Magath Gone!

So all this time all you had to do was ask for it Heather! While you've got Khan's ear who do you recommend as a manager?

The site has been up and down, but I managed to get at least the text of the announcement once:

 

There is a hell of a lot of blame to go around, but he should of been gone in May.

 

I feel like I was frozen in carbonite for 12 hours and didn't see this until now - and with 1 point from 24 (or 21, I can't count) there's really no danger in sacking the man. Good thing as well as there's 30 odd matches remaining.

 

I am not going to be a hypocrite and say I am sorry to see Mr. Magath lose his job. That is never something to be made fun of. I hope he learned something useful during his time at Fulham and can use it positively in his next endeavor. I'm a bit concerned about the wording of Shad Khan's statement. If you admit you know little about soccer, why personally lead a thorough search? Doesn't your own admission jeopardize the very definition of thorough? Given his track record to date, both here and with the Jags, I'm not sure that's the best approach. But at least he's acted in time to allow for the possibility of saving the season. Still a lot of points out there. Time to tear off the page, start with a clean sheet and a few freshly sharpened No. 2 lead pencils and get to work. Godspeed Kit Symons.

 

Glad to see the back of Felix and happy that Kit will get a chance to show what he can do and potentially win the job. Kit coming out and having success would probably be ideal as it would make the decision easier, would give us continuity and would take the decision of finding a new manager out of Khan's hands. You have to wonder if Mackintosh is in jeopardy with the way that was worded. It could just be that he (and the board) have had a couple of cracks at hiring the next manager and haven't done well. Who knows, maybe Khan will be good at picking a manager?

I'd like to see Khan take this interim time and appoint some football people to the board for hiring coaches, acquiring players, to liaise between the scouting department and the manager and to let Mackintosh go back to what he does best, the financial side. I still have my questions about him there based on our inability to move players for expected profit and some of the odd signings we've made money-wise. But he has done a lot of good for the club in other aspects and with some football people to consult with, perhaps that area can improve. We'll see what happens.

I'd love to see someone like Ray Lewington or Danny Murphy come in as an assistant either to Kit or whoever winds up getting the job. If we're assuming Kit is just going to be a caretaker and return to the Academy once a new manager has been settled on, then I expect it'll be between Chris Hughton (currently consulting or the club in some manner), Steve Clarke or Brian McDermott. I don't really have a preference out of that group as I view them as relatively equal. I championed Pulis last year because I felt he could keep us up, but he has a track record of preferring to rely on veteran players and has shown a reluctance to play youth. That was a sticking point with him at Palace. So I'm not sure he'd be a good fit for where we are today. David Moyes would be a great fit but I doubt he'd be interested in dropping down to our present level.

I've read a lot of implications of a cloud over the whole club with Magath from people who I know are in touch with people inside the club. We can dismiss all of that as rumors, sour grapes, etc, but there's been too much smoke. Hopefully the change brings a renewed atmosphere and we see the turnaround extend throughout the club and onto the pitch.

 

This had to happen Sometimes there is no place to go but up but under Magath I'm afraid there was just no place to go.

 

There's a lot of opportunistic clamoring going around, and some of it is warranted.

But holy moly what a load of crap from Gale.

''He’s come in with a hard-line, disciplinarian approach,'' he said.
Well yeah, Jol literally DID NOT MANAGE them and Rene (and Wilkins and Curbishley; remember them?) was far too cuddly. What did you expect?

''Obviously the owners were influenced from elsewhere. I wouldn’t have said it (the appointment) came from within Fulham, this is owners not knowing the game.
FEAR THE OTHER. Also this is borderline xenophobia.

"Not knowing our game of football, not knowing a football club and that club has gone back five years in a short space of seven months.''
Annnnnnnnnd this is officially xenophobia.

''I can’t think of a worse appointment in football, let alone at Fulham FC,'' he said.
What of the trio of Rene, Wilkins, and Curbishley? A hierarchy so nebulous and terrible we've all blocked it out of our minds? (Bet you forgot about Ray and Alan before I mentioned them).

''This guy, in seven months since he’s been at Fulham, has led to the influx of poor players and the going out of the club of decent players."
"Decent players" who've left: Riise (sucks), Hangeland (past it), Mitro (bust), Reither (sucked), Richardson (unreliable), Dejagah (see 'Richardson')
"Poor players": Oh shut up we're in the Championship

"I can’t think of a worse manager and a worse feeling around a football club. That is my football club and I’ve never seen the feeling as bad as it has been.''
*Looks to see if Gale has any ownership or leadership, actual or symbolic, role in the club. Finds he does not.*

 

As I said on FB page, there was a LOT of willful ignorance during this debacle. A collection of his quotes over the period will make the average person say.. WTF were you thinking of?

This exceeds the wishful thinking of the Cookie Coleman era by lots!

 

Agree with everything Don just said. By the club's (and his own) acknowledgement he was brought in as a fireman. The mistake was in retaining him after he failed to put the fire out.

And Gale is an asshole.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/sep/20/fulham-farewell-magath-felix-madcap Here's the original article, which I just now discovered. Forgive me if someone posted it already. Some interesting stuff here, but who knows how much of it is true. In my experience, the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle on these types of stories.

 

I suspect Jurgen Klopp or Jurgen Klinsmann might have a different definition of German football than Magath. Felix might represent East German football circa the mid 80's.

I expect we'll see Magath respond to any and all allegations. He never once took responsibility or blame in a press conference and was quick to point fingers at Al Fayed (not inaccurate, but unnecessary and innappropriate) in the media.

I'll be glad when the media fallout is over and Qualix fades into obscurity.

 

Denial is not a river in Egypt. http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...despite-dreadful-spell-at-fulham-9752517.html