Arsenal’s great, Thierry Henry’s coaching at Monaco in tatters, as club decides to suspend him.

Thierry Henry suspended as coach after club, Monaco lands on 19th place in French League.

Monaco, suspends coach Thierry Henry until club makes a final decision on his future as club lands in 19th place in the French league, reports AP news.
Thierry Henry’s coaching at Monaco could already be over, with the club deciding to suspend the former France striker from his duties on Thursday while it makes a final decision on his future.

The French club made the announcement on Thursday as the club battles relegation amid rising tensions between Henry and players in the squad.

In a brief statement, Monaco said the former striker has been suspended with immediate effect and that assistant coach Franck Passi will take charge of the team’s training session on Friday. Henry only took the job — his first as a manager — in October, but the decision follows two embarrassing losses for Monaco, 5-1 at home to Strasbourg last weekend and 3-1 at home to second-division Metz in the French Cup on Tuesday.

In the Champions League, Monaco finished bottom of its qualifying group and lost 4-0 at home to unheralded Belgian side Club Brugge.

Henry recently persuaded former Arsenal teammate and Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas to join him and help the club avoid relegation.

Monaco didn’t state a reason for Henry’s suspension, but it came hours after the coach said he had excluded several players from training in a bid to keep only the motivated players.

“There weren’t too many at training yesterday (Wednesday). We’re in a critical situation, unfortunately that hasn’t changed,” Henry said at a news conference earlier Thursday. “At some stage you need lads who want to save the club, who are not just thinking of themselves. We’re sifting through them, we’re going to war.”

Asked who had been excluded from the squad, Henry suggested it was a significant issue when he replied: “You will see the team. There are too many names.”

Monaco is in 19th place in the French league and has a crucial match away to fellow struggler Dijon on Saturday, followed by a League Cup semifinal against Guingamp next Tuesday.

Henry has won only four of 20 matches. He arrived with only very limited experience as an assistant coach working with Belgium’s forwards, and had another lucrative role as a television pundit.

The former France and Arsenal great has been unable to inspire his players and has been openly critical of them, recently saying “honestly, I don’t think the lads realize what is happening” and that every match looked the same because of the number of errors being made.