Felix Magath was in charge of Fulham for just over six months in 2014.
Fulham are currently in the race for automatic promotion to the Premier League and they play a brand of football under current boss Slavisa Jokanovic which is to the envy of several other Championship clubs.
In Tom Cairney, Ryan Sessegnon, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Ryan Fredericks, they have players who are ultimately playing at a level below themselves, but that wasn’t the case back in 2014.
Felix Magath took charge of a struggling Fulham side in the Premier League and he couldn’t save them from the drop. In his attempt to get them back up, he arguably made the situation worse with some bizarre signings.
Here we take a look at Magath’s first five acquisitions for Fulham in the summer of 2014.
Shaun Hutchinson:
Shaun Hutchinson became the first player to join Fulham under Magath’s guidance, and it started off the summer of bewilderment as not many had heard of the former Motherwell man at Craven Cottage.
The central defender ultimately disappointed as he made just over 30 appearances for the club in two years, before being released from his contract in the summer of 2016.
Hutchinson later joined Millwall where he remains to this day, and this season he has come on leaps and bounds as he now finds himself as a regular for the Lions during their playoff push.
Adam Taggart:
Australian striker Adam Taggart was next to join Fulham, and it was another one which left supporters scratching their heads. Did Magath know anything about the player – or was he recommended to him?
The 24-year-old didn’t make a single appearance for the club, and he returned to Australia with A-League side Perth Glory in 2016 after having a brief spell on loan at Scottish Premiership outfit Dundee United.
Taggart is currently Perth’s top goal scorer, having scored 20 goals in 38 games over the past two years.
Tim Hoogland:
One of the reasons for Magath’s appointment was to take advantage of his connections back in Germany, and Tim Hoogland became his first addition from the Bundesliga as he arrived on a free transfer.
The 32-year-old utility man, however, disappointed as he made just 25 league appearances before leaving the Cottagers after just one season – returning to Germany with VfL Bochum.
Hoogland has gone on to make 72 appearances for the second division club.
Kay Voser:
Kay Voser was another player from abroad who joined Fulham on a two-year deal that summer as the defender arrived from Switzerland champions FC Basel for an undisclosed fee.
The former Swiss U21 international also barely featured for the club, making just 10 appearances before returning to Switzerland after seeing his contract mutually terminated in February 2016.
Voser joined Sion before having a stint at FC Zurich, and nowadays he rather strangely finds himself in the United States playing for Charlotte Independence in the second tier of the American soccer pyramid.
Ross McCormack:
Ross McCormack was the most significant signing of the summer, as his reported £11 million deal from Leeds United somewhat kickstarted the big-money spending in the Championship.
Nobody had moved for an eight-figure fee in the second tier before, but after scoring 28 goals in 46 league games for Leeds the season before, Fulham subsequently thought he was worth it.
McCormack netted 38 goals in 89 games for Fulham over two seasons, but despite his best intentions, the team struggled in their bid for a return to the Premier League and he was ultimately sold for a profit to Aston Villa.
The Scotland international has since struggled at Villa Park, and he now finds himself playing in Australian for A-League side Melbourne City on loan where he has netted 13 goals in 15 matches.
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