A dramatic hero’s journey
How Gazprom uninhibited FC Schalke 04
By Tobias Nordman
May 9, 2022, 6:14 p.m
FC Schalke 04 returns to the Bundesliga. The euphoria knows no bounds – the team is emotionally exhausted after an impressive final sprint. But there is also a small flaw: With Mike Büskens, the team loses the coach they absolutely needed.
A coaching decision at FC Schalke 04 was made immediately after the final whistle to promote promotion: Dimitrios Grammozis will stay with the traditional club for another year after the emotional frenzy in their own arena against FC St. Pauli on Saturday evening. And with significantly improved covers. According to media reports, his annual salary should at least double between 800,000 euros and up to 1.8 million euros. The problem with the whole thing (from Schalke’s point of view) is: They no longer plan with Grammozis, who could never shake the burden of relegation from his shoulders and was always a knocked-on coach. He was released in March. The Gelsenkirchener saw their season goal, the return to the 1st Bundesliga, in danger. The Royal Blues had not declared promotion a must, but made it an emotional obligation.
They did an impressive job of fulfilling that duty. Because they dug up an old veteran in Mike Büskens for the tough job on the sidelines. As a coach, the 54-year-old does not have the dazzling CV of many of his predecessors (Greuther Fürth, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Rapid Vienna and DFB youth). Which, however, is not necessarily a criterion against him. Because when choosing the trainers, the royal blues have been rather unlucky in recent years. With their promoted assistant coach Büskens, they didn’t opt for tactical genius or gigantic innovation, but quite simply for heart and courage. With the spirit of the “Eurofighters”, the still most revered generation in the history of the club, “Buyo” – as he is nicknamed – has emotionally revived the team from the struggling town of labor.
The fact that promotion was achieved in a dramatic football game against FC St. Pauli (3:2) in front of the 1997 legends, who won the UEFA Cup back then, makes this heartfelt story almost kitschy. But kitsch or not, Schalke 04 will be back in the first division from July 1st – and that triggered heart-rending emotions. Simon Terodde became the symbol of exhausted euphoria. The most successful striker in the history of the second division, who initially missed the best chances against Pauli and then made a brace from a 0-2 deficit to make it 2-2, stumbled across the lawn crying for minutes, was hugged by one fan after the next and pressed into the selfie window of numerous mobile phones.
The myth of Schalke overwhelms the players
The Schalke myth had overwhelmed its protagonists emotionally. Not only Terodde, who was promoted for the third time after 2017 (VfB Stuttgart) and 2019 (1. FC Köln), but also other players could not hold back their tears. Team manager Gerald Asamoah reported from the dressing room: “Everyone is drinking, some are crying.” But this time, tears of happiness, after the tears of despair a year ago. When the absurd football horror manifested itself in relegation after a season and a half. The story of the miraculous resurrection was marked by numerous twists and turns. The most notable occurred at the end of February. With the start of the war of Vladimir Putin. Because it had a serious impact on Schalke.
The deal with the highly controversial sponsor Gazprom could finally be dissolved with good reason. The Schalke set a remarkable example. It was like a liberation for the connection between the club and the fans. Without sausage king Clemens Tönnies (already gone in the relegation season) and without the Russian main sponsor, two omnipresent protagonists who had deeply divided the club were no longer there. With the real estate group Vivawest from Essen, a regional company jumped in as a sponsor. An extremely welcome grounding from the international to the regionally anchored brand again. What a heart. You can see that as exaggerating things, but actually something grew together again in this crisis. And when Büskens took over the team as boss just a few days later, there was also hope mixed in with the salvation. And “Buyo” wrote its second heroic story in royal blue 25 years after the “Eurofighters”.
It’s a story that fits damn well into the grand narrative of the Bundesliga right now. The surprise teams of this season have found coaches who feel the spirit of the club, some even live it. Christian Streich (for a long time) at SC Freiburg, for example, Steffen Baumgart at 1. FC Köln or Thomas Reis at VfL Bochum. All very different types, but full of passion for their job, with a damn fine feeling for the needs of the club.
Sandhausen as a key moment
At Schalke in the past few weeks, it wasn’t ball art, but struggle and courage. In the most exciting promotion race in years and a long remaining program full of extreme difficulties, it was clear that the Gelsenkirchen team under Büskens’ direction still had the dream of promotion again, but that they shouldn’t allow themselves any more mistakes. There was – and he flew the Schalke like a cracking hook on the temple. On matchday 31, the team lost 4-1 at home to Werder Bremen. A swatter that had knockout potential. But Büskens shook his team, prepared them within a week – and they got up, just like the fans of real Schalke expect. With heart and passion.
Büskens was also allowed to try the luck of the laborer. Because on the match day after the swatter everything went in the perfect direction. A perfectly staged drama. Schalke won in the 91st minute thanks to a croaking Terodde at SV Sandhausen, while Bremen against Kiel and St. Pauli against Nuremberg experienced late night horror trips. After leading 2-0, Werder actually lost 3-2 (with two own goals!), Hamburg still conceded the equalizer. Setting the course for the royal blue wonder, with extremely limited financial resources and a completely changed squad after the relegation horror. Sandhausen as a key dramatic moment. Also special. But a story for the heart, full of passion and conviction.
A gift that Büskens’ successor must also have. More than a manual full of tactical genius. “Buyo”, so it was discussed, will withdraw from the main responsibility. But not from the club. “Mike did an incredible job. He’s the face of this great final sprint. But this path didn’t just begin with the change of coach,” said sports director Peter Knäbel in the “Bild” program “Lage der Liga XXL” and announced: “We We decided to go the Schalke route, which includes Gerald Asamoah and they will of course remain in these roles. Buyo will be on the bench, but in a different role, that has long been discussed.” After seven wins in eight games, he made it clear again in the “double pass”: “I said from the start that I would like to continue working as an assistant coach.”
Who will be his boss now? Not clear. In the otherwise rather restless environment of the royal blues, it is surprisingly quiet at the moment. In the meantime, the name Sandro Schwarz haunted the city’s orphaned pits, but his name is currently more likely to be traded at Hertha from Berlin. Maybe it was and is so quiet because a new coach wanted to be clear about the league in which he would take over the club. On the other hand, it is clear that Schalke is finally longing for consistency. After eight different coaches have been on the sidelines in the past five years, including Büskens, the next coach should definitely work in the long term. “The one who follows Buyo has to be really good,” sporting director Rouwen Schröder, the man who laid the foundation for success with his extensive squad work before the season (he made more than 40 transfers last summer!). had emphasized a few weeks ago. A sentence that has received an even greater drop since this Saturday.