Sacked Schalke boss Christian Gross has suggested he wouldn’t sign the same players in January if given his time with the club again.
Christian Gross lost his job as Schalke manager over the weekend, after another poor defeat. The weekend started with reports of a player revolt, with Sead Kolasinac, Shkodran Mustafi, and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar apparently leading the rebellion.
Sead Kolasinac scores but Schalke boss still sacked
Kolasinac and Mustafi lead rebellion against FC Schalke manager
Kolasinac and Mustafi started against Stuttgart at the weekend anyway, and Kolasinac even scored Schalke’s only goal of the game, but they lost 5-1. Gross subsequently lost his job.
What is particularly frustrating for the manager is that the reported rebel trio are all players he signed in the January window. Speaking to Swiss outlet Blick, Gross says he wouldn’t make that same mistake again in retrospect.
“I wouldn’t get the same players again in winter,” Gross admitted. “I would try to have a happier hand with the transfers.”
When asked specifically if he was referring to Huntelaar, Mustafi, and Kolasinac, Gross said: “I would have liked to have played up front with Huntelaar. But he is still injured in the calf and was not part of the training sessions either.
“They are experienced, these players, but yes, everything did not go well.”
Gross admitted he didn’t know whether the reports of an uprising were true or not, insisting that no one had come to speak to him face-to-face. If there really was a rebellion, it was behind his back.
As for what’s next, Mustafi and Kolasinac both have contracts until the end of the season. They’ll try to keep Schalke up, but if they fail, they aren’t going to stick around. Kolasinac will return to Arsenal, where he’ll have 12 months left on his deal.