Schalke appoint Baum as new head coach: German FA

BERLIN (Reuters) - Schalke 04 on Wednesday appointed Manuel Baum as their new head coach following the dismissal of David Wagner last week, the German Football Association (DFB) said.

The Royal Blues are hoping Baum, who joins from the DFB where he was a youth coach, can turn things around, with Schalke having won none of their last 18 league games.

Baum's only previous Bundesliga experience was his stint at Augsburg between 2016-19.

"The DFB has released Manuel Baum. The coach of the German Under-18 national team takes over with immediate effect as head coach at Schalke 04," the DFB said in a statement.

Wagner was sacked following their poor start to the season that began with an 8-0 demolition by champions Bayern Munich in their first game and continued with a 3-1 home defeat by Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Schalke travel to RB Leipzig on Saturday.

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Christian Radnedge)