Magath poised to take over at Al Jazira

Al Jazira are expected to sign a deal with German coach Felix Magath to lead their team for the rest of the season, replacing Brazilian Paolo Bonamigo. Al Jazira, who won the UAE double in the 2010-11 season and took the President’s Cup last year for a second successive season, are placed sixth in the Etisalat Pro-League standings with 14 points from eight matches. They are going through their worst start in a campaign in the last decade. Magath has arrived in Abu Dhabi, despite the reluctance of Al Jazira club officials to confirm this, but Gulf News sources say they will sit with Bonamigo on Wednesday to reach a compromise regarding the settlement of his contract before announcing their new deal. Bonamigo only took over at the Abu Dhabi club in the summer from Pro-League rivals Al Shabab. Magath was one of the most famous players on the West German national team in the 1980s, as well as at his club Hamburger SV in the role of an attacking midfielder. He played 43 matches for his country and scored three goals. As a coach, he started in 1995 and went on to lead almost all of the top German clubs, including Hamburger, Bayern Munich, Stuttgart, Schalke, Nuremberg, Werder Bremen, Eintracht Frankfurt and Wolfsburg, where he was in charge until being sacked last month. His biggest achievements was leading Bayern to the German league and cup double in 2004-05 and 2005-06 — the first time that had happened in the history of German football.