Wolfsburg coach Felix Magath has fined two players ?10,000 ($14,200) each for failing to carry out his tactical instructions during a Bundesliga game.
Kicker magazine said Monday that strikers Patrick Helmes and Mario Mandzukic were fined following Wolfsburg's 4-1 loss at Borussia Moenchengladbach on Aug. 18.
''What's happening in Wolfsburg is purely arbitrary. A global company like (Wolfsburg sponsor) Volkswagen certainly doesn't carry on like that with its employees,'' Helmes' agent Gerd vom Bruch told German daily Bild. ''Mr. Magath is destroying club capital. It's just cynical ... He has probably gone over his dual role as coach and manager.''
Magath is known as ''Quaelix'' in Germany, in a play on his name and the verb quaelen, which means to torture.
The 27-year-old Helmes - who scored twice in four Bundesliga games - has been training alone since Thursday.
''He still isn't running enough,'' Magath told the club's website. ''We're going to continue working this way so he comes into form. But of course he has a chance to get back into the squad soon.''
Helmes - who has 13 caps for Germany - had been linked with a move away from Wolfsburg, but failed to secure a deal before the transfer window closed.
