Championship club’s manager on life at Bayern Munich, fighting
racism and giving money to help repair a local brass band’s tubas
Perhaps the most mystifying Felix Magath tale is the one concerning Brede Hangeland’s thigh and cream cheese. He also purportedly had Fulham players doing sprints on Surrey Hills the day before matches and Valérien Ismaël, who won the Double under Magath at Bayern Munich, has another peach of a story to add to the collection. “We got back to the training ground in the morning after a draw and the first thing he said was: ‘OK, we go straight to the pitch’ for a normal session,” he says. “It was 4am … it was a very big surprise because you are upset, tired and you just want to go home.”
What on earth was Magath like after a defeat? “At the time we won almost all the games, which was a good thing … that is why I only have good memories of the season,” Ismaël says, smiling.