Peter Knäbel: A step taken for the good of the club

Hopes that the Royal Blues’ recent form would start to improve were not fulfilled and the club’s sporting management therefore decided to part ways with Thomas Reis and his assistant Markus Gellhaus. Peter Knäbel and sporting director André Hechelmann informed the pair of their decision on Wednesday (27/9). “We spoke to them personally, which was important for us,” revealed Knäbel. Matthias Kreutzer has taken over as interim coach until further notice.

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27.09.23, 13:55

“Following our comeback win against Magdeburg we had expected to see further progress away against FC St. Pauli. Instead, we witnessed another step in the wrong direction,” explained Knäbel. “We’ve used these past few days to discuss things and came to the conclusion that this step needed to be taken for the good of the club. André took the time to look at the mood around the club again at the start of the week.”

Time for a change

The 56-year-old board member for sport thanked Reis and Gellhaus for their work over the last 11 months. “They provided Schalke 04 with some unforgettable moments in the second half of last season.” Despite that, Knäbel felt the time had come for a change. “We fully believe that this is the right decision. We no longer felt that we could achieve our targets with the current setup. We came to the conclusion that things were no longer working.”

We fully believe that this is the right decision. We no longer felt that we could achieve our targets with the current setup.

Peter Knäbel

Knäbel is hoping for a change in fortunes on Friday night at Paderborn (29/9). “We need to resolve this situation together. The team is capable of doing what will help us the most and that is by getting results.”

The fact that the new setup will only have two days to prepare for Paderborn is not ideal, however Knäbel feels that “it’s acceptable as Matthias Kreutzer already knows the team.” He added: “We fully believe in him.”

Reis’ successor is yet to be announced. “It’s not about finding a replacement quickly, but rather finding a good one,” commented Knäbel. “We need to find the best possible option for FC Schalke 04 – that’s our responsibility!”

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