Should Felix Magath’s rescue mission at Hertha BSC be successful, the new head coach of the Berlin Bundesliga club will apparently receive a whopping million-dollar bonus.
When Felix Magath takes his place on the Hertha BSC coaching bench for the first time on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) against 1899 Hoffenheim, he has a clearly defined task: to save the old lady from relegation.
The 68-year-old has eight games left, including the Hoffenheim game. Hertha only collected 23 points from 26 games in this extremely disappointing season under Magath’s predecessors Pál Dárdai and Tayfun Korkut, who lost his job last weekend after losing 2-0 in the crisis duel at Borussia Mönchengladbach.
This non-relegation bonus beckons Felix Magath at Hertha BSC
He had “played with the idea of getting Magath out of coaching retirement for a long time,” explained Hertha managing director Fredi Bobic at the presentation of the new head coach, who last worked in the German upper house almost exactly ten years ago. Magath was “never gone” for him, according to Bobic.
Should the experienced trainer actually manage to lead Hertha up from 17th place and prevent the bitter transition to the 2nd Bundesliga, according to “Sport Bild” he will receive a hefty non-relegation bonus. In this case, Magath would collect 1.5 million euros.
In addition, there is a salary of 500,000 euros, a total of quite considerable two million euros package if the rescue succeeds.
Felix Magath: Task at Hertha BSC “tailored to me”
Magath himself is confident about the challenge at Hertha BSC. “The task is tailored to me. I’ve already managed the turnaround with six or seven teams. We will manage to stay up with this squad,” he said.
At the end of the season, his team will be “at least one or two places” better than they are now, added FC Bayern’s former double-double coach.