Schalke 04 to take on relegation battle with Thomas Reis as head coach

Peter Knäbel, board member for sport: „We are very pleased that we have been able to bring in Thomas Reis as the new head coach of Schalke 04. For us in the short term, it is about trying to get as many points as possible in the four games before the break for the World Cup. It was also of great importance to us to use the length of the winter break so that the team and coaching team are as prepared as possible going into the 19 games until the end of the season. We are convinced that Thomas is the right man for the job.”

Schalke’s new head coach Thomas Reis: “I am enormously happy to now be a part of FC Schalke 04. Conversations went really well from the very first minute. With their promotion last season, Schalke have begun an unbelievable success story that we want to add another chapter to by staying in the Bundesliga. It is without question a big challenge, but I am absolutely convinced that we have the necessary quality in the squad to achieve this key goal together.”

Reis managed to keep fellow Rhineland side VfL Bochum up in Bundesliga 2 in his first year at the club following a difficult season, before achieving promotion to the Bundesliga in 2020/21, and then finishing a respectable 13th place in his first season in the top flight. He has also coached in the youth systems of both VfL Bochum and VfL Wolfsburg. As a player, he was a left-back who played for Eintracht Frankfurt, Bochum, FC Augsburg, Eintracht Trier and Waldhof Mannheim. In total, Reis made 128 first-division and 87 second-division appearances.

Markus Gellhaus also joins the coaching team. The 52-year-old has previously worked successfully alongside Thomas Reis at Bochum. Before that, Gellhaus coached at Gladbach, Augsburg, Hertha BSC, Hannover 96, St. Pauli and SC Paderborn, where we was not only assistant coach, but also worked as an interim head coach.