Niko Kovac has been sacked by Bayern Munich, the German champions announced on Sunday, after a poor run of form that has left them fourth in the Bundesliga.
Kovac was dumped by Bayern following their 5-1 hammering at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, their worst league defeat in 10 years.
Prior to his sack, the embattled coach admitted his future hung in the balance after the humiliating loss.
Bayern are now four points behind leaders Moenchengladbach after their biggest league loss since a humiliating 5-1 drubbing in April 2009 at Wolfsburg.
That defeat a decade ago eventually cost Jurgen Klinsmann his job as boss and Kovac could face a similar fate as Frankfurt shredded 10-man Bayern after defender Jerome Boateng was sent off in the ninth minute.
Kovac has been in charge since June 2018, winning the league and cup double last season, but could only offer a glum “I don’t know” when asked about his gut feeling concerning the future.
“I know how this business works — I am not naive.
“My feeling is not important, the ones who make the decisions are the ones you have to ask at the end of the day,” he added with club president Uli Hoeness and chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge sure to be discussing his future.
“After the red card, everything went out the window. Nevertheless, that shouldn’t have happened to us and it’s not what we expect from ourselves. We made too many mistakes.”
The 48-year-old said he would process “the solid defeat” on the journey home and would “get angry and disappointed on the bus to Munich”.
However, he also weathered a difficult opening few months of last season to eventually win the league and cup double.
“I didn’t give up then and I won’t give up now,” Kovac added defiantly.
Details later…
