Clubs should be jumping to get Magath as boss
Scottish clubs should be jumping at the chance to appoint Felix Magath as manager, according to former Celtic kid Mark Fotheringham.
Magath has been linked with the vacant Hearts job in recent days, along with the likes of Neil Warnock, Stephen Robinson and Steve Cotterill.
But Fotheringham – who played under Magath at Fulham – reckons the legendary German gaffer’s CV puts his competitors’ in the shade.
“If I were making decisions at a club in Scotland, and a name like Felix Magath was put forward for a job, I’d be jumping at the chance to bring him in,” said the ex-dundee, Dundee United and Norwich City player.
“The man has had an incredible career, both as a player and manager.
“Just go through the clubs he has managed in Germany – Hamburg, Nurnberg, Werder Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, Wolfsburg, Schalke . . . these are monster football clubs!
“He’s won three Bundesliga titles – two with Bayern and one with Wolfsburg – and two German Cups. “For me, if I’m a club in Scotland and I get an application from Felix Magath, it’s a no-brainer.” M a g a t h’s reputation as a hard taskmaster precedes him.
But his fitness-first approach has got results almost everywhere he has managed.
Fotheringham loved his time under Magath at Fulham.
But the Dundee-born star – whose last job was as a coach at FC Ingolstadt in Germany – can reel off a list of world-class players who also benefited from his old gaffer’s methods.
“Felix has a track record of developing players,” said Fotheringham.
“It doesn’t matter which end of their careers players are at, if they take to his way of working, they will improve under him. “He has managed guys like Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Mandzukic, Philipp Lahm, Manuel Neuer, Edin Dzeko – there are World Cup winners in there. Top, top players.
“Then look at how he worked with Raul, who signed for Schalke because of Magath after he left Real Madrid.
“He got so fit towards the end of his career because of Felix’s methods and he got an extra few years at the very top of the game.
“All of these things need to be taken into consideration when it comes to Felix Magath.
“And I know he’s still got the hunger to achieve more because myself and the manager I’ve been working with in Germany, Tomas Oral, met him for coffee earlier this year.
“He’s raring to go, he’s fit as a fiddle, and he’s keen to come to Scotland. I think that’s worth serious consideration from any clubs that hear from him.”