Emotional Magath eager for Fulham stay

Felix Magath described Fulham’s relegation to the Championship as “one of the worst days” before stating his desire to stay at the club.

The experienced German was bullish over the London outfit’s chances of remaining in the Premier League ahead of Saturday’s trip to Stoke City, but his optimism proved to be unfounded as Fulham slumped to a 4-1 defeat.

Magath, who replaced Rene Meulensteen in February, arrived at Craven Cottage as a specialist at avoiding relegation, but his proud record of never suffering demotion was brought to an end in emphatic fashion as Mark Hughes’ Stoke side consigned his former employers to the drop.

Fulham were woeful at the Britannia Stadium and the heavy loss against Stoke, coupled with Sunderland’s win at Manchester United, ended their 13-year stay in the top flight.

However, Magath was handed an 18-month contract at Craven Cottage and the 60-year-old is eager to mastermind an immediate return to the Premier League.

When asked if he hopes to stay at the club, an emotional Magath said: “Yes, sure.

“We (Magath and owner Shahid Khan) have to talk about the situation. It was clear that we have to change something, because I came here to a club that was bottom of the table.

“Things developed in the last weeks, but, as you saw today, they developed not so good that it was enough.

“I think, for my opinion, it’s one of the worst days I ever had but I will talk about the situation with the owner and we will start to come back.”

The former Schalke and Wolsfburg coach revealed that there were tears in the Fulham dressing room after goals from Peter Odemwingie, Marko Arnautovic, Oussama Assaidi and Jonathan Walters sealed their fate.

Kieran Richardson had made it 3-1 prior to Walters’ goal, but the visitors’ strike was of little consequence and Magath shouldered the blame.

“Nobody says a word (in the dressing room), everybody looks down,” he said. “(There were) some tears, I have to take the responsibility and I apologise not only for today, but for not managing the situation.

“I was convinced we would stay in the league, but now we are relegated.”