Huub Stevens has targeted a return to his former glories with Schalke after returning to the club for a second spell.
Stevens has penned a deal until summer 2013 to succeed Ralf Rangnick, who resigned due to health reasons last Thursday.
The 57-year-old previously coached the club between 1996 and 2002, leading them to the 1997 UEFA Cup and DFB-Pokal wins in 2001 and 2002.
Last May's cup triumph was the Royal Blues' one and only piece of silverware gained in the nine years since Stevens left the club, and he now hopes to take them back to the good times.
"I hope that I can bring success with me,'' he was quoted as saying at a press conference. "I am delighted to be back at Schalke and I am looking forward to the challenge.
"I have taken five months out to be with my family and now I am motivated again.
"It is incredible to be back at Schalke.''
Despite the successes, Stevens' first spell at the club will mostly be remembered for a dramatic second-place finish behind Bayern Munich in the 2001 Bundesliga.
The fans inside Gelsenkirchen's Parkstadion were already celebrating winning the title after their 5-3 win over Unterhaching put them at the top of the table at the final whistle of their final Bundesliga match of the season.
However, there were four minutes of stoppage time being played in Hamburg, where Bayern were trailing their hosts by a late goal from Sergei Barbarez.
A draw was all Bayern needed to win the title and, as the fans poured onto the field in Gelsenkirchen, Patrick Andersson broke their hearts with the last kick of the game to earn Bayern the title.
Although the Royal Blues won the cup a week later, that was scant consolation and Stevens was unable to lift his troops sufficiently the following term, which they finished in fifth position after the Dutchman had already announced his departure for Hertha Berlin.
It is unlikely that Stevens can put that right this season, with Schalke already trailing Bayern by six points, but he has not given it up as a lost cause.
"I want to be right at the very top, but we will have to see whether that is possible or not,'' he said.
"In my role as a pundit for Liga Total, I said that the title has already been decided, but maybe there was something behind that.
"I don't know where we will end up after 34 matches, but I am confident.''
Stevens' first spell at Schalke was also characterised by his belief that keeping a clean sheet was more important than scoring goals.
"It's great to see that you still talk about that,'' he joked. "I still stand by it.''
And the club's director of sport Horst Heldt feels there is nothing to laugh about with Stevens' philosophy.
"Now is not the time to carry out experiments,'' he said. "We have the third-worst record in the league when it comes to conceding goals.
"We have scored 15, but conceded 12. As Stevens said, we want to play attractive football, but if we can keep clean sheets, then I am also happy.''
Stevens was also in the running for the current vacancy at Hamburg following the sacking of Michael Oenning before they pulled out after learning of his willingness to discuss a deal with Schalke.
"I did not say no to HSV,'' revealed Stevens. "HSV told me that they wanted to talk to several candidates.
"I think that I as a coach had every right to also speak with other clubs.
"The negotiations here were very harmonious and we reached an agreement very late (last night) - the club wanted me to be here today because we have quite a lot of work ahead.''
He led his first training session in Gelsenkirchen this morning in preparation for Thursday night's Europa League clash with Maccabi Haifa.
"I am going to watch videos of Maccabi this lunchtime and then we will take about how fit our players are,'' he said after seeing striker Raul limp out of his first training session.
