Феликс Магат: Путь от игрока до тренера-спасателя

German football player and manager (born 1953)

A talented, creative, and intelligent diminutive playmaker, with an eye for goal, Magath normally played either as an attacking or central midfielder, and was an elegant player on the ball, who possessed excellent technical skills, vision, and stamina, despite his lack of significant pace and his stocky physique. He was also a strong passer and striker of the ball with his left foot, and stood out for his work rate on the pitch, as well as his ability to interpret the game. Considered to be a decisive player, he is rated by pudits as one of the greatest midfielders in the history of the Bundesliga.

Having suffered a career ending knee injury, Magath retired shortly after the 1986 World Cup and became general manager for his former club Hamburg. He left Hamburg in June 1988 after moderate success. His next stints as general manager included then 2. Bundesliga, side 1. FC Saarbrücken (November 1989 to June 1990), as well as Bayer Uerdingen (July 1990 to January 1992), who were relegated from the first tier during Magath's time at the club.

Magath took up coaching in 1992 as a player coach for the fourth tier club FC Bremerhaven, which he led to division championship. He then rejoined Hamburger SV as reserves coach in 1993, and became manager Benno Möhlmann's assistant soon after. Magath succeeded Möhlmann as manager after the latter was sacked in October 1995. His first match was a 2–2 draw against 1860 Munich. Having reached the UEFA Cup during his first season, Hamburg finished in fifth place. The following season as disappointing 15th at the time Magath was sacked. His final match was a 4–0 loss to 1. FC Köln. He finished with a record of 28 wins, 19 draws, and 22 losses. In the following years, Magath acquired a reputation as the fireman, coming in at difficult times at a club and leading it to salvation. In September 1997, he took over 1. FC Nürnberg who were newly promoted to the 2. Bundesliga Der Club finished the season in third–place, meaning promotion to the Bundesliga, During a short stint at Werder Bremen during the 1998–99 season, Magath lead the club out of relegation places, only for Bremen to find themselves in the relegation dogfight again with two games to go. At this point he was replaced as manager by Thomas Schaaf who helped them avoid relegation by a point. He had nine wins, seven draws, and ten losses. Halfway through the 1999–00 season, Magath joined troubled Eintracht Frankfurt. An impressive Magath inspired run saw Frankfurt finish the second round as third best and four points off relegation. Magath was sacked the season after (29 January 2001) His last match was a 5–1 loss to Köln. He finished with record of 15 wins, five draws, and 17 losses. He finished with a record of 73 wins, 37 draws, and 37 losses. Having impressed with Stuttgart, Magath was handed the FC Bayern Munich job on 1 July 2004. In his first season, Magath was able to lead his team to victory in both the league and cup, completing the double, a feat which would be repeated in 2005–06, the first time ever in the competition's history. However, after a slow start to the 2006–07 season, with the team mired in fourth place which would not qualify them for the Champions League, Magath was sacked on 31 January 2007. He finished with a record of 84 wins, 25 draws, and 22 losses.

In June 2007, Magath signed a contract with VfL Wolfsburg, as head coach and director of football. Magath lead the Wolves to play in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup and the following season's Champions League, the latter as league champions for the first time. He finished with a record of 46 wins, 18 draws, and 21 losses. Before the season 2008–09 had ended, Magath agreed on a four year contract with Schalke 04, again as both head coach and director of football, starting on 1 July 2009. Schalke finished Magath's first season in charge as runners up, but after a series of disappointing domestic performances and growing player discontent, Magath was sacked by Schalke in March 2011. the following day, Magath claimed that he had not been informed of his dismissal. Only 48 hours later, on 18 March, Magath once again signed with now relegation battling VfL Wolfsburg, the side he had previously led to the league title in 2009. Magath steered the club to safety, avoiding the relegation play–off by two points, He finished with a record of 18 wins, 10 draws, and 24 losses. Magath brought in Tomas Oral as first team coach and Werner Leuthard as the person in charge of conditioning while the club dismissed manager Rene Meulensteen, assistant coach Ray Wilkins, technical director Alan Curbishley, and first team coaches Mick Priest and Jonathan Hill. The role was Magath's first in two years and at the time his only venture outside of his native Germany. The match ended in a 1–1 draw with Ashkan Dejagah, Magath's former player at VfL Wolfsburg, being the first Fulham goalscorer of Magath's tenure. Magath picked up four points from his first six matches and answered questions about a potential resignation. On 3 May 2014, Fulham were relegated from the Premier League after a 4–1 loss to Stoke City. Magath believed that Fulham could earn immediate promotion. He started the 2014–15 season with four consecutive losses to Ipswich Town, Millwall, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Derby County. On 18 September 2014 Magath was sacked as Fulham manager after a run of eleven league games without a win. He finished with a record of four wins, four draws, and 12 losses. After Gerald Baumgartner was sacked by Austria Wien, Magath eventually became the "preferred" choice. Spartak Moscow also offered Magath a contract. and Dmitriy Alenichev took the coaching jobs. He eventually took the job at Shandong Luneng Taishan, replacing former Brazil national football team manager Mano Menezes. He took the job on 8 June 2016. His first win was a 2–1 win against Jiangsu Suning on 9 July 2016.

In January 2020, Magath revealed that his time as a coach was over and that he wanted to "help football in a different way". In step with this, he introduced himself as the new boss of FLYERALARM Global Soccer. Magath became responsible for FLYERALARM's commitment to the clubs Würzburger Kickers in Germany and Flyeralarm Admira, formerly known as FC Admira Wacker Mödling.

On 13 March 2022, Magath became Hertha BSC's third head coach of the 2021–22 season after he replaced Tayfun Korkut, who had replaced Pál Dárdai in November 2021. On 17 March 2022, Magath tested positive for COVID 19 and had to postpone his debut match.

As a manager, Magath quickly gained respect and became known for his hard, grinding training methods, laying heavy emphasis on discipline, fitness and conditioning. Players gave him nicknames like "Saddam" (Saddam Hussein) or "Quälix", a portmanteau of his first name Felix and the German verb "quälen" (to torture). His methods have also been considered to be controversial in the media, however. He was once described by former Eintracht Frankfurt player Bachirou Salou as the "last dictator in Europe". After leaving Fulham in September 2014, bizarre stories emerged about how Magath had suggested that Brede Hangeland rub cheese on a thigh injury. Magath stated that Hangeland did not have a thigh injury but an inflammation of the knee, and that he suggested the additional use of an alternative treatment with a bandage (dressing) consisting of Quark. Fulham player Sascha Riether later said that the story was greatly exaggerated and that Magath had suggested he use a traditional topfen curd.

Magath is the son of a Puerto Rican former soldier in the United States Army stationed in Aschaffenburg and a German mother. In 1954, Magath's father abandoned Magath and his mother to return to his homeland. In 1985, he played in a simultaneous exhibition against Garry Kasparov.

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueDFB PokalEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals1. FC Saarbrücken1974–752. Bundesliga Süd381210——39121975–76381710——3917Total762920——7829Hamburger SV1976–77Bundesliga3011064—3751977–783344231204271978–7921410——2241979–803252170—4061980–8133104350—42131981–822884191—41101982–833444092—4761983–843454120304361984–853231061—3941985–862921010—312Total306462684895038563Career total382752884895046392