Magath's magic

It took persistent cries from the assembled faithful to drag Felix Magath out of the bowels of the Veltins Arena and accept the adulation of his fans after Schalke's last home game.

While his players trudged around the pitch, applauding every corner of the stadium, the inscrutable Schalke manager was seething in the dressing room at his team's cruel 2-0 defeat to Werder Bremen, a loss which ended their championship dream.

Despite yet another heartbreaking end to a season filled with hope, the Schalke faithful stayed beyond the sad farewell of their team to sing Magath's name.

Eventually the architect of Schalke's latest brush with Bundesliga glory was persuaded to return to the field where he was given a rapturous reception which clearly moved one of the gruffest coaches in the German league. Taking his own lap of honor, Magath was reported as saying that he had never experienced anything like it before, in any stadium

This was losing - Schalke style. The Royal Blues have been here before, of course. Three times in the last decade the Gelsenkichen side have finished as Bundesliga runners-up with that elusive league title still evading them, after 52 years and counting. But the Schalke fans have not been so deadened by defeat that they accept their fate. This is not why they stayed and sung the name of Felix Magath long after painful reality had once again sunk in. They were thanking the man for his latest stroke of genius in German soccer.

Magath takes mediocre team to the top

Taking this Schalke team to second in the league is no mean feat. Anyone running the rule over the current squad would have predicted mid-table mediocrity, with potential flirtation with the Europa League if they caught a few breaks along the way.

But, within months, Magath had turned them into championship challengers. And although he accepted that his team of journeymen and youngsters would always be at a disadvantage compared to Bayern Munich's riches, he instilled belief in them. This is why Schalke will be playing Champions League soccer next season at the first attempt under Magath, and why he is so appreciated by his fans.

Schalke is one of those increasingly contradictory creatures in world soccer: a big club with a huge fan base and equally enormous financial problems. Although money would have been one of the last things on Magath's mind while he was chasing silverware, the fact that Champions League qualification will provide Schalke with a 20 million-euro windfall will ease some of the debt constraints that hinder the club.

Life-saving injection of funds coming from Champions League

Magath may not see much – if any – of that Champions League windfall. With the servicing of debt a priority, his budgetary shackles in the transfer market are likely to remain chained to his ankles, preventing him from building substantially on this season's progress. He can't even look forward to cashing in on the team's rejuvenated striker Kevin Kuranyi - who is expected to leave on a free transfer.

But the pursuit of the trophy Magath held aloft as Hamburg captain in 1983 will certainly ease any pain the fans may feel about losing the championship race and make life a little easier on Schalke's bean counters.

The fans wanted to thank Magath for making it possible for Schalke to rub shoulders with the likes of Real Madrid or Manchester United next season but they also wanted to show their gratitude for what many say is a life-saving achievement for the debt-ridden club.

And some outsiders even believe that this overachievement rates on a par with Magath's last feat of divine intervention: taking lowly - albeit deep-pocketed - Wolfsburg to their first Bundesliga title last season.

Schalke resurrection on a par with Wolfsburg success

The Schalke fans know what they have in Magath, just as Wolfsburg now know what they are missing. Just look at where Schalke finished this season with Magath and where Wolfsburg are without him - in eighth place, and out of Europe next year.

Any team which can boast a manager who led Bayern Munich to unprecedented back-to-back doubles, as Magath did between 2004 and 2006, can count themselves lucky. And any team which lets that kind of manager go must have a certain amount of regret.

Royal Blues die-hards also appreciate that it took Magath two seasons to turn Wolfsburg from nearly-men into champions, and look forward to seeing what they can do next term. Decades of misery have instilled in them a healthy dose of realism, but no-one would blame the Schalke faithful for expecting more of the same - or even better - as long as Magath sticks around.

Bayern's Louis van Gaal may have waved his own magic wand over Munich in his first season as coach, but few will argue that what Magath achieved in his maiden season at Schalke is not at least as impressive. Still less will deny now that he's one of the all-time great Bundesliga coaches.

Author: Nick Amies
Editor: Matt Hermann