Thursday, December 30, 2021 at 6:38 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 18:45

Niko Kovac has been told by AS Monaco that his employment with the club is over, so report L’Equipe and RMC Sports. The trainer, who led the Monegasques to third place last season, will be fired due to the disappointing performance. It is the second manager dismissal in Ligue 1 this Thursday, as Troyes also said goodbye to Laurent Battles.

Kovac had a pretty good first season with Monaco and competed for the championship until the end of the competition. In the end, the Croatian coach and his team had to acknowledge his superiority in national champion Lille OSC and number two Paris Saint-Germain. The current season started with a huge blow for Kovac, when Monaco failed to reach the main draw of the Champions League in August. Shakhtar Donetsk was just too strong in the play-offs, partly because Myron Boadu hit the post in the final game.

Monaco was therefore sentenced to the group stage of the Europa League and achieved a handsome second place in its group behind Real Sociedad, by keeping PSV and Sturm Graz behind. In the national competition, however, it has not been running all season and currently a disappointing sixth place is occupied. Leader Paris Saint-Germain is at a distance of no less than seventeen points.

For Boadu, Kovac’s resignation will come as a disappointment. The striker who came over from AZ last summer is having a hard time at Monaco and only scored 2 times in 25 appearances for les Rouges et Blancs. Still, Kovac retained his confidence in Boadu, who could count on at least one substitute for almost every match.