Ralf Rangnick

Ralf Rangnick

Personal information
Date of birth	(1958-06-29) 29 June 1958
Place of birth	Backnang, Germany
Height	1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s)	Defensive Midfielder
Managerial career
Years	Team
1983–1985	Viktoria Backnang (player/manager)
1987–1988	TSV Lippoldsweiler (player/manager)
1988–1990	SC Korb
1995–1996	SSV Reutlingen
1997–1999	Ulm 1846
1999–2001	VfB Stuttgart
2001–2004	Hannover 96
2004–2005	Schalke 04
2006–2010	1899 Hoffenheim
2011	Schalke 04

Ralf Rangnick born 29 June 1958 in Backnang is a currently unemployed football manager after leaving Schalke 04 and former professional football midfielder.

Early career

Rangnick began his playing career at VfB Stuttgart, but was unable to progress any further than their amateur side, playing in the lower leagues. This was to prove his level, as he played at a string of small lowly clubs, including a stint at English non-league side Southwick while studying English on a guest year at the University of Sussex in Brighton.

His first taste of coaching came in his playing days at SSV Ulm 1846 in the early 1980s, when he was entrusted to coach the youth side. He stepped up to becoming player/coach at his hometown club Viktoria Backnang, then TSV Lippoldsweiler. After hanging up his boots, he became the coach of SC Korb in 1988, remaining there two seasons before returning to his original club VfB Stuttgart to now manage the amateur ranks he had once played in.

Rangnick stayed at VfB Stuttgart, as both amateur and youth coach, through the early 1990s, before moving to Regionalliga South side SSV Reutlingen in 1995. He took the club to a 4th place finish in his first season, and they began the following campaign brightly too, with the club in the midst of the promotion push by Christmas. Rangnick would not complete the season with the team though, as he moved to his former club SSV Ulm 1846 in January 1997.

SSV Ulm 1846 were also positioned in the Regionalliga South, and although Rangnick could only manage a sixth place position from the remainder of the 1996–97 season, the next year they won the league. Rangnick adapted well to life at his highest level yet in the 2. Bundesliga, and SSV Ulm 1846 mounted a strong promotion push.

However, during the winter break, he signed a deal to move to top flight VfB Stuttgart for the next season. This was supposed to remain secret until the end of the season, but in February it leaked out into public knowledge. This caused an outcry, especially as the team began to lose ground in the table, and by the end of March, Rangnick quit the post prematurely and took control of VfB Stuttgart for the final five games.

Bundesliga entry

Rangnick was now first team coach at the club he had served as a player and coached at amateur and youth level previously. His first full season at Bundesliga level in 1999–00 saw the team finish a respectable eighth, but the following season was much tougher. Despite making the semi finals of the DFB Cup and the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup (via the Intertoto Cup), their league form was mediocre and they were sat in the relegation zone by the halfway point. After their European exit in February 2001, VfB Stuttgart fired Rangnick.

The next season brought a new post, as Rangnick took over 2. Bundesliga side Hannover 96. His first season was a complete success as they romped home as champions and were promoted back to the Bundesliga after a 13 year absence. Their first season back at the top level saw them consolidate with an 11th place finish, but as their form nosedived in the second half of the 2003–04 season, Rangnick was fired after a 0–1 defeat at Borussia Mönchengladbach in March 2004.

FC Schalke and beyond

After missing out on the assistant role in the German national side to Joachim Löw, Rangnick was hired by FC Schalke 04, after Jupp Heynckes left just weeks into the 2004–05 season. Rangnick again tasted European action as the club had earned a UEFA Cup spot via the Intertoto Cup. He led them through the group phase, but they exited in the knockout rounds to Shakhtar Donetsk. The DFB Cup was to prove more successful though, as Rangnick took the club to the final, where they fell 2–1 to Bayern Munich. Bayern would also pip Rangnick's side in the league as Schalke ended as runners-up.

The next season started well with Rangnick gaining revenge over former club VfB Stuttgart by beating them 1–0 to lift the Ligapokal. Their second place league finish of the previous year had also qualified them for the 2005–06 UEFA Champions League, Rangnick's first entry into the prestigious competition. However, the team would fail to progress beyond the group stage, and sat 10 points off the pace in the Bundesliga, as well as having crashed 0–6 in the DFB Cup to Eintracht Frankfurt. Shortly before the winter break, these factors forced the club to dismiss Rangnick.

Rangnick had to drop down the divisions for his next club, as he moved to 1899 Hoffenheim of the Regionalliga South for the 2006–07 season. Again, he proved himself adept at this level, as the team instantly won promotion and played the 2007–08 season in the 2. Bundesliga for their first time in their history. The stay in the 2. Bundesliga was short: a second-place finish for Hoffenheim in 2007–08 has earned the club, and Rangnick, promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2008–09 season.

On 1 January 2011 Rangnick resigned as head coach of Hoffenheim, citing the sale of Luis Gustavo to Bayern Munich, of which he had not been informed, as his reason for resigning from the club.

In March 2011, Rangnick was named as the replacement for Felix Magath as manager of Schalke. Just weeks after being named the new Schalke manager, Rangnick led his old club to their first UEFA Champions League semi-final by defeating holders Internazionale with a 7-3 win on aggregate.

On September 22, 2011, Ralf Rangnick stepped down as Schalke's manager due to exhaustion syndrome, stating that he currently does not have "the necessary energy to be successful and to develop the team and the club".

West Bromwich Albion

On May 30, it was revealed that Ralf was in discussions with West Bromwich Albion with the view to succeeding Roy Hodgson

Trivia

• Owing to an appearance on a sports show on German TV in December 1998, in which he explained the tactics of a game extensively on a blackboard, he is until today - mostly dismissively - nicknamed the 'Football Professor'
• He has been named to appear on the cover of EA Sports' Fussball Manager 11 (known as FIFA Manager 11 to the rest of the world.)
• Rangnick is a trained school teacher. 'I knew that if I wanted to finish my studies and one day be able to read the 800 pages of Charles Dickens's Hard Times, I needed to have lived in England for a longer period of time,' Rangnick said.

After being linked with West Bromwich Albion in June 2012 an outcry of "who?" and "never heard of him" was heard throughout West Bromwich

Managerial statistics

As of 8 May 2012

Team	From	To	Record
			G	W	D	L	Win %
VfB Stuttgart II	1 July 1985	30 June 1987
Reutlingen 05	1 July 1995	31 December 1996
Ulm 1846	1 January 1997	16 March 1999
VfB Stuttgart	3 May 1999	23 February 2001	85	36	16	33	042.35
Hannover 96	1 July 2001	7 March 2004	98	44	22	32	044.90
Schalke 04	28 September 2004	12 December 2005	64	37	14	13	057.81
1899 Hoffenheim	1 July 2006	2 January 2011	166	79	43	44	047.59
Schalke 04	21 March 2011	22 September 2011	26	11	3	12	042.31
Total			439	207	98	134	047.15