LONDON -- Fulham fired manager Rene Meulensteen and appointed Felix Magath on Friday, saying "action was required" in its bid to

LONDON -- Fulham fired manager Rene Meulensteen and appointed Felix Magath on Friday, saying "action was required" in its bid to avoid relegation from the Premier League. Chukwuma Okorafor Steelers Jersey . Magath, who has won three Bundesliga titles as a coach, signed an 18-month contract, the London club said in a statement. The German has a reputation for brutal training and fitness methods. His nicknames include "Torturer" and "Saddam." Fulhams statement failed to mention Meulensteen at all, but he later said he had been relieved of his duties after less than three months in the job. "They have hit the panic button on emotion and fear -- but hey ho, thats football," Meulensteen told the BBC. The firing came as a shock to many because the Dutchman appeared to be turning things around, getting a result against Manchester United and putting in a good effort against Liverpool despite losing in the last minute. But it wasnt enough for Fulham owner and chairman Shahid Khan. "Our club has shown promise in recent matches, but the fact is we have not won a league match since Jan. 1," Khan said. "Given our form, we can no longer merely hope that our fortunes will finally turn. And with 12 matches remaining and at least four points separating us from safety, we certainly can no longer post empty results. Action was required." The club is bottom of the table with 20 points from 26 matches. Magath has vast Bundesliga coaching experience, guiding Bayern Munich to back-to-back titles in 2005 and 2006, and lifting the league trophy again with Wolfsburg in 2009. He has also coached other German teams, including Hamburg and Schalke. But he has never managed in the Premier League. The 60-year-old Magath recently ruled out becoming coach again at Hamburg, which is in its own relegation battle and which he led to European glory as a player. He hasnt coached since leaving Wolfsburg in October 2012. "Here we go again. Im coming back into football," Magath said on his Facebook account. "I am manager of Fulham with immediate effect. Its a fantastic working environment for any coach and footballer." Khan welcomed the Germans experience, saying he had faith Magath could lift Fulham out of the relegation zone. "Im especially impressed with the reputation Felix has for coming into clubs at difficult times, often late in the season, and lifting them to their potential and beyond," Khan said. "Felix knows that is precisely the task awaiting him at Fulham, and he made it abundantly clear that he wants and is ready for the opportunity." Fulham said it would make an announcement soon about the clubs backroom staff. The teams next match is Saturday at West Bromwich Albion, which sits four points above the Cottagers in 17th place. Meulensteen, who previously worked under Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, was hired as Fulham manager after Martin Jol was sacked on Dec. 1. "I knew the owners were freaking out a little bit that there was the possibility of the club going down," Meulensteen told the BBC. "The way forward that we have discussed with the club was about longevity and in this case it is clearly an act of fear." Fulham held United to a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford on Sunday, but the team was beaten by a late penalty in a 3-2 loss to Liverpool on Wednesday at Craven Cottage. "I have not had a lot of time and people who came to the Manchester United and Liverpool games could see what I was trying to put in place," Meulensteen said. "I couldnt care less what they put in the statement, to be honest." Joe Haden Jersey .com) - Pittsburgh Steelers running back LeVeon Bell, Baltimore Ravens linebacker Elvis Dumervil and New England Patriots punter Ryan Allen were selected as the AFCs top players for Week 14 of the NFL season. Custom Pittsburgh Steelers Jerseys . "Its way better than running gassers, thats for sure," the inside linebacker said Monday, when the Chargers started their third and final week of organized team activities, which are practices in shorts, jerseys and helmets. http://www.steelersrookiestore.com/ . -- The guys in green raced off the court and into the locker room where they danced and sang, compared whose shot was most likely to end up featured on "One Shining Moment," and checked Twitter to see who was giving them a shoutout. IRVING, Texas -- Tony Romo looked like the man in charge of the Dallas offence for the first off-season practice until the drills got a little more competitive. Five months removed from back surgery, Romo donned a baseball cap for 11-on-11 work. Theres no use in rushing, as coach Jason Garrett has been saying for weeks. Romo echoed that talk Tuesday in his first extensive interview since sustaining a herniated disk against Washington and missing the finale against Philadelphia with a playoff berth on the line. "I dont know that theres anything you cant do," the 34-year-old said in the locker room after practice. "You just want to make sure you dont put a high volume of numbers on it yet." For example, Romo says he has thrown at full velocity -- just not very often -- in his continuing recovery from surgery Dec. 27. That came two days before he watched from home while the Cowboys fell to the Eagles in a third straight season-ending loss that put them at 8-8 and kept them out of the post-season. "Its very difficult to watch," said Romo, who was under centre for season-finale losses at the New York Giants and Washington the previous two seasons, and for another one at Philadelphia in 2008. "That one obviously is out of your control. Thats what made it hard. Its amazing how big of a fan you become, rooting and excited about every little thing." Romo was further along Tuesday than he was a year ago, when he had surgery to remove a cyst on his back in April and missed all the off-season practices. He went to California ahead of his teammates for some intense conditioning work before training camp, and spent tthe first few weeks catching up. Sean Davis Jersey. "Im actually excited just about comparative to last year where youre just going into camp without having had a rep in the off-season," Romo said. "Theres some things I want to work on, and Ive been doing that in small doses. Now well get that ramped up here." Romo has a new play caller for the third straight season in Scott Linehan, who was offensive co-ordinator in Detroit before coach Jim Schwartz was fired after last season. Linehan and Garrett worked together for a season in Miami almost a decade ago, and plenty of the language will be the same. The new passing game co-ordinator is in no hurry to see up close all the things his new primary weapon can do. "Were early," Linehan said. "And the mental game that hes getting done with us and the meetings and the last four or five weeks when we started our off-season program has been huge. I know hes getting himself ready to go." There are daily discussions over whats next for Romo. "Certainly we anticipate him being ready to go at training camp," Garrett said. "Well evaluate how he did today, say, What do you think? Should we stick with the same plan tomorrow? What do you think about Thursday? Youre always trying to push the limit as best you can, but you dont want to do something where you go across that line and they have setbacks." NOTES: The Cowboys waived injured rookie free agent tight end Evan Wilson and signed guard Tyronne Green, a fourth-round pick by San Diego in 2009. Green has 28 starts in 41 career games. He was with New England part of last season but didnt play. 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