Ahead of the clash between his former clubs Schalke and Hannover, Mirko Slomka talks about S04’s choice of sporting director and explains how Miron Muslic has impressed him.
When the top match of the second division takes place on Friday evening (6:30 p.m., RS live ticker), Mirko Slomka will be watching very closely. After all, Hannover 96 and Schalke 04, two clubs that the 58-year-old has coached, are battling it out for the top spot in the table—and even years later, they still hold a place in his heart. “I worked for both clubs for a long time and experienced key moments with each of them that I will never forget,” Slomka said in a major interview with WAZ. From 2004 to 2008, Slomka worked in Gelsenkirchen, first as assistant coach to Ralf Rangnick, before taking over the top job after Rangnick’s departure. With Schalke, he narrowly missed out on the championship in 2007, reaching the semifinals of the UEFA Cup and the quarterfinals of the Champions League. To this day, Slomka is the last coach of the Royal Blues to have stood on the sidelines for over 100 games (108 with an average of 1.8 points).
However, the Hildesheim native believes that Schalke’s current coach Miron Muslic has what it takes to surpass him. “I believe he can shape Schalke over a long period of time,” he emphasizes. “You can feel the euphoria surrounding the club growing. On Friday, they can jump to the top of the table. If things continue as they have been, it could be a very, very successful season.”
After three consecutive wins, S04 goes into the ninth match day in second place in the table. Hannover is three places and one point behind. During Slomka’s time, the Lower Saxony club was in a completely different position: In 2011, the soccer coach managed to lead the club to its first Europa League qualification in its history. Hannover even advanced to the quarterfinals and qualified again the following season. After almost four years, he left Hannover in 2013, returning in 2019 for a few months.
Slomka now works as a Sky expert and is eagerly awaiting Friday’s clash between his former clubs. In an interview with WAZ, he reveals that he was a candidate for the position of sporting director at Schalke in the spring, why Frank Baumann was the better choice, what he likes about Miron Muslic, and what his personal plans are.