For those who don’t really keep a keen eye on football across the Channel in France it may come as no surprise to see Monaco linked with the likes of David Beckham and Frank Lampard but when you look a little closer to see they are now a Ligue 2 side you may wonder ‘what happened there then?’
Eight years ago Monaco played in the Champions League Final, although beaten for the trophy 3-0 by Porto the French side had knocked out Real Madrid and Chelsea en route. At this time Coach Didier Deschamps reinstalled ‘Le Rouge et Blanc’ amongst the big names of European football as they had been during the 1970s and 80s.
However, 2004 was the start of Monaco’s off the field problems sparking the exits of top players and Deschamps.
During Monaco’s downward spiral Club President, from 2002 to 2008, saw 6 coaches leave the club and regular poor mid-table finishes for a club that was used to tussling for the title.
Off pitches issues continued and despite two changes to the club presidency and board members Monaco’s run of poor league finishes saw them relegated to Ligue 2 after ending the season in 18th place in the 2010/11 campaign.
In the present day under the ownership of Russian Billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and the management of former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri, Monaco are setting their sights on regaining their place at the top of French football.
Sam Jewell