André Breitenreiter, SC Paderborn’s head coach in the past campaign, will join Schalke 04 for the upcoming season.
Schalke finished sixth in the Bundesliga and couldn’t qualify for the Champions League. Hence, they dismissed their head coach Roberto di Matteo at the end of the season. According to reports, Schalke have to pay a €0.5m transfer fee to Paderborn.
A good and a bad half
Breitenreiter joined SC Paderborn in summer 2013 after having spent two and a half years at TSV Havelse, who currently play in the Regionalliga Nord. In 71 games as a coach at the Benteler-Arena, he and his team won 26 games, drawing 18 and losing 27.
In the past season, his team played a persuasive first leg of the season in the Bundesliga, but kind of died away in the second and were relegated on the last match day following a home defeat against fellow relegation candidates, VfB Stuttgart.
Is André Breitenreiter the right man for Schalke 04?
Horst Heldt, Schalke's sporting director, said that he was: “happy to have found the right man for Schalke 04," especially concerning the targets the club’s officials have set for the following season. Heldt also said a few words about Breitenreiters former club: “Despite their financial situation, they fought until the end, even though everyone would see Paderborn as the first team facing relegation.”
Gellhaus now in charge
Only one day after Breitenreiters deal with Schalke became known, the Ostwestfalen have announced that Markus Gellhaus will be in charge of the team in the following campaign in the 2. Bundesliga.
Gellhaus was last assisting coach with Jos Luhukay at Hertha BSC Berlin, but both were dismissed in February. The 45-year-old has a past at SCP: from 2001 until 2006, he was there with Luhukay until he followed his coach to Borussia Mönchengladbach, FC Augsburg and Berlin.