Bundesliga coaching vacancies: Zorniger and Groß emerge as top candidates for Schalke job, Mainz nixes major announcement
An aggregate article appearing on Transfermarkt.de narrows the field of coaching candidates for the Schalke 04 down to the two most probables.
In Mainz, the club cancelled its own scheduled press conference today. A clarification is promised.
Four days after the sensational firing of Manuel Baum after just ten league fixtures, many reliable German news sources have a great deal regarding Schalke 04's next step figured out.
In Mainz, the club cancelled its own scheduled press conference today. A clarification is promised.
For starters, the timeframe. German footballing magazine Kicker reports that the new trainer should be unveiled shortly after Tuesday's Pokal fixture. The club intends to have their next coach in place by Christmas, meaning that the announcement should come either Wednesday or Thursday.
"Sky Germany" and the tabloid "Bild" reported over the weekend that former Leipzig and Stuttgart head-coach Alexander Zorniger, most recently of Denmarks Brøndby FC, has been in discussions with the club. Germany's "Sport 1" now also confirms this contact ask "very likely" and favors Zorniger's introduction.
Meanwhile, German newspaper "die Welt" reports that the club have not necessarily given up on attempts to coax Christian Groß out of retirement. The 66-year-old former VfB Stuttgart coach declared an end to his active sideline career after working in Egypt and Saudi Arabia for the past six years and is said to wish to focus on his work as a general footballing consultant.
Die "Welt" nevertheless notes that Groß has left open the possibility of a comeback and "die Welt" claims that a concrete proposal has been floated by the club. The newspaper labels Groß a "prospective" alternative to Zorniger.
The major obstacle to a deal with either one of the candidates will be the fact that previous coaches Manuel Baum and David Wager remain contracted through 2022 with relatively high base pays. According to Transfermarkt, the club seeks to structure a lower-paid, short-term deal with a large bonus payout incentive if the club remains in the league.
Another club still paying two managers (Sandro Schwarz and Achim Beierlorzer), was expected to make an announcement regarding their own coaching situation today before a noon press conference was canceled at the last moment. The Pfälzer club has promised clarification before the day is out.