Fulham sack five, hire two in Magath shake up

LONDON (Reuters) - Fulham have officially dismissed manager Rene Meulensteen, assistant coach Ray Wilkins and technical director Alan Curbishley only weeks after appointing them, the Premier League's basement side club said on Tuesday.

Fulham sack five, hire two in Magath shake up

(Reuters)

The west London club's revolving door continued to spin with first team coaches Mick Priest and Jonathan Hill joining the exodus of backroom staff following the appointment of new manager Felix Magath on Friday.

Fulham also announced immediate replacements with Tomas Oral

named as first team coach and Werner Leuthard now responsible for conditioning.

"I'm very grateful to Rene, Alan and Ray, as well as Mick and Jonathan, for their commitment to Fulham," chairman Shahid Khan said in an official statement on www.fulhamfc.com.

"Their efforts were admirable and appreciated, and I wish them the best.

"Felix has come to Fulham with purpose and exceptional confidence, and I know he's extremely pleased to have Tomas Oral and Werner Leuthard join him for the mission ahead.

"From today forward, the focus is singularly on winning football matches and remaining in the Barclays Premier League. The work has begun."

The 60-year-old Magath was named manager despite Meulensteen only being given the job in December after Martin Jol's sacking, with the Dutchman initially having joined in mid-November to work alongside his compatriot.

Meulensteen, whose team had drawn at ex-club Manchester United and narrowly lost to Liverpool in their last two games, has described the appointment of former Bayern Munich coach Magath as a sign Fulham were hitting "the panic button".

German Magath has extensive coaching experience in the Bundesliga but has never worked abroad before.

Fulham, who have been ever-present in the top flight since 2001, are four points from the safety zone with 12 games to go.

The 2010 Europa League runners-up were taken over by Khan, the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars NFL franchise, last July.

(Reporting by Mark Pangallo, additional reporting by Mark Meadows and Clare Lovell; editing by Ken Ferris)


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


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