Although it was rumored that Schalke will keep him until the end of the season, Felix Magath finally had to leave Schalke earlier. The Bundesliga club decided to sack the veteran German coach.

The dismissal of Magath was announced by Schalke through their official website, quoting from club chairman, Clemens Toennies. The decision was taken after they conducted a special meeting on Wednesday.

Toennies said that the decision was seen as something good for the sake of the club.

Magath, who won the Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich and Wolfsburg, could not maintain a good performance after bringing the Royal Blues as the Bundesliga runners-up last season.

This season they struggled in the league, and currently are only ranked 10th in the table. One good achievement for the club is that they qualified for the German Cup final and Champions League quarterfinals, after defeating Valencia in the last 16.

Before the sacking, it was rumored that Schalke had approached Ralf Rangnick to be Magath’s successor at Veltins Arena. Rangnick had not coached since January, after he resigned from Hoffenheim, the club he managed since 2006.

Rangnick is quite familiar to Schalke, because he managed the club in the 2004/2005 season, when he brought Schalke finished second below Bayern.