Speaking on talkSPORT, former Fulham player Darren Bent recalled the harsh dressing room punishments imposed by Magath when he was in charge of Fulham. Bent revealed that one of the worst punishments he experienced was Magath's unique style of punishment, which included making players continue to work on Sundays after playing a 90-minute game on a Saturday with intense physical training.
According to Bent, if a player performed poorly in a match, Magath would take the ball into the locker room, show them how bad they were doing, and in the subsequent training session cancel the planned program and instead perform "fartleks", which is alternating fast and slow running. The training, which was carried out by Magath and the fitness coach, required the players to quickly change their running speeds when they heard the whistle, and lasted for an hour. Even senior players such as Scott Parker, Brad Hangeland and Steve Sidwell, as well as Bent himself and John Rees, had to undergo this training on the Sunday after Saturday's game.
Bent stated that these punitive measures by Magath have disheartened the players and ultimately led to him losing control of the dressing room. Bent's partner Andy Goldstein agrees, suggesting that the players may have become resistant to playing for Magath as a result. Bent, on the other hand, was adamant that Magath did lose the support of the dressing room, which directly led to Fulham's relegation.
