Fabregas dismayed by Henry exit as Jardim 'starts from scratch'

Cesc Fabregas revealed his frustration at Thierry Henry's sacking as Monaco coach, with Leonardo Jardim preparing to "start from scratch" as he returns.

Former Chelsea midfielder Fabregas joined Monaco earlier this month to link up with ex-Arsenal team-mate Henry, but the Premier League great was dismissed from his first senior coaching job as the club remain in Ligue 1 relegation trouble.

Despite the team's poor form, Fabregas did not expect Henry to depart and outlined the difficulty of his situation, although he backed the Frenchman to be a success as a coach elsewhere.

"One of the main big, big reasons for me to come here was that Thierry called me," Fabregas told reporters on Monday.

"Thierry knows me very well, he wanted me to be the leader of this team, he wanted me to play every game, every minute in my position.

"I only played two games under him, so of course, as you can imagine, the plan and the mind goes a little bit into shock for a few hours, for a few days.

"But above all I believe Thierry will be a top, top coach in the future, I have no doubt about it. And from my point of view, this is what it is. I'm not surprised with football anymore.

"All I can say is that I work for Monaco, I play for Monaco. I made that decision and I will give everything."

Jardim, only sacked himself earlier this season, has come back in as Henry's replacement and will take charge of the Coupe de la Ligue clash with fellow strugglers Guingamp on Tuesday.

Although Jardim guided Monaco to the Ligue 1 title and Champions League semi-finals just two seasons ago, he believes he is starting from a low base.

"I'm starting from scratch," Jardim said. "We forget what happened. The goal is to take stock, to make the necessary changes quickly to reach our objectives.

"We talk a lot about the method, but football is more complex than that. Football is the quality of the players, the group, the relationships, the attitude. In our situation, we need mentally strong players ready to work hard."