Abbiamo recentemente parlato di Felix Magath e su di lui ho trovato questo pezzo che all'inizio ho trovato molto severo, ma poi mi sono reso conto che ha ragione al 90%.
www.thesefootballtimes.net/#!fu...der-magath/cxj9Ecco per comodità il testo:
It was half time, and Felix Magath entered the dressing room with Fulham losing. With the team in grave danger of relegation, was there to be a rousing speech from the manager? What words would he use to galvanize his players ahead of the second half? Well in this case, Felix Magath decided to threaten his players in German.
Fulham went on to lose the match and the dressing room reception after was equally frosty. This time, Magath decided to silently glare at each player in the face before leaving the dressing room. Fulham went on to be relegated.
Magath’s predecessor René Meulensteen didn’t have the results but he commanded respect from the players. To put it simply, he wasn’t hated by the squad which is why Magath’s appointment ended Fulham’s chances of survival.
Lewis Holtby was asked when at Spurs if he could cope with Louis van Gaal as boss. Holtby said he wouldn’t have a problem, “after all, I’ve survived Felix Magath”. Yet did Spurs loanee Holtby know he would toil under Magath again, this time at Fulham. Brought in under the impression he would be working with René Meulensteen, a fortnight later, Holtby was forced to face the Magath nightmare along with the rest of the Superwhites’ squad.
The club had lacked discipline as a result of the Martin Jol era but appointing someone with Magath’s reputation didn’t look too wise given how fragile the squad were. Disliking your boss doesn’t necessarily incapacitate you from doing your job but when your boss is Felix Magath, it’s difficult.
Magath could not get another job in his native Germany despite a managerial CV boasting several Bundesliga titles and a few relegation escape acts. Any employer knows that a CV will rarely tell you everything.
What was missing were the stories of Magath being an extreme authoritarian with a penchant for medicine balls, how swathes of professionals in Germany have had an open dislike for Magath and how, even if there may be an initial rise, by the end there will be chaos at the club.
“His [Magath] main tool is to try and mentally and physically batter his players and then hopefully get some results out of that,” said former club captain Brede Hangeland after leaving in June.
Stories from within Fulham back up Hangeland’s claims. The militaristic training regime under which players suffered last season has continued in pre-season. Such has been the autocratic control of Magath, some at the club are saying FFC now stands for ‘Felix’s Football Club’.
Once in football, a manager could get away with ‘showing the players who is boss’ but today, players are football’s empowered pawns. Continually and sadistically punishing them in such a regressive manner is unlikely to yield results. Perhaps it’s indicative of how effective Magath’s methods are now that Fulham haven’t had a positive bounce since his arrival.
Still, the Germans’ squad this season has some talented players, which in part is down to the excellent work of the club’s academy. Now is the time for the likes of Patrick Roberts to deliver. Elsewhere in the squad though is a reminder of what Fulham has become.
Firstly, there’s Kostas Mitroglou, representative of poor business in January, after arriving for £12.4 million and playing just 153 minutes. His cost to Fulham averages around £81,000 per minute on the pitch.
More poignantly, Ross McCormack arrived in July from Leeds in a deal worth up to £11 million. Yet, this comes when the club has been trying to save money by making staff redundant. Signing a player for that amount doesn’t send out the right message about the ethos.
Even before the start of last season, Fulham’s predicament wasn’t healthy. Martin Jol, the manager who created the platform for the ensuing chaos, talked of how he was after “a top-12 finish.”
The team had performed poorly for the majority of 2012/13. Bringing in Dimitar Berbatov and playing him in the same position as Bryan Ruiz stunted attacking creativity. Playing with nothing resembling a midfield left a slow defence vulnerable.
The club and Jol also pledged to build a younger team as they then proceeded to shaft most of the squad who had helped Fulham to the greatest achievement in its history in reaching the Europa League final.
The irony was the average age of replacements - players that would never share the same bond with the fans - was not radically lowered. Seeing 35-year-old club captain Danny Murphy make way for 35-year-old Giorgos Karagounis was particularly odd.
The end of the Mohamed Al-Fayed era lit the fireworks then for the crisis that would unfold in new owner Shahid Khan’s first 12 months. The club’s thirteenth year in the Premier League certainly provided a mighty bang, with Magath’s appointment a spectacular finale.
More thoughtless signings such as Darren Bent and Adel Taarabt were made with no hint as to where they’d fit. Jokes were cracked on social media as to how the likes of Berbatov, Bent, Taarabt and Ruiz could ever work together. Like most gags, this one was funny because it was true.
Somehow though, Fulham won games. A victory in October against Stoke was detrimental but worst of all, was the 4-1 win against Crystal Palace.
The season’s biggest victory was a terrible result with owner Shahid Khan watching on next to the away end at Selhurst Park. Because, even against what at the time was weak opposition, the result legitimised Jol’s reign for another six matches. Fulham lost each of those six games.
Martin Jol’s successor was already at the club before he went. In November, René Meulensteen came in to work with Jol, who was assured his job was safe before being duly sacked 18 days later.
Meulensteen only lasted until February even if performances did improve. Despite January signings made with him in mind, Meulensteen was the second Dutchman sent flying from Craven Cottage in February and then the madness of Magath followed.
Supporters merely booed at Craven Cottage. Fans at other clubs would have been stronger given what the Fulham supporters had had to endure. Media scrutiny will decrease with Fulham now in the Championship but Brede Hangeland’s lone cry in June still remains a good indicator of what has happened to Fulham.
On the 16th August, Magath will still be the manager as Fulham host Millwall - a paradox as the club of “no one likes us, we don’t care” travel to “everyone likes us, but no one cares”.
By Archie Rhind-Tutt. Follow Archie on Twitter @archiert1
A club in crisis for much of last season, Archie Rhind-Tutt takes a compelling look at Fulham Football Club's descent under German manager and known authoritarian Felix Magath.
By Archie Rhind-Tutt @archiert1
