. Peter Knäbel, the sports director, was weakened by discussions about his future. In November he pulled the ripcord and announced that he would not be extending his contract, which was expiring in the summer. This caught Hefer off guard.
When the team even seemed to be in danger of relegation, there was a risk of an ordeal. The Ultras called for a boycott – the fear that there could even be a risk of reaching the third league was widespread. Even if the atmosphere has calmed down a bit thanks to seven points from the three games before the winter break, the situation remains tense. The club urgently needs a strong communicator – someone who can create a new spirit of optimism.
Wilmots probably can’t do much more at the moment. The economic situation remains difficult. Reinforcements can probably only be achieved with a lot of ingenuity. Even the transfer proceeds realized by former sports director André Hechelmann, who will now work for Wilmots as technical director, are needed to plug holes. “We have a list with ten players for every position. But I have to see what is possible and what is not,” said Wilmots. It is quite possible that nothing at all could be possible. It is questionable whether the planned commitments of a right-back and another offensive player can come about.
Errors in sponsor support
Schalke has an income problem. This is due to the low sales due to the renewed relegation, but also to homemade deficits in the area of sponsorship. “We were not satisfied with the situation in the summer,” said Hefer. It was too late to look for a new main sponsor after it became clear that a vacancy would arise here.
The CEO, Dr. Dr., who was laid off last summer, was Bernd Schröder failed to sign a potent jersey sponsor. Veltins, the arena’s long-time namesake, stepped in for the current season – but on significantly worse terms than what Schalke had imagined. With a view to the coming season, the club is looking again. In addition, several other advertising contracts are expiring. Including the one with Böklunder, a subsidiary of the Tönnies Holding of the former supervisory board chairman Clemens Tönnies.
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At the beginning of December, several sponsors invited Hefer and Matthias Tillmann, Schröder’s successor, to a conversation. According to information from WELT AM SONNTAG, dissatisfaction with the club’s sponsorship support was also expressed.
New leadership: Schalke board member Mathias Tillmann, sports director Marc Wilmots and technical director André Hechelmann (from left)
Source: dpa/Tim Rehbein
Tillmann, who has only officially been in office since January 1st, is trying to combat the problems – but so far with rather modest initial successes. The partnership with the health insurance company BKK24 was announced, and the day before a sponsorship agreement with a spirits manufacturer from Castrop-Rauxel was announced. In order to fundamentally improve the cost situation, the sale of catering and marketing rights is also being considered. Prices have also been increased: beer and bratwurst will be more expensive in the second half of the season. “Other clubs had to do something and we are not exempt from that either,” said Tillmann: “At least in part we have to pass on the price increase, otherwise it will be at the expense of our margin.”
A real way out of the cost trap is likely to be a return to the first league as quickly as possible. Of course this is the goal. “We will do everything for it. But we have to get out of the red zone as quickly as possible,” explained Wilmots. The gap to third place, which would qualify for relegation, is eleven points – the lead to 16th place is only three points. That would mean relegation.
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