It only lasted three months: Thierry Henry was suspended from his duties as coach of the Monaco team Thursday 24th January, for lack of satisfactory results.
“My future is not a problem”: less than five hours after his statements Thursday, January 24 in pre-match conference in Dijon, Thierry Henry has been sidelined by the Monegasque leadership , accrediting casting error and sight navigation.
When he presented himself at a press conference on Thursday afternoon, almost an hour late on schedule, Thierry Henry still did not know that his management had decided to suspend him from his duties of coach.
Before being summoned to the Stade Louis-II by Vadim Vasilyev, after his last training, Henry had already prepared everything for the trip to Dijon in Ligue 1, then to Guingamp in the Coupe de la Ligue, including his group of players .
Indeed, Vasilyev had imposed the idea of not returning to Monaco between the two matches, to create a commando spirit. Henry had subscribed to it, without the information being divulged to the media. But it will be Franck Passi who will lead this commando.
Convocation after training
Because during his summons, Henry was thus dismissed. A monumental slap for the top scorer in the history of the France team! The admission of a management at bay too. Three and a half months after the announcement of its signature with great pomp at the Monaco Yacht Club, it is the rout!
At that time in October, Monaco had just thanked Leonardo Jardim , who had taken a check for 8.5 million euros. But Vasilyev was sure of himself. He praised the ideas and knowledge of his future coach’s football.
Twenty games (4 wins, 5 draws, including a penalty shootout, and 11 defeats) later, is another story. Monaco is sportingly in a state of collapse and Henry has never been able to put on the costume, even if he deeply loves the club.
Beyond being locked in elitist game principles almost dogmatic (3-5-2 with very high sides, the obligation of a short stimulus on the ground, etc …) without any result, or even interesting content, his communication was execrable.
Between his strange reframes off the field (with Badiashile , for example) or on the ground, his statements on the situation of the club on his arrival (“I arrived, the club was in a state … I tried to put a lot of things you have not seen, “he said Thursday in a press conference), his demands on the workforce (” I’m waiting for an attacker “, he said Thursday after the Arrivals of Fabregas, Naldo, Ballo-Toure and Winner), Henry, little diplomat, was often mistaken. Up to his direction.
Billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev as a savvy businessman has therefore stopped the costs. Although it cost him another 8 million euros, because it remained two and a half years of contract to Henry, an estimated salary of 3.2 million euros annually.
Rybolovlev was wrong
In his vows before Monaco-Nice (1-1), on January 16th, the Russian recognized:
“Sports mistakes were made but we started to strengthen the team.”
He also highlighted the 335 million euros invested since his arrival.
The Henry parenthesis (even if it is “only” currently suspended), now cataloged as Rybolovlev’s biggest casting and timing error, will cost him a lot of money.
But above all, it hurts the image of his club at a time when he too is in great difficulty in the Principality, where he was charged with “complicity in infringement of the right to respect for privacy” in 2017 , then “active influence peddling” and “active bribery” in 2018, as part of his off-football judicial wrestling, which opposes Yves Bouvier, an intermediary and Swiss art dealer that he accuses of having swindled him.
From now on, Passi will have the difficult task of leading the team to Dijon then to Guingamp. But Henry’s ex-N.2 should only be an interim. Monaco is chasing a new coach. There is one who knows the club very well and still lives in the Principality: Leonardo Jardim …
