Christian Heidel: We’re a tight knit bunch

With four games played, Schalke find themselves last in the table and yet to pick up a point. Christian Heidel understands the criticism that has come with the disappointing start, but is still certain that the successes will come. The sporting director spoke about the “Franco di Santo incident”, a goosebump-inducing team meeting, the upcoming test against Freiburg and the Schalke fans whose support is more important than ever in times like these.

Bundesliga

24.09.18, 16:42

Christian Heidel

Christian Heidel on …

… Franco Di Santo’s displeasure after being substituted in the Bayern game:
We have dealt with the situation. The most important thing is that Franco quickly realised that he had acted in a way that was not acceptable and not like him. Everything that Franco has done in response to the incident, like his Instagram post for example, was completely off his own back and had nothing to do with us. He apologised to the coach, his teammates and the club as a whole in the team meeting. Nevertheless, the incident did happen, so we will sanction him how we see fit.

… the team’s reaction to the poor start to the season:
The player meeting that I experienced after the Bayern game gave me goosebumps quite honestly. You could really sense how much of a tight-knit bunch we are. Everyone who has any sort of doubt regarding Domenico’s authority and influence on the players should have seen this meeting. There was a coach that had 100 percent control of his team. Despite that, things like the Di Santo incident do happen sometimes.

The togetherness of everyone both inside and outside of the club has been extraordinary

Christian Heidel

… the outside criticism:  
Criticism is normal. If you have a string of results like we have had, then it is even more so. Thankfully we have only played four games and we still have 30 left to put things right. We have to take the criticism on board, because we have not played in a way in which we deserve anything more. However, we are all certain that we can still turn things in our favour yet.

… the upcoming game in Freiburg: 
There will be an electric atmosphere in a small, packed stadium – that’s what comes with an evening game. We always have a good support in Freiburg, and we will need them again this week. Last year we were all able to celebrate together as we confirmed our spot in the Champions League. I always said that we will only be able to really judge the strength of this squad by how they deal with adversity. That is what we are faced with now. The way the fans have reacted so far has been nothing short of exceptional. We have to get through this as one. If we all come together on Tuesday to get behind the boys, then we have a chance to win the game. Yet we know how tough of a task it will be. It will definitely be a hotly contested encounter.

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