Schalke rebel in dire Streits after running gauntlet of abuse

Having been relegated to Schalke 04’s reserve team, midfielder Albert Streit says he ran a gauntlet of insults from the Royal Blues fans when he played in a regional league game at the weekend.

Schalke’s coach Felix Magath suspended Streit last Wednesday and relegated him to the reserve team for an indefinite period for displaying a poor attitude in training.

But the Romanian-born player insists a small group in the 700-strong crowd hurled abuse at him for the duration of Schalke reserves’ 1-0 defeat to Waldhof Mannheim on Saturday and called for him to be replaced.

“That was simply anti-social: I was treated like a criminal,” he said after the match.

“There were ten Schalke fans and ‘son of a bitch’ was one of the more harmless insults hurled at me.

“They insulted my mother and threatened me: ‘We are going to get you after the game: piss off from Schalke or you’ll have a problem’.”

Streit said he has not been intimidated by the taunts and still wants to play for Schalke’s reserves.

He is under contract until 2012, but the 29-year-old was suspended for a second time this year when Magath took exception to his attitude after Schalke were upset 1-0 by Freiburg in the Bundesliga.

Streit was also relegated to the reserves by Magath’s predecessor Fred Rutten who demoted him, Peter Lovenkrands and Carlos Grossmueller for disciplinary reasons in January.

Both have since left the club – Grossmueller is on loan while Lovenkrands was sold to Newcastle United – with Streit the only remaining rebel.