The Dutchman is still employed by
the relegation-threatened Cottagers who rate his coaching ability but don't
think he has authority to be main man
Mike Hewitt
Stand aside: Fulham are replacing
Meulensteen but have NOT sacked him
Ruthless Fulham have announced
former Bayern Munich coach Felix Magath as Rene Meulensteen’s replacement -
even though the Dutchman is still at the relegation-threatened club.
We understand highly-respected coach
Ray Wilkins is also under threat as unimpressed owner Shahid Khan wields the
axe.
Angry Meulensteen, left reeling by
the shock move, hit out at the rock-bottom west Londoners as the situation
descended toward farce.
He fumed: “They have hit the panic
button on emotion and fear.”
Khan, however, said: “With 12
matches remaining, we certainly can no longer post empty results. Action was
required.”
Humiliated Meulensteen is still
under contract and has not been dismissed from the club.
It is understood Fulham still value
him as a coach - the role he was hired for in mid-November before succeeding
Martin Jol in December - but believe he lacks the authority and the nous to
continue as the top man.
Meulensteen is now expected to agree
a pay-off after a reign of just 75 days.
Technical director Alan Curbishley,
only appointed on Christmas Eve, is also set for talks but could stay.
US tycoon Khan, who has been in the
country all week, took action after Wednesday’s defeat to Liverpool in which
Fulham led twice only to be beaten.
MirrorSport understands Meulensteen
has ignored advice to work on the team’s defence during his short reign -
Fulham have shipped 37 goals over his 17 games in charge.
Thomas Niedermueller
Cottage industry: Fulham's players
can expect to work hard under Magath
Concerns have also been expressed
about his man-management with some senior players understood to have been
annoyed at being told on the day of games that they were not starting.
Khan is believed to have felt the
Dutchman acted far too late in trying to bring down the average age of a squad
which had been the oldest in the Premier League.
Meulensteen, who lasted only 16 days
in charge at Anzhi Makhachkala last August, went on: “I couldn’t care less what
they put in the statement, to be honest.
“I knew the owners were freaking out
a little bit that there was the possibility of the club going down. The way
forward that we discussed with the club was about longevity and in this case it
is clearly an act of fear.
“I have not had a lot of time and
people who came to the Manchester United and Liverpool games could see what I
was trying to put in place.”
It is believed Khan moved for
Magath, who has signed an 18-month deal, because he feared the highly-decorated
German would have other offers that he would accept.
Magath, 60, lifted the Double in
consecutive seasons with Bayern and the German title at Wolfsburg, with whom he
parted company two years ago.
But he has previously been nicknamed
‘The Last Dictator in Europe’ and “Saddam” because of his controversial hard-line training
methods.
During his time at Wolfsburg, Magath
is said to have had the players running through the woods on one occasion. When
they were finished they found Magath had allegedly emptied their water bottles
on purpose as an “educational measure.”
Ex-Middlesbrough striker Jan Aage
Fjortoft, who played under Magath at Eintracht Frankfurt tweeted: “Dear Fulham
fans. Never will you say again: Players didn’t run enough. Players don’t train
enough. The boss is not clear enough.
“Once we were finished running at
our training camp. A player had disappeared. We had to look for him. Found him.
Had collapsed.”
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