March 4 – German club and Bundesliga red lantern Schalke 04 have named Dimitrios Grammozis (pictured) as their new head coach on a deal that runs through to 2022.
The 42-year-old coach becomes the club’s fifth coach this season after David Wagner, Manuel Baum, Huub Stevens and Christian Gross all failed to steer Schalke out of the relegation zone. On Friday, Grammozis will take charge of his first match against Mainz.
“We’re convinced that in Dimitrios Grammozis we have found the right coach for the last third of the season,” said Schalke director of development, Peter Knäbel.
“We’re acutely aware of the sporting situation, but there are still 11 Bundesliga games to play – and we want to play them as successfully as possible. From our point of view, Dimitrios is the right choice, both professionally and personally.”
Born in Wuppertal, Grammozis played for various German clubs and coached at Bochum and Darmstadt. “I’m really up for the challenge,” said Grammozis on the Schalke website. “I’ll use the short time until the first league game to get a comprehensive picture of the team with my coaching staff – and of course we want to start with a win against Mainz.”
Grammozis will be up against it to rescue anything from Schalke’s torrid season. The club from Gelsenkirchen have registered just a single league win in the past 12 months and are eight points behind second-bottom Mainz and nine adrift of Arminia Bielefeld, who are in the relegation play-off spot.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1714004939labto1714004939ofdlr1714004939owedi1714004939sni@o1714004939fni1714004939