Monaco fire coach Leonardo Jardim, again

Paris (AFP) – Leonardo Jardim has been fired by Monaco just over a year since he was previously sent packing, a source close to the club told AFP on Saturday.

To general surprise the 45-year-old was reappointed in January, just three months after he was sacked and replaced by Thierry Henry, who oversaw a disastrous tenure.

French sports newspaper L’Equipe are reporting Jardim will be replaced by the Spaniard Marcelino, who led Valencia to the Spanish Cup before getting fired for rowing with the club’s owners in September.

Jardim found himself again facing mounting scrutiny in his second spell after a humbling home defeat by Lille in the French League Cup in mid-December.

In their next match however Monaco thrashed the same opposition 5-1 in the league.

The Portuguese landed himself in the spotlight in September as Monaco picked up just three points from their opening six games despite a summer outlay of 135 million euros ($150 million).

Five wins in six helped douse the flames but the abject display against Lille stoked fresh concerns about the direction the club, currently in seventh in Ligue 1, was heading.

In happier days Jardim led Monaco to the French title and a Champions League semi-final in 2017, before the club’s Russian owners cashed in.

They sold Kylian Mbappe to Paris Saint-Germain, Tiemoue Bakayoko to Chelsea, Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy to Manchester City, Fabinho to Liverpool, Thomas Lemar to Atletico Madrid, Djibril Sidibe to Everton and Falcao to Galatasaray.