AS Monaco announced the departure of Philippe Clement from the position of head coach of the club on Sunday, June 4, a day after the side’s loss to Toulouse in the final fixture of another disappointing season.

The Monegasques were looking to finish the 2022/23 Ligue 1 season in the top five spot necessary to qualify for European football next season, having comfortably occupied fourth place in the table for so long. However, a late slump in performance saw Monaco finish in sixth place and therefore without participation in any EUFA tournament on the horizon.

The official club statement explains that the season concluded with a final ranking below expectations, which indicated that a change at the head of the first team had become necessary.

Meanwhile, the club’s sporting director, Paul Mitchell, wrote “It’s a difficult decision to make because Philippe gave his best and always behaved professionally. On behalf of the Club, I would like to thank him for all his efforts.”

Clement arrived at Monaco in January 2022, replacing Niko Kovac in a slightly surprising swap midway through the season, which the Monegasques managed to finish in third place. Thereafter, Monaco failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage and subsequently dropped to the next best Europa League, in which it was eliminated by Bayer Leverkusen in the play-off stage of the tournament in February, 2023.

The club says it is “giving itself time to reflect in order to define the coach who will lead the first team next season.” However, former Leeds United manager Jesse Marsch is already linked with the job.

Featured image: Philippe Clement