Magath fears relegation more than he fears for his job

LONDON (Reuters) - Felix Magath is not fearing for his job even if Fulham's turbulent season ends in relegation from the Premier League, the 60-year-old who has never experienced such a fate as a manger said on Thursday.

Magath fears relegation more than he fears for his job

(Reuters)





Fulham are 19th in the 20-team league and probably need to win their last two matches against Stoke City and London rivals Crystal Palace to have a chance of ensuring their 13-season membership of the top flight does not come to an end.

At the very least they need one win from either of those two matches to give themselves any hope of staying up after dropping two vital points last week in a 2-2 draw with FA Cup finalists Hull City at Craven Cottage.

Fulham seemed set for a vital win when leading 2-0 with 15 minutes to go before Hull struck twice to make Fulham's survival task significantly tougher and leave Magath facing relegation for the first time as a coach.

"I have never been relegated. I am a little afraid of that situation and don't need to know how it feels," the former Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg and Schalke manager, told reporters.

"I'm always nervous - without being nervous you can't be 100 percent, but I have no doubt about my future - I will remain here. I'm here to build a new team."

This was not the season U.S. businessman Shahid Khan envisaged having when he bought the club from previous owner Mohamed Al-Fayed before the start of the season.

At the time it seemed his biggest problem was what to do with the statue of Al-Fayed's friend, the late singer Michael Jackson, that Al-Fayed erected at the ground.

In the event the statue of Jackson was not the only thing Khan has got rid off since arriving at Craven Cottage.





THIRD MANAGER

Magath became Fulham's third manager this season when he took over from the sacked Rene Meulensteen on Feb. 14.

Meulensteen had only been in the job since the start of December when he replaced Dutchman Martin Jol.

Fulham have been in the bottom three since November apart from a brief spell under Meulensteen, but have never risen higher than 18th since Magath took over although their performances have improved recently.

"I still believe two wins will be enough," Magath, whose side are one point behind fourth-from-bottom Sunderland, said.

"We need three points to have the chance of staying up, of not being relegated. I know Stoke are a good team at home, but we are confident.

"The players want to show everybody that we are still alive and that we can stay in the league."

No team has yet been condemned to relegation but in all likelihood three from Sunderland, Norwich City, Fulham and Cardiff City will be relegated even though theoretically other clubs such as Aston Villa are still in danger.

Sunderland, who are 17th have three matches to play and are on 32 points, the same number as 18th placed Norwich who have two matches to play against Chelsea and Arsenal.

Fulham have 31 with two matches to play while bottom-placed Cardiff look set for an immediate return to the Championship having taken only 30 points from their 36 games.





(Reporting by Mike Collett; editing by Martyn Herman)


Share

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world