Schalke 04 presented their last bullet to avoid relegation to the second division of the Bundesliga. As confirmed by the mining club, it will be Dimitrios Grammozis the one in charge of becoming the fifth coach so far this season and filling the void left Christian Gross after his dismissal as coach of the Gelsenkirchen team. Always according to the club's statement, the former professional Mike Būskens and Swen Piepenbrock will complete the coaching staff. Schalke 04 are optimistic about achieving the impossible by placing last in the Bundesliga with a total of 9 points with respect to the place that would give the possibility of playing the promotion. “We are convinced that we have found in Grammozis the right coach for the last third of the season. We all know the sporting situation of Schalke but, regardless of that, there are still 11 Bundesliga matches left and we want to complete them with the greatest possible success,” he said. Peter Knābel, current sports director of Schalke.
Grammozis himself said: “I am really looking forward to this task. I will use the short time until the first league game to get an image of the team and, if possible, start with a victory against Mainz.” Grammozis was recently coach of Darmstadt, but decided not to renew his contract and, in this way, faces his first task in the highest German competition. In fact, he was one of the main candidates to take over the Schalke after the removal of David wagner, but the West German cadre chose to hand over the reins to Manuel Baum. Now, Grammozis is the last hope of a Schalke who is afraid of being seen in second-grade hell again.