In recent weeks, Schalke 04 has also been publicly discussed about the role of Mike Büskens. Now the assistant coach has spoken up and emphasized his role in the "third row".

Since the end of last season, Mike Büskens has played a major role in public for FC Schalke.

As soon as he achieved promotion with the royal blue as second division champion, important questions automatically arose: Does he have to remain head coach now? Which coach sits down in front of such a successful interim coach? Or does he have to disappear completely from the professional department in order not to jeopardize the restart in the Bundesliga due to the personnel constellation?

Questions that had to remain unanswered because, of course, there was never a comparative value for a possible no-Büskens time.

However, there was also some criticism. Rouven Schröder was keen to continue to rely on the coaching team in the summer and therefore did not allow the new coach to bring his own team with him. The result: Frank Kramer remained as an option. A story that is quickly told.

So a new question came up: is Büskens too powerful within the coaching staff, especially given his reputation within the club?

Now the 54-year-old has commented on these topics for the first time. On Instagram he posted a picture with Mehmet-Can Aydin and introduced: "The past few weeks at Schalke were once again intense, exhausting, emotional. Stop Schalke."

First he explained how dissatisfied they were with the starting position in the table, but that all chances were still open. Then he addressed issues that "annoyed" him personally. By that he meant alleged controversial issues about cars or cakes. "And surprisingly, for me at least, [it] was always about Mike Büskens and the seats on the bench," he continued.

In order to avoid further unrest during the season, he only now wanted to speak for himself. Then he emphasized: "My role and function in the association of my heart was clearly defined and communicated by the association and me at the beginning of March 2021."

He should be "Hermann Gerland von Schalke" "in the new Schalke way" - "in the third row". It is clearly stated that he "acts as an interface between the 'young wild ones' and the 'experienced hands'". Not more but also not less.

Although he is also happy to help out as an assistant coach when asked, he made it clear that his role is actually quite a bit smaller than that of a normal assistant coach. "I'm absolutely passionate about the next generation of Schalke miners," said Büskens clearly.

For him, the discussions about his office, his alleged power at S04 and that he should possibly be a problem for working with the professionals are by no means understandable.

Gerald Asamoah, who sits next to Büskens on the bench as head of the professional department, had made it clear to the WAZ: "Buyo was never a problem for Schalke and will never be a problem [...] He is thriving in his current role , to accompany the young players, really up."

This article was originally published on 90min.com/de as "Schalke halt": Büskens about concerns about himself.