The sack of Felix Magath as coach and manager of Schalke 04 put an end to weeks of speculation that all is not well in Schalke. Felix Magath replied through his lawyer,Ralf Höcker,that they are not aware of the sack. Hours later,Magath officially announced his resignation from Schalke 04.
The antecedents from the statements of Schalke and Felix Magath indicate a bitter divorce that might end in court. Schalke accuse Magath of transfer irregularities while Magath believe he did not do anything wrong. At stake is the financial compensation for Felix Magath which is put at 12 million Euros.
Magath came to Schalke with a mission to win the Bundesliga. In his first year, they finished second behind Bayern Munich. This season they are placed 10th in the league with the expectation of wining the FA cup. They also qualified for the quarter final of the champions league. He achieved modest success with Schalke.
The crisis between Magath and the supervisory board of Schalke has a lot to with the management style of Felix Magath. Peter Neururer put it bluntly when he said,“the things that Felix Magath destroyed as manager could not be repaired by Felix Magath as coach.”
Schalke 04 is a club with tradition but Magath could not identify closely with the club. He learned under coaches like Ernst Happel and Branko Zebec to be at arm’s length with his players and fans. His last-minute attempt to use Facebook to communicate with the fans was semi succesful.
In the coming days, i hope Schalke and Magath can settle their differences in peace.
Meanwhile, Ralf Rangnick is back to Schalke as coach. I wish him goodluck.
