Schalke's Geraerts with a firm hand: "Will not give up"
Karel Geraerts showed his fighting spirit after the bitter defeat. "I won't give up," said the FC Schalke 04 coach after the 5-3 defeat at Fortuna Düsseldorf. The Bundesliga relegated team is now deep in the relegation battle in the second division.
"It's not five to twelve, it's twelve!" warned the coach. "And I hope all the players have understood that. If not, I'll explain it to them," said the new Schalke head coach, who already has four defeats to his name after six games.
Early changes - trouble with Ouwejan
After his team's anaemic performance in the first half, Geraerts had two recipes at the ready. Firstly, he changed three players after half an hour, incurring the displeasure of Thomas Ouwejan. The Dutchman was annoyed by the early substitution, refused to shake hands and showed a lack of understanding. His coach was furious. "I won't accept that kind of behavior," said the coach, lamenting his player's lack of respect.
The Belgian also got very loud in the dressing room at half-time. "That's normal," he said. After all, his team, which quickly trailed 3:0, got into the game better, scoring three goals through Marcin Kaminski, Tomas Kalas and Bryan Lasme, but Düsseldorf countered to tie the score at 3:4, hit back once again to win 5:3 and once again provide a great spectacle at a Saturday evening game in the arena. Most recently, the team turned a 3-0 deficit against 1. FC Kaiserslautern into a 4-3 victory.
With 33 goals conceded, Schalke have now conceded the most, are stuck in 16th place and show little hope of improvement. Goalscorer Kaminski, still one of the better Schalke players, explained that all the players were aware of the seriousness of the situation. "It's annoying for everyone and we want to do everything we can to get out of this situation," said the Polish international.
"In the upcoming Bundesliga 2 match, Coach Geraerts' Fortuna Düsseldorf opponents might include FC Schalke 04, who are currently struggling in the relegation battle."
"Despite the early substitution during the game against Fortuna Düsseldorf, Geraerts expressed hope that Ouwejan, a Dutch player in Schalke's squad, would understand the team's situation and adjust his behavior accordingly."
Source: www.dpa.com
