Rangnick & Houllier join Red Bull Football operations

Austrian energy drink maker Red Bull is best known for their Formula 1 team and their activities in adventure sports, but they are also active in football with their worldwide football operations spread across the globe in Austria, Germany, the United States, Brazil and Ghana.

But in football Red Bull, owned by the Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, have not been as successful as in other sports and now a new management is supposed to bring success to them but especially Red Bull Salzburg with German Roger Schmidt as the new coach, another German in Ralf Rangnick as the Director of Sports and Frenchman Gérard Houllier as Global Sports Director Red Bull Soccer to complete the new leadership structure within their football operations.

Roger Schmidt, who last season coached SC Paderborn to a sensational fifth place finish in 2.Bundesliga, is the new head coach of the Salzburg team; Ralf Rangnick as Director of Sports will have to look after Salzburg and German fourth division side RB Leipzig; while Gérard Houllier will have to look after Salzburg, Leipzig, MLS franchise New York Red Bulls besides the developmental academies in Brazil and Ghana.

Especially Rangnick was a much sought after coach across Europe with clubs like Tottenham Hotspurs, West Bromwich Albion, etc; but he in the end decided to join Red Bull as Director of Sports in a more management role rather then a day to day coaching job. The reason might be that Rangnick had last season left FC Schalke 04 due to a burnout syndrome and now returns to active football.

German Rangnick to coach West Bromwich Albion?

German coach Ralf Rangnick is in the running to be the next manager of English Premier League side West Bromwich Albion as replacement for Roy Hodgson who has joined the FA as England manager.

53 year old Rangnick has become the Baggies favourite after plans to bring in long-time favourite Chris Hughton from neighbours Birmingham City hit a roadblock with a 2 million Pound transfer fee. Another candidate Italian Claudio Ranieri today signed for AS Monaco in France, which leaves Albions with no many real candidates and options as earlier Ray Wilkins had turned down the offer to coach them.

If West Bromwich Albion do sign Ralf Rangnick as their new manager, then he would be the first German to coach in the English Premier League and it looks possible then Rangnick is said to have impressed the West Brom management.

Rangnick had earlier been approached by Turkish side Besiktas Istanbul and Belgian giants RSC Anderlecht, but he has turned down both offers with the Premiership a very possible destination for someone who has studied English and is known as a very intelligent, modern coach.

Rangnick had last coached Bundesliga side FC Schalke 04, but left the royal blues in September 2011 after just six months due to an exhaustion syndrome due to which he was unable to muster the strength and energy to coach the club. Now he wants to get back into coaching after recovering fully from the syndrome.

Rangnick before joining Schalke had coached Hannover 96, thereafter FC Schalke 04 for the first time and surprisingly joined 1899 Hoffenheim in June 2006 as the club was only an ambitious third division club then, but in two years he took them into the Bundesliga and in December 2008 the small town club surprisingly were winter champions of the league. Two years later he left the club after the management sold one of his players without the coaches consent.

Schalke: Coach Rangnick resigns due to exhaustion

In a surprise move FC Schalke 04 coach Ralf Rangnick has resigned from his position as head coach due to health reasons. Rangnick took the unusual step due to an exhaustion syndrome due to which he is currently unable to muster the strength and energy to coach the club.

In a statement the 53 year old Ralf Rangnick said, "After a long and mature consideration I decided that I needed a break. This decision is very hard but my current energy level is not sufficient to be successful and especially to further develop the team."

Only six months ago in March 2011 Rangnick had replaced Felix Magath at Schalke 04 with the clubs management hoping Rangnick would rebuild the team after the turbulent times under Magath. Rangnick went on to win the German Cup and reach the semifinals of the UEFA Champions league last season. At the start of this season things have been going fine and this news will come as a big shock for Schalke.

"His decision deserves respect," said Schalke Director of Sports Horst Heldt. "We also believe that health should be put above any professional targets and challenges."

Schalke 04 have named assistant coach Seppo Eichkorn as the interim coach for Saturday's match against SC Freiburg, while the search for a new coach would likely start after a board meeting this afternoon.

One can only wish Ralf Rangnick a speedy recovery, then 'the professor' is one of the most knowledgeable German coaches of today.

Hoffenheim: Luis Gustavo joins Bayern, but coach Rangnick resigns

German Bundesliga side 1899 Hoffenheim not only finally sold talented midfielder Luis Gustavo to Bayern Munich, but also lost their coach Ralf Rangnick in the process. Rangnick had vehemently opposed the transfer over the last few weeks, but the club owner Dietmar Hopp and manager Ernst Tanner went ahead to hold transfer talks with the Bavarians and finally sanctioned the transfer, which was unacceptable to the coach.

A few weeks ago Rangnick had said, "The departure of Luiz Gustavo during the winter break is out of the question in my eyes."

But thereafter club owner Dietmar Hopp had said that Hoffenheim wouldn't be able to retain a player like Luis Gustavo if a club like Bayern Muncih was interested. For Rangnick that was not acceptable and he had written a strong worded mail to the club management, which didn't go down too well with them. In the end Rangnick resigned, but as per Hopp he would have been fired otherwise if he hadn't resigned.

Rangnick's assistant Marco Pezzaiuoli has been moved up into the Hoffenheim hot seat. 42 year old Pezzaiuoli has been given a contract until summer 2014 with the task of further developing the club and its players.

Former Hanover 96 and FC Schalke 04 coach Rangnick had surprisingly joined Hoffenheim in June 2006 as the club was only an ambitious third division club then, but in two years he took them into the Bundesliga and in December 2008 the small town club surprisingly were winter champions of the league.

And Luis Gustavo has been a vital part of the squad since joining them from second division Brazilian club Corinthians-Maceio in 2007. Last season Luis Gustavo was more known for his red card send offs, but this season he has been fundamental to Hoffenheim's game in the centre of the park. This was the reason why Bayern Munich wanted to sign him as a long-term replacement for Mark van Bommel. Now they have signed him until 2015 for a fee of 15 Million Euros.