Schalke sack fourth coach of the season, overhaul backroom leadership

Schalke 04 have relieved head coach Christian Gross of his duties at the club, becoming the fourth coach to be fired in a disastrous season for the club. Gross departs the club with his assistant Rainer Widmayer.

Sascha Riether, coordinator of licensed players’ department, Werner Leuthard, head of licensed performance players and sporting director Jochen Schneider, were all relieved of their duties.

“The decisions made have become inevitable after the disappointing performances against Dortmund and Stuttgart. We don’t need to talk about everything else,” explains Dr. Jens Buchta, chairman of the supervisory board.

“The sporting situation is clear, so we have to think beyond the season for every personnel decision that has yet to be made. At the same time, the team is now obliged to play the last third of the current season as successfully as possible. The players, club and fans owe that.”

Schalke went on 30 games winless in the Bundesliga, one short of the record set by Tasmania Bielefeld and are rooted to the bottom of the Bundesliga table with nine points and one win in 23 games.