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Niko Kovac steps down as manager of Ligue 1's Monaco. /CFP
Niko Kovac has been sacked as the manager of Ligue 1's Monaco, the club announced on Saturday.
"AS Monaco announce that the club has taken the decision to part ways with Niko Kovac. The Croatian coach was informed on Thursday during a preliminary meeting," the club said in the statement.
Stéphane Nado, manager of the reserves, will take over until Monaco appoint Kovac's successor "very soon."
Kovac is the third manager to lose his job in Ligue 1 this season after Claude Puel of Saint-Etienne and Laurent Batlles of Troyes.
Saint-Etienne are at the bottom of Ligue 1 and Troyes 15th – it's safe to say both are having a disappointing season. Compared with them, however, Monaco are sixth and only four points away from the UEFA Champions League qualification zone. They'd only lost one of their recent 13 games in all the competitions they played under the management of Kovac, and that was the 2-0 loss against the Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain. The team even beat fourth-placed Stade Rennais 2-1 at home ahead of the Christmas break.
Niko Kovac (R), manager of Monaco, talks to a player after the 2-1 Ligue 1 win over Stade Rennais at Louis II Stadium in Monaco, Monaco, December 22, 2021. /CFP
Moreover, Monaco finished the two seasons before Kovac arrived 17th and ninth. In his first season, the Croatian manager helped the club to third in Ligue 1 but lost to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League qualification games.
Judging by his record, the decision to sack him seems a bit impatient.
Kovac's managerial record in Monaco ended with 43 wins, 15 draws and 16 loses after 74 games. He has coached three clubs, Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayern Munich and Monaco, since 2016, winning one Bundesliga championship, two DFB-Pokal titles and one DFL-Supercup championship.
