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Fulham manager Felix Magath following his first press conference at Craven Cottage. EMPICS Sport
London Calling

Magath: Change needed to be made at Fulham

The former Bundesliga winner is the first German to manage a Premier League outfit. But can he avoid the drop?

NEW FULHAM FIRST-team manager Felix Magath believes a change of management was needed to keep the club in the Premier League.

The German took the reins at Craven Cottage on Friday, with former head coach Rene Meulensteen, along with assistant Ray Wilkins and technical director Alan Curbishley, officially released on Tuesday.

Magath feels his arrival can spark an upturn in form for Fulham, who are bottom of the league and four points adrift of safety.

“I was sacked a few times also,” he said. “I know the situation. I’m sorry for each coach. It was late to change the team and change the atmosphere to have a chance to stay in the league.

“It doesn’t look like it worked well enough so I don’t care about the reason for the manager before (why he was sacked). I don’t know what he had done; I don’t care.

“I don’t care about the past; I have not an interest in the past. I’m here since last Friday and I look forward. I look at where we are at the moment and then I think how we can improve.

“Now is the time not to develop something but to make points. It is not enough to draw, we have to win.”

Magath — the Premier League’s first German manager — comes with a reputation for being a disciplinarian, but the 60-year-old insisted: “I’m a nice guy. I’m very nice.

“Ask Raul (who he coached at Schalke) about my work. Ask the good players and then you will get the right answer.”

The former Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg manager is in no doubt as to his number-one priority having arrived in London.

“We are in a serious situation,” he continued. “The next few months we have a lot of work to do to avoid relegation.

“But the first days here I have worked with the team was very good and I’m sure that we will avoid relegation.

“I’m proud to be here and I’m a little bit afraid (anxious) to stay in the Premier League. I think we need six victories from the last 12 matches.”

Fulham visit fellow strugglers West Brom in the Premier League on Saturday, and Magath, who penned an 18-month contract last week, hopes it can be the beginning of a lengthy stint in charge, adding: “I’m very, very glad to be here. I want to stay here for years.”

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