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Some Bayern stars 鈥榳anted Kovac gone鈥
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Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness has revealed club bosses decided to part company with head coach Niko Kovac because some of the Bundesliga club鈥檚 stars wanted him out.
Kovac, 48, was dismissed by Bayern last Sunday in the wake of a 1-5 thrashing at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Interim coach Hansi Flick oversaw a 2-0 home win over Olympiakos in midweek, with Bayern qualifying for the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League with two games left, and Saturday鈥檚 4-0 league thrashing of Dortmund at Allianz Arena.
Kovac won the Bundesliga and cup double last season, but was sacked after 16 months and Hoeness confirmed to broadcaster ZDF late on Saturday the Croatian coach had lost the backing of his dressing room.
鈥淭here were certainly elements within the team that wanted the coach gone,鈥 revealed Hoeness without naming who, although forward Thomas Mueller had said he was unhappy to be repeatedly benched by Kovac.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the club leaders reacted accordingly.鈥
Hoeness said Kovac himself admitted it was 鈥渢he right decision鈥 to part company.
In an interview with Sky earlier, Hoeness said he remains in contact with Kovac, 鈥渁s far as I am concerned, the coaches almost always leave as friends. He鈥檚 not happy, of course, but I think he鈥檚 also relieved鈥.
Hoeness, who will step down after a decade as Bayern president on Friday at the club鈥檚 annual general meeting, said 鈥渁bsolutely no decision has been made鈥 as to who will replace Kovac.
Both Hoeness and club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge hinted after Saturday鈥檚 game Flick would stay on past the November 23 deadline 鈥 Bayern鈥檚 next league game 鈥 which Hoeness had set as a date to announce a new head coach.
Both Ajax coach Erik ten Hag, who coached Bayern鈥檚 reserves from 2013-15, and Paris Saint Germain鈥檚 German coach Thomas Tuchel have said they will not leave their respective clubs this season.
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has also criticized Bayern鈥檚 lack of discretion for putting out a statement saying the club turned him down.
The 70-year-old Frenchman insists he spoke to Rummenigge by phone and only expressed interest in the job in a brief conversation when the pair agreed to speak again next week.
鈥淚 think we both misunderstood and I am sorry for that,鈥 Rummenigge told reporters, adding he will phone Wenger soon to 鈥渃lear this thing up.鈥
With two wins under Flick, Bayern has time during the upcoming international window, 鈥渨hich we need to get a clear idea what we want鈥, said Hoeness, adding the goal must be a 鈥渓ong-term solution.鈥
Meanwhile, Mainz fired Sandro Schwarz as head coach yesterday after more than two years in charge, making him the third boss to be dismissed by a Bundesliga club in the last week.
Schwarz, 41, was shown the door after Saturday鈥檚 2-3 home defeat to newly-promoted Union Berlin which followed last week鈥檚 0-8 drubbing at high-flying RB Leipzig.
Schwarz鈥檚 dismissal comes after Achim Beierlorzer was sacked by Cologne on Saturday, and Kovac was let go by Bayern.
Defeat to Union saw Mainz drop into the bottom three after losing eight of its first 11 league games this season 鈥 the worst start to a season in the club鈥檚 history.
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