Schalke have come under fire following their 5-0 defeat against Chelsea in the Champions League, with former Royal Blues midfielder Jermaine Jones pointing the finger at sporting director Horst Heldt.
Schalke, now led by former Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo, were humiliated by the Blues at the Veltins Arena on Tuesday night and received renewed criticism across the German media.
United States international Jones, who ended his seven-year stint with the club in January this year, took to Twitter during the game to question Heldt, writing: "I just say, 'Horst Heldt, who are you blaming now?' It's bad that someone can ruin a club like this."
.@Jermainejunior hat seinen Tweet gelöscht. Zum Glück gibt es Screenshots #S04CFC #schalke pic.twitter.com/aBERK99hlK
- Francois Duchateau (@Duchateau) November 25, 2014
Jones, who now plays for New England Revolution, later deleted his tweet , but said he "wasn't sorry" for posting it, just "sad." Heldt, who had clashed with Jones in late 2013, refused to comment on the player's statement after the match, telling Sky the tweet was "below his class."
Even so, the Schalke chief is facing growing criticism, with Der Spiegel reporting: "The question of Heldt's suitability has long reached the critical fans."
Der Spiegel also questioned the attitude of both the players and Di Matteo, though, and local football magazine Reviersport criticised the coach for not trusting club captain Benedikt Howedes to play in central defence in the new 3-5-2 system, arguing that using him on the left was nothing but a "vote of no confidence" against Germany international.
Di Matteo took charge of the team on Oct. 7 after Jens Keller's poor start, and has now overseen four wins and four losses in all competitions, with his Champions League record so far standing at one win and two losses, conceding 12 goals in those three games.
Bild headlined its coverage: "Does Di Matteo have no cure for the Schalke virus either?"