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Fulham appoint Felix Magath to replace Rene Meulensteen

By on February 14, 2014

Fulham have lost faith in manager Rene Meulensteen just 75 days into his tenure at Craven Cottage and replaced him with former Bayern Munich manager Felix Magath.  The Londoners have appointed Magath on an 18 month contract, but they will still be forced to agree the terms of Meulensteen’s departure as the former Manchester United assistant manager.

Although Meulensteen could technically decide to remain under the club’s payroll, he will no longer be able to go through with any of his formal duties with Magath taking over his job. The 49-year-old Dutchman took charge of Fulham from Martin Jol on 1 December, and despite only earning 10 points from his 13 matches as manager put in some strong final performances, namely a 2-2 draw with Manchester United. This probably lead, along with the abruptness of his replacement, to Meulensteen’s surprised reaction. Sir Alex Ferguson’s former right-hand man, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “I am very surprised, very disappointed and very frustrated, because the job that I stepped into was one that took me by surprise from the start. It was not anticipated with Martin Jol leaving and obviously you then have to step into a situation which is not the best.

I haven’t really been given any time to make it work. Twelve games to go, plenty of points to play for … I’m sure we would have turned it around. I knew the owners were freaking out and panicking about the fact that Fulham could get relegated but they had that sort of attitude already 10 games back. They’ve hit the panic button on emotions of fear.”

Fulham Football Club today announced the hiring of Felix Magath as First Team Manager, effective immediately.” – Fulhamfc.com 

Fulham currently sit bottom of the Premier League table, and with Magath’s ability to take a side from the bottom to the top, as he did with VfB Stuttgart in Germany, the club’s owner Shahid Khan backed the German manager, saying: “I am very happy to welcome Felix Magath to Fulham Football Club.  Felix is an accomplished manager with multiple honours in the Bundesliga and a hunger to replicate his success with Fulham in the Barclays Premier League. I’m especially impressed with the reputation Felix has for coming into clubs at difficult times, often late in the season, and lifting them to their potential and beyond. Felix knows that is precisely the task awaiting him at Fulham, and he made it abundantly clear that he wants and is ready for the opportunity.”

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.