Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 7y

Schalke sack Markus Weinzierl after one season, hire Dominico Tedesco, 31

Schalke sacked coach Markus Weinzierl one season into his three-year deal on Friday and appointed Dominico Tedesco in his place.

Weinzierl, 42, departs after the Bundesliga club failed to reach a European competition for the first time since 2009.

Dominic Tedesco, who arrives from second-division side Erzgebirge Aue, signed a two-year contract

The 31-year-old only joined the then-rock-bottom club from Hoffenheim's academy in early 2017, but secured them another year of football in the 2. Bundesliga with 20 points from 11 matches. He previously coached the junior ranks at Hoffenheim and Stuttgart.

Tedesco becomes the second-youngest manager in Europe's top five leagues, after Hoffenheim's Julian Nagelsman, who is 29. They are followed by 37-year-olds Manuel Baum of Augsburg and Alexander Nouri of Werder Bremen, giving the Bundesliga the four youngest managers among the top leagues.

"Tedesco does not yet have a lot of experience in the professional field, but he convinced us in the talks about how he wants to shape the sporting future at Schalke. Like many other clubs, we are settling on a very young and very innovative coach," sporting director Christian Heidel said.

Weinzierl joined Schalke from Augsburg last summer for a reported fee of €3 million and, alongside Heidel, who came in from Mainz a few weeks earlier, was tasked with steadying the club following the end of sporting executive Horst Heldt's term.

But five straight defeats from the opening matches in the Bundesliga left them too far behind their rivals at the top and they also crashed out of the Europa League against 10-man Ajax in the quarterfinals.

Heidel has previous experience of hiring untested young coaches. He appointed Jurgen Klopp, then 33, and Thomas Tuchel, then 35, at his previous club Mainz.

"We examined the whole season to establish the basis for a possible successful coming season for Schalke. The result of our deliberations is that we must make changes to drive the development we want," said Heidel, who said the decision against Weinzierl was "not easy."

Earlier this week, Schalke winger Yevhen Konoplyanka called Weinzierl "a coward" and claimed the club will be relegated if he stays in charge.

Germany midfielder Max Meyer also rejected a contract offer from Schalke following a disappointing season for him which included clashes with Weinzierl.

^ Back to Top ^