The former Bayern coach Niko Kovac was sacked after only one and a half years as coach of the French first division club AS Monaco. This is reported by several media outlets with reference to sources within the club. Kovac took over the job in summer 2020.
After a year and a half, Niko Kovac will end up in Monaco. According to “L’Equipe”, the ex-Bayern coach was said to have been informed about his end on Thursday evening and was “impressed, but not particularly surprised”. An official confirmation from the club is still pending.
Kovac had done well in his first season with Monaco and finished third in the French championship. In the summer, however, the team missed qualifying for the Champions League against Shakhtar Donetsk from Ukraine.
Even after that, things didn’t go smoothly. The Kovac team around the former German U21 national goalkeeper Alexander Nübel and national player Kevin Volland lost against the top teams in Ligue 1. After the first half of the season, the Monegasque are only sixth in the table. However, second and third place are only four points away.
A lack of further development should be the reason for Kovac-Aus in Monaco
In the past few days there had already been rumors that those responsible were not satisfied with Kovac. The lack of further development of the team was a problem, it said. He was unable to raise the level of his team, nor did he advance the players individually.
The last game before the Christmas break Monaco had won 2-1 against the current fourth-placed Stade Rennes, for Kovac it should have been the last game as head coach of the Ligue 1 club in the Principality. On Sunday, Monaco will continue in the Coupe de France at the second division US Quevilly-Rouen Metropole. Last season, the Monegasque reached the final, but lost the final against Paris Saint-Germain.
From July 2018 to November 2019, Kovac was the coach of FC Bayern and won the double in 2019. The Croat had come from Eintracht Frankfurt and had previously won the cup final with the Hessians against his future employer.
