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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. 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." Roger Clemens Jersey . Nowitzki scored 28 points, Harris had a season-high 14 for the second straight game and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Detroit Pistons 116-106 Sunday night. Bud Norris Jersey . Adding playoff teams. Monitoring instant replay from league headquarters. Possibly creating a set of guidelines to prevent locker-room bullying. http://www.bluejaysonline.com/blue-jays-paul-molitor-jersey/ . And follow TSN.ca right through Wednesdays 3pm et trade deadline for all the updates. Blue line help for Red Wings? In addition to what he reported in Insider Trading, TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun wrote on ESPN. Roberto Alomar Blue Jays Jersey . Both moves were announced Tuesday. The Titans had waived Matthews on Saturday when they promoted wide receiver Michael Preston from the practice squad. Clayton Richard Jersey . This week, they discuss the NCAAs revenue sharing, Don Zimmer, soccer language and Super Bowl 50.MONTREAL -- Kelly Murumets calls herself a mediocre tennis player who loves the game. Now she will get to run what may be Canadas hottest sport. The Toronto resident was named president and chief executive officer of the sports national governing body Tennis Canada on Friday. She hopes to use the growing popularity of tennis to get more people playing at the local courts and to develop more Milos Raonics and Eugenie Bouchards. "We have experienced unbelievable success in the last number of months and years," she said. "If we can continue to build on that success, I think we can inculcate a culture of tennis in this country. "Its really getting the children and youth of this country playing on courts in their neighbourhoods, just picking up rackets and playing. Its really changing the culture of Canada." A lot of the presidents job is finding sponsors and raising money to finance programs across the country that may produce the next tennis stars, as well as running the Rogers Cup and other tournaments. She couldnt have walked into a better climate for that. Canadian tennis is on a high, with Raonics rise to a career-high 10th in world rankings (the Thornhill, Ont., resident is currently 11th) last summer, and with Vernon, B.C. native Vasek Pospisil not far behind at 30th. They helped Canadas Davis Cup team reach the world group semifinals in 2013, their best performance of the modern era. On the womens side, 19-year-old Bouchard Montreal had fans on the edge of their seats as she battled into the semifinals of the first grand slam event of the season in Australia this week. TSN reported more than four million watched the 2012 Wimbledon junior girls champions semifinal loss to Chinas Li Na. That sparked a run of ticket sales to see Bouchard and the Canadian womens team face Serbia in a Federation Cup tie Feb. 8-9 at the 4,000-seat Claude Robillard Centre in Montreal. "There is no more exciting time for tennis in Canada than right now, and wow, I get to be part of the team that will take Canada to the next level -- to the moon," she said. Murumets was introduced to the media by Tennis Canada chairman John LeBoutillier at Uniprix Stadium, which is part of the national training centre that helped produce Raonic, Bouchard and others.dddddddddddd The centre opened in 2007 under former president and CEO Michael Downey, who announced in September he was stepping down to become chief executive of the prestigious British Lawn Tennis Association. He took over that job officially on Jan. 6. A search committee found Murumets, who was president of ParticipAction, an independent non-profit organization that supports healthy and active living for Canadians. Murumets looks to have plenty of enthusiasm. She has no specific projects in mind, but will spend her first weeks learning about the organization and seeing what can be done. Her goals are "getting more tennis rackets in more hands more often, continuing to deliver world class tournaments and developing the talent that makes us all so proud to be Canadians. Beyond that, the (Tennis Canada) team will help me understand where we need to focus." Before he left, Downey had hoped to start a national membership program for tennis players, and to land a tournament for Vancouver to go with the Rogers Cups in Montreal and Toronto. "We were looking for a person that would bring leadership and who would develop quickly a passion for tennis, whether he or she was a tennis player or not," said LeBoutillier. "And someone who wasnt coming for a year or two and then moving on to something else. "The hiring process went very smoothly and the committee made a unanimous recommendation to the board about a week ago." Murumets will officially begin her new position on March 3. In the meantime, she plans to spend a week playing and taking tennis lessons in Arizona. She comes armed with a load of university degrees -- a BA from Bishops, a masters in social work from Wilfrid Laurier and an MBA from Western. She recently resigned from the board of governors at Bishops. She was also president of a telecommunications company before joining ParticipAction. "I wanted to change the world," she said of her social work studies, adding that she returned from private business to not-for-profit organizations because "I believe we can change the world. "We have a chance to inspire Canadians to be more physically active -- to pick up a racket and play." ' ' '