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Gelsenkirchen (dpa) - Ralf Rangnick provided very special moments at FC Schalke 04.

The most defining picture was his lap of honor as coach in the arena before the Bundesliga game against FSV Mainz 05 in December 2005.

The coach, who announced his departure at the end of the season, was celebrated by the fans - shortly afterwards he was on leave.

Six years later, on his second engagement, he won the DFB Cup with FC Schalke, before asking for health reasons to terminate his contract a few months later.

This plays a major role for the fans in the “Royal Blue crime thriller about Ralf Rangnick”, as the newspapers of the Funke media group headlined.

Now this name haunts Gelsenkirchen like a ghost that has not yet been seen.

However, the bottom of the table in the Bundesliga will not miss the opportunity to hold talks about a possible successor to the former sports director Jochen Schneider.

«The FC Schalke 04 supervisory board has already contacted Ralf Rangnick's advisor.

At this point in time, we will not provide any further information on how to proceed, ”said the club at the request of the German Press Agency.

Rangnick himself does not officially comment at the moment - at least not on the subject of Schalke.

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The track to Rangnick led through a group, which is supposed to consist of some influential people from business and politics and had a message from supervisory board member Stefan Gesenhues that Rangnick was basically ready to help the designated Bundesliga relegated as a sports director with the rebuilding.

This news spread like wildfire, creating big headlines and excitement in the community.

In the search for a new sports director, the supervisory board had "two commitments from top-class candidates" for final discussions that would have been pending.

This was confirmed by chairwoman Jens Buchta.

He did not give names.

But Leipzig's sports director Markus Krösche should have been an issue.

However, the 40-year-old announced on Sunday: "I am not available."

«In retrospect, I can understand that my colleagues on the Supervisory Board felt taken by surprise.

I'm sorry, ”Gesenhues told the newspapers of the Funke media group.

He hoped that this would not have created any trenches.

"I am very interested in us all coming to the table now," emphasized the 66-year-old, who now probably no longer has a lobby on the supervisory body.

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In the hopeless sporting situation of the club, the fans had long been electrified by the prominent name: tens of thousands have already supported an online petition and want the return of the former Schalke trainer Rangnick, who has already given a lot of support in Hoffenheim and Leipzig whose name was currently even traded in the search for a successor for national coach Joachim Loew.

Should there be talks with Rangnick, that doesn't mean that the 62-year-old's return to the Revierclub is perfect.

Fundamental questions would have to be clarified: How can the highly indebted club finance the prominent professional or how does the trainer Dimitrios Grammozis, who has a contract until June 30, 2022, fit into the concept of the new sports directorate.

Rangnick is known for the fact that he likes to have all the strings in his own hands.

But that's not that easy at Schalke.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210315-99-831277 / 2

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Supervisory board of FC Schalke 04

Board of directors FC Schalke 04