Prince Albert would have “perhaps left Kovac until the end of the season”
A few weeks after the dismissal of Niko Kovac by Monaco, Prince Albert considers that the departure of the Croatian coach was premature.
His speeches are rare. But Prince Albert II of Monaco has agreed to speak on the dismissal of Niko Kovac from his coaching position in an interview to be published this Sunday.
“Normally, we take stock at the end of the season and not in the middle. I was able to meet Philippe Clément, he is a charming person with very good results in the teams he has coached. I would have maybe left Niko until the end of the season. I hope I’m wrong, but I think it was a bit too hasty a decision”, explained His Serene Highness on Europe 1.
“Time for Change”
The sovereign explains that he was shown “by several arguments that it was time to change (coach) because we were not in the objectives that we had set at the start of the season”. During the winter break, the Belgian Philippe Clément replaced Niko Kovac on the AS Monaco bench after two years of good and loyal service. With him, the Monegasque club had managed to finish in third place in Ligue 1 last season, but remained in a disappointing 7th position at the end of December.
Before his departure, Niko Kovac had not met either Paul Mitchell or Oleg Petrov. The leaders had exchanged with the players, at the end of the session, explaining the reasons for the departure of the former Bayern Munich technician, in particular the non-qualification in the Champions League (beaten in the play-off by Shakhtar) and on the position of the ‘AS Monaco in the league (not once in the Top 5 until December).