Die Knappen! Schalke 04 09/10 thread [R]

Kommt Fucile?

Last week Tönnies gave Magath a new transfer budget of 20-30Mio€ plus all incomes from other transfers. He should have more than enough money to strengthen the squad even without the (possible) fees from Westermann or Rafinha.

Magath now finally builds his team. Bordon, Kuranyi, Westermann, Ze Roberto, Sanchez, Asamoah, Mineiro are all already gone. Zambrano, Moravek and Holtby out on loans. Rafinha is still on the market though I don't know of any recent interests from other clubs.

Last year Kristajic, Kobiashvili, Altintop and Engelaar left (who are only the bigger names).

The team will look very different next season compared to the years before.


In the rumor mill are at the moment Raul, Afellay, Hoarau, Fucile and Misimovic. I would be ecstatic if we could sign Raul, Hoarau, Fucile and one of Misimovic or Afellay though I highly doubt we get them all.

As much as I like Westermann I think Metzelder (if healthy) and Höwedes are the better CB and Jones, Matip and Rakitic are better in DM. It would be better for the team if Schalke can get a good LB for the transfer fee (like f.e. Fucile). A player like Westermann is helpful but he is one of the highest earners on the team and doesn't really have a clear position where he regularly starts.

My main question is if they were going to sell him why didn't they take the Sunderland offer? If memory serves it was 12 million (or maybe it was 9?) as opposed to Hamburg's 7.5 million. And it wouldn't be to a league rival.

I'm guessing the reason is that Westermann was not willing to go to Sunderland.

Sunderlands offer stood at 6m pound not much different than Hamburgs. But I agree I don't think Westermann wanted to go to Sunderland and with his contract running till 2014 Schalke couldn't hardly press him to sign.

Bild is reporting that the Raul thing is a done deal:

http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Footbal...m_coveted_star_has_shunned_EPL_overtures.aspx

Q: Which Schalker long rumored to be leaving now seems destined to stay?
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A: Rafinha, of course!
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_6275601,00.html

Congrats on Raul. I was kind of surprised when Besiktas was making a bunch of noise about them almost signing him. This is just the signing you need. A veteran goal scoring machine who has proven he consistently scores in the biggest leagues and competitions. Nice replacement for Kuranyi.

Rafinha, what a lazy little sh*t. Shows up to training out of shape, again? I am shocked! Never seen him do this before! Now his whiny little ass suddenly doesn't want to leave because nobody big has any interest in him. He's a locker room disease. Unfortunately, Schalke kind of need him. I don't think you want to pin all your hopes on Uchida or Hoogland's suspect knee.

So..are we going to see a new Schalke soon?

I must admit that I still think that todays Schalke was mostly formed under previous managers, we need to shed skin..

Last years team was still mainly Müller's but I don't think that is true anymore regardless of whom Magath will sign in the next weeks. Too many old players already left.

I'm worried that large parts of the team are still in doubt and the club looking for new players when the start of the season is getting nearer and nearer. There isn't that much time getting new signings to the right fitness level and integrating them into the team.

In reality, it's more like "None of them and you require immediate taxpayer-funded bailout (rescue investment)" which is exactly what you got from the city of Gelsenkirchen last autumn.

Now the new "fan bond" Schalke is planning to issue is yet another trick in the dark arts of financial management, not only because fans by definition will make irrational investment decisions (which they're free to do, though I sympathise because they're not rich people with money to play around with), but mainly because no government will ever allow bankruptcy of a company/club to happen in which there is significant grassroots investment.

It's a typical case of "moral hazard" where Schalke is outsourcing its risk. I don't really blame them, though, because it's sort of in the nature of being a football club with all its sentimentality rather than a company. In the case of a mere company, everyone probably would have agreed soberly that the Veltins Arena investment was crippling and that insolvency was the way to go a while ago. I sympathise myself with the notion of keeping Schalke alive. Though at some point one will have to allow an at least medium-sized club into bankruptcy to make clear that clubs will be held responsible for their actions. I'm not sure whether Arminia Bielefeld is heading down that route right now.

anyone tried signing up for the Schalke 04 tv service or had it previously?

The Veltins-Arena isn't crippling the club. It cost 170mio€ so it represents roughly half of Schalke's 250mio€ liabilities at max. The service of the liabilities isn't the biggest cost, its salaries for the players and coaches. If they can reduce the cost of salaries down from 66mio to 50mio or so the club will be fine.

That doesnt mean I'm happy about Magaths new budget. I think the 30mio a far too much. It would be better to use at least 10-15mio in building up a cash reserve for unsuccessful seasons.

Nonetheless I'm excited about new signings. A bit shizophrenic but I think thats my right as a fan. ^^

I'm a subscriber for Schalke TV but I hardly use it as I can't resist looking up the results when the games are finished and I can't bring myself to watch a football game when I already know the result. I use it sometimes to look up interesting scenes (f.e. goals, cards etc).

There a way to subscribe being based in the US? Seems like the debt card options are only through German based banks.

I have a debit card and signed up for HSV TV.

I'm German. See that location "Aachen". I have no idea if an American can sign up for Schalke TV.

Jendrisek played or Kaiserslautern last year (15 goals in 26 appearances). He's about 5'9, pacy, played striker for Kaiserslautern, but Magath has been using him on the wing in pre-season matches. He's mostly been playing 4-2-2-2.

Hi Guys, since Raul will now be playing for you guys how can i officially become a fan :-D.

Isn't it about time to start the 2010/11 thread for Schalke? Most other teams have their going allready ...