Huub Stevens licensing situation puts pressure on Schalke to find new trainer quickly
Details about the tenure of interim-Schalke trainer Huub Stevens were revealed on Monday. The 67-year-old Dutchmen's fourth stint on the Schalke sidelines will apparently be very brief indeed.
Stevens was granted a special coaching license set to expire on January 1st.
In a Monday presser, German coach Huub Stevens confirmed that his appointment with the club that once voted him "coach of the century" was only temporary. The man who once led the famous "Eurofighter" Königsblauen squad to the UEFA Cup prefers the administrative duties associated with his retirement from the touchline.
Stevens was granted a special coaching license set to expire on January 1st.
Just as was the case when Stevens took over for Domineco Tedesco in the spring of 2019, Stevens should merely serve as a placeholder until a contracted coach can take over. Even if he could be persuaded to remain longer, Stevens revealed on Monday that he does not have a license to coach into the new year and does not wish to seek one.
The state of Stevens' licensing situation obviously puts the club under enormous pressure to put a new coach in place no later than a week from now. Reliable information remains scant, but some plausible names emerge as candidates.
German footballing magazine Kicker reports that former VfB Stuttgart trainer Christian Groß, who has been coaching in Saudi Arabia for the most of the past decade, has been linked with the club. Spox and Germany's Sportbild report that one-time Hamburger SV gaffer Thorsten Fink is in the mix.
SkyGermany cites sources to claim that former Leipzig and VfB Stuttgart head-coach Alexander Zorniger, most recently of Denmark's Brøndby IF, is in discussions. There are also loose reports that broach the names of recently retired Friedhelm Funkel and former Belgian national team coach Marc Wilmots.