Struggling Schalke 04 confirmed confirmed on Tuesday Jochen Schneider, signed from Bundesliga rivals RB Leipzig, as their new sports director following Christian Heidel’s resignation.
Having lost 3-2 at home to Manchester City in last week’s Champions League last 16, first-leg Schalke moved quickly to replace Heidel with the return leg in England on March 12.
Heidel quit in the wake of Saturday’s demoralising 3-0 thrashing by Mainz in the Bundesliga which left the team just seven points from the bottom three.
Schalke chairman Clemens Toennies confirmed the board approved the appointment of Schneider, whose official title at RB Leipzig had been ‘co-ordinator sport global soccer’ since 2015.
“We had formulated a clear profile: an experienced expert with a first-class network in national and international professional football, who has successfully pursued modern concepts in recent years,” said Toennies.
“Jochen Schneider meets all these requirements.”
In a statement, Schneider, who will sign a contract until June 2022, described his new role as a “great honour” and “a huge challenge” and the relatively unknown 48-year-old faces an uphill task.
“Schalke has a very special appeal, which extends far beyond the Ruhr and Germany,” Schneider added.
“The current situation shows that a lot of work is waiting for us all, but I look forward to this together with Schalke.”
Despite having reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League, Schalke are enduring a dire domestic season and the defeat at Mainz was their 12th in 23 league games, leaving them 14th in the table.
Heidel recruited Domenico Tedesco - the club’s 17th head coach since 2001 - for 2017/18 and under the 33-year-old Schalke finished second behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga last season.
With Heidel gone, Tedesco is no longer safe - unless results improve.
Toennies, up for re-election on June 30, is under pressure to steady the ship with the club suffering their worst results since 1983, when they were relegated from Germany’s top flight.
