Felix Magath is confident he has made the right decision in agreeing to switch from Wolfsburg to Schalke at the end of the season, although he admits the timing of the announcement could have been better.
Weeks of speculation over the 55-year-old coach's future was today ended with confirmation he had mutually agreed to terminate his contract with the Wolves and then signed a four-year deal to lead the Gelsenkirchen club from July 1.
Magath accepts he may have upset a few people by opting to leave the Bundesliga leaders, but insists the decision will prove to be the correct one.
"I believe there are good reasons for me to move to Schalke," he said.
"I have made a considered decision which may hurt one or two people, but at the end of the day, it is the right one."
As he did for Wolfsburg, Magath will fulfill the roles of manager and coach of the Royal Blues with both positions having been vacated recently by the sackings of Andreas Muller and Fred Rutten.
Magath took over at Wolfsburg in 2007, agreeing a contract until 2010 and laying out his plans to lead the club into Europe within three years.
He achieved that at the first attempt, leading the Lower Saxony club into the UEFA Cup by virtue of their fifth-place finish in the Bundesliga last term.
And they are on course to do even better this term as they currently lead the league standings by three points from Bayern Munich with four matches remaining.
Magath, who won back-to-back league and cup doubles with Bayern before being sacked in January 2007, has therefore surpassed all expectations in his two years in charge and will leave the Wolves in a healthy state.
"We have reached the goals we set ourselves far quicker than how we had planned them together when I took over here in the summer of 2007," he said.
"The team is young, can still be improved and has good prospects who remain bound to the club."
Nevertheless, the timing of the announcement could have an adverse affect on morale in the Wolfsburg dressing room - not to mention the fans, who will lose the man who has led their club through their most successful two years ever.
"The timing may not be the best," admitted Magath. "Obviously it would have been better if the facts, which have been known for weeks, could have been made public after the end of the season."
However, with the Bundesliga's worst-kept secret leaking out last week, Magath decided he could no longer ignore the issue.
"The time had come when everybody had to be informed. I am glad my decision is now finally out in the open," he said.
"The timing of this (announcement) has been forced upon me from outside. I did not want to leave the fans in the dark, I just wanted to protect the team by keeping my silence.
"Only one component of our success is disappearing, and that is me. VfL is so well established that they do not need to have any worries about the future."
Wolfsburg chairman Hans Dieter Potsch thanked Magath for the work he had done in advance of what could be the greatest achievement of any coach in the club's history.
The Wolves have never finished higher than fifth in the top flight of German football - the record Magath set by last season - and a maiden Bundesliga title could become reality over the next few weeks.
"We must warmly thank Mr Magath, already four games before the end of the season, for the development he has initiated over the past two years," said Potsch.
"Within a short period of time, he has achieved an extraordinary sporting success with VfL.
"We wish him all the best for his future."
The Schalke board today "overwhelmingly agreed" to appoint Magath and also offer him a place on the board.
He will take over preparations for next season from the current coaching trio of Mike Buskens, Youri Mulder and Oliver Reck, whose own futures at the club now hang in the balance.
Magath is expected to bring his long-term assistant Seppo Eichkorn with him.
Before Magath switches allegiances, though, he still aims to win his third Bundesliga title.
Wolfsburg face Stuttgart, Borussia Dortmund, Hannover and Werder Bremen in their remaining four matches and need just three wins to be crowned 2009 Bundesliga champions.
"Out of all the candidates, we have the best prospects to win the title," said Magath.
"We now have to concentrate fully on this big chance, on the possibility of achieving something that nobody would have dared say possible."
And Magath hopes the fans will continue to support him and his team for the remainder of the season.
"I hope my personal decision can be respected," he said.
