Montreal Impact Head Coach Marc Dos Santos Resigns
The Montreal Impact have announced this morning that head coach Marc Dos Santos has resigned. Sporting Director Nick De Santis will take over on an interim basis.
The Montreal Impact have played 12 league games and have a record of 2 wins, 3 draws and 7 losses and have been the shock of the league this season. Dos Santos joined the team on May 14, 2009 and leaves with a regular-season record of 26-16-25.
Dos Santos told IMS in February when the team was in Casa Grande, Arizona for preseason, that the Impact staff had brought in what they believed to be quality players that would have the chance of making the step up to MLS when the team makes the transition in 2012. But the team has struggled in almost every aspect of their game.
It has been rumored in Canada that Dos Santos, who is a Montreal, Quebec native, was under a tremendous amount of pressure from team owner Joey Saputo and it was believed if he didn’t get a result in the June 18th home game against the Fort Lauderdale Strikers he would be released. The Impact tied that game and earned a point.
This past weekend the Impact traveled to Edmonton. The Eddies had lost to the Impact in the two prior matchups this season. But expansion club FC Edmonton, who have been playing extremely well in their first season, defeated the Impact 1-0.
“I’ve accepted Marc’s resignation, because the team is having a difficult and unacceptable sequence,” said club president and owner Joey Saputo. “This is too important of a year to let it go like this. From the start of the season, I said it was important to finish our journey in second division on a positive note in order to start MLS on a high. Our goal today hasn’t changed, we want to make the playoffs and get as far as possible.”
Sporting Director Nick De Santis (left) with Director of Soccer Operations Matt Jordon. Photo by Brian Quarstad.
“The technical staff in place will be led by Nick De Santis,” added Joey Saputo. “Following Marc’s departure and after analyzing our current situation as a club, this is our best short-term option. Additionally, being with the team everyday, Nick will get the chance to evaluate the group. I am confident that our coaches will straighten up the situation. I want to thank Marc for his services over the last five years with the club. I wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”
De Santis was suspended for the first six NASL league matches this season after an incident last fall. The Impact sporting director lost his temper in a controversial playoff win for the RailHawks in Cary, NC., and chased after the referee crew after the game. He was also fined $1,500 for his actions. The USSF investigated the incident and deemed De Santis responsible for instigating the incident which resulted in 3 other Impact players being fined and/or suspended. The Impact organization was also fined by the league $5,000 for failure to control its players and Technical Director.
De Santis coached the Impact from 2004 through the beginning of 2008 when he was relieved of his duties after a poor start to the season. The team won the USL Commissioners Cup in 2005 and 2006 while De Santis was coach. He has a 69-30-29 record with the club.
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Is Montreal’s home game attendance worsening?
No. Why do you ask? Full house every time.
If their attendance was worsening, I would suggest that their entrance to the MLS be reconsidered (if that is even possible). Do you have any recent attendance numbers for them?
Sorry Jon, but that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Why would they withdraw from MLS because attendance went down when they were having a bad season?
Look at the Toronto Lynx attendance before they went to MLS. How about Seattle’s attendance before they went to MLS? As Portland has shown, a good attendance is certainly helpful in bringing things forward. But as Toronto, Vancouver and Seattle has proven just being MLS will draw lots of new fans. Montreal is a solid soccer town and MLS wants them as well. Nothing will change, even if they were drawing 100 fans a game. Montreal is in MLS in 2012.
The team’s issue now is sorting things out for a smooth transition into 2012.
All NASL stats, including attendance (scroll to bottom).
http://nasl.com/index.php?id=228
Peace and futbol.
Fair enough. I like learning more about how the whole system works. It is good to hear that MLS wants them too. It is just a little unusual for a team currently in second place in the second division to be moving up to the first division. I have become accustomed to the promotion/relegation system in Europe after following it for years.
“It is just a little unusual for a team currently in second [to last] place in the second division to be moving up to the first division.”
Montreal is in 2nd to last place, (7th) in 2nd division. And yes, since we have no pro/rel and should have at this point in time, anyone with a good projected fan base and the cash has been able to move up. It cost the Impact $45 Million to do so. The 20th MLS team is projected at $60-70 Mill but I am guess that will be closer to $55 to 60.
You also need to look at the history of Montreal and the passion of their fans. Over the years Montreal has fielded some very good teams and made a deep run in the CONCACAF Champions League in 2009. Win loss record really has nothing to do with moving to MLS since player personal will most likely turn over almost completely.
I’d like to see them try to get the Railhawks Martin Rennie for the job. He’s been so successful in the lower leagues he’s certainly deserves a shot at an MLS job.
Apparently by mid-August we’ll know who the new coach will be. The one that will be hired for MLS, that is. Word is that there are 4 candidates the club is seriously looking at, and if we go by what’s been said in the local press, the club is looking at coaches with MLS experience.
Martin and Marc were friends. I think he may have been a bit too close to the situation and from what I’m hearing they may end up looking for someone with more proven MLS experience.
Frankie, you got your comment up while I was typing mine. Agreed and that’s what I am hearing.
“I like learning more about how the whole system works.”
-Jon S
Bro, let me break it down for you. Here is how the MLS system works:
If you have boatload of ca$h and it appears that your club will be kind of “sexy” in some way or form, then your club or your market get to move up to MLS.
“I have become accustomed to the promotion/relegation system in Europe after following it for years.”
In some places in Europe, they also have nudity in come European commecials and riots over cutbacks in austerity programs. And they have a trapezoid for the lane in basketball.
We’re just a little behind our cousins over there.
We’re just not quite there yet.
De Santis.
Again…
I can’t wait to see who Uncle Joey brings in to coach the Impact as they enter into the Brave New World.
Hey. Earth to Quebec:
It might not be the coach–it might be the PLAYERS?!?!
Well I think it’s got to be some of that, too.
A lot of people are hoping the team gets completely re-vamped.
@ yankiboy
Funny thing about those players… At the beginning of this season, everyone (and I mean everyone) looked at the Montreal roster and went; “Whoa, this looks like a dangerous team.”
Somehow, something went sideways.
Maybe I know what that team could look like, when it is firing on all cylinders because I am an Edmonton fan.
Actually, I think the problem with the players is that there’s no cohesion between them. Most of the new players aren’t team players (maybe people who watched the game against Edmonton have seen Ech Chergui pushing the hand of another Impact player wanting to encourage him when he was subbed?). The word is running in Montreal that Dos Santos never had the freedom to make the team play the way he wanted. De Santis was always forcing some of his players or tactics and was always present at practices, yelling at the players. The one who really needs to step down (or be shown the door) is De Santis. He’s been a cancer to this team since he’s been a technical director. He was an amazing player for the Impact, an ok coach when he decided to replace Lilley (his only good move as TD), but his tendencies to control everything and his lack of abilities to achieve his responsibilities has made him a nuisance to this club. If Joey doesn’t want to fire his brother in law, he should give him a job as a recruiter in Antarctica were he can only be a nuisance to the penguins.
That’s pretty much what I’m hearing as well, Someone in Montreal. Watching the team in Casa Grande was interesting. I think Dos Santos tried to be a team player but they have this really cliquey coaching thing going on between Mauro Biello, De Santis and Mat Jordan. De Santis seems to be running the show for better or worse.
I’m going to go with “worse”…