Ralf Rangnick is returning to coach Schalke for the second time, getting the job one day after the Bundesliga club fired Felix Magath.
Rangnick coached Schalke between September 2004 and December 2005, finishing second in the Bundesliga and reaching the final of the German Cup.
Now, he inherits a team that is again in the German Cup final and also in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, but only 10th in the Bundesliga. Rangnick also gets a squad assembled by Magath, who was dropped less than halfway into a four-year contract.
Rangnick's contract will run until the end of the 2013-14 season, Schalke said Thursday. He will be officially presented Monday and will not be in charge of a game until the April 1 Bundesliga match against St. Pauli.
Seppo Eichkorn, previously Magath's assistant, will be in charge when Schalke plays second-place Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday. The Bundesliga will then take a recess for international matches.
Magath left in acrimony after falling out with board chairman Clemens Toennies.
Rangnick was forced out of his first spell in Gelsenkirchen by the club's strongman at the time, Rudi Assauer.
He went on to take Hoffenheim from the third to first division in two seasons, but quit in January after disagreeing with the chief backer of the club, Dietmar Hopp, over the transfer of Luiz Gustavo to Bayern Munich.
The 52-year-old Rangnick, who also had stints in Stuttgart and Hannover, has a reputation of being a shrewd tactician who uses a pressing game to move quickly into attack. He also developed young talents in Hoffenheim, but will find several veterans in Schalke, including former Real Madrid star Raul Gonzalez.
Rangnick's job will the same as Magath's - bring Schalke its first Bundesliga championship in five decades.
Magath came to Schalke after winning the championship with the little fancied Wolfsburg side. He took Schalke to second place in the Bundesliga in his first season, but had less success in his second after massively reshuffling the squad.
