Monaco finally sack Thierry Henry, recall Jardim

Leonardo Jardim returned for a second spell as Monaco coach on
Friday, just over three months after he was sacked, the struggling
French Ligue 1 club announced.

Former Monaco coach, Thierry Henry

Jardim replaces Thierry Henry who was suspended Thursday and then
sacked Friday with the team second-from-bottom in the French top
division with just 15 points.

Portuguese coach Jardim, 41, has signed a deal until June 2021 and
will take charge of the team for Tuesday’s League Cup clash against
Guingamp.

Monaco chief executive Vadim Vasilyev said that it had been a mistake
to sack Jardim after 2-1 home defeat to Rennes on October 7 last year.

His departure, however, would have been comfortably cushioned by a reported 8.5 million euro pay-off.

“Today we realise that the story of Leonardo Jardim at the club did
not end as it was meant to. Leonardo should have been given an
opportunity to continue his job,” admitted Vasilyev.

Jardim joined Monaco in 2014 and took them to a first Ligue 1 title
in 17 years in 2017. They also made the Champions League semi-finals.

“Our club is going through a very challenging period. I am ready to
admit that I personally bear the responsibility for this,” added
Vasilyev.

“We have to acknowledge that during the summer transfer window, we
sold too many key players and, despite considerable investments,
mistakes were made with respect to their replacement.

“This did not allow us to create a new, competitive team. The decision to dismiss Leonardo Jardim was also premature.”

Former Arsenal and France striker Henry earned the Principality club just two league wins since his arrival in October.

“I sincerely hope my successor will now take Monaco onto greater
strengths and I wish them all the success for the future,” said Henry in
a statement.

“It’s with great sadness that I part company.”

However, Henry’s departure will not come cheap.

He was reported to be earning an estimated 3.2 million euros a year.
With two and a half years still left on his contract, Monaco’s owners
face having to pay out another eight million as compensation.

“Thierry Henry is a football legend but due to a very unfavourable
mix of circumstances, including, above all, numerous injuries to our
players, hampered him from quickly and effectively leading the team out
of the crisis,” said Vasilyev.

Henry took over a team who were in the bottom three after just one
win in their opening nine Ligue 1 games and already struggling in the
Champions League.

For all the undoubted quality in Monaco’s squad, too many players were unavailable due to injuries.

Henry pointed the finger at poor pre-season preparations under
Jardim, and there were still a dozen players in the treatment room last
weekend.

However, in an interview with L’Equipe this week Jardim hit back at criticism of the squad’s fitness under his watch.

“That is an excuse from people with bad intentions. Either that or they understand nothing about football,” he said.

“You need no more than a month to correct a team’s physical preparation.”

Franck Passi will be in charge of the team for the weekend clash against Dijon.