Olivier Renard will indeed remain in Montreal. And this, for an “indefinite period”.
Posted at 1:41 p.m.
Updated at 2:25 p.m.
CF Montreal announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement with its sporting director for a contract extension.
Note: there is no end date to this agreement. The previous contract was due to close in December 2022.
“This new employment contract gives me the professional stability that I was looking for for my family and me,” the Belgian said in a press release. We love Montreal and we feel good here. »
Olivier Renard becomes at the same time vice-president of the club. He will therefore work within the management team of Gabriel Gervais.
The sporting director will nonetheless remain responsible for recruiting, signing and overseeing players and managing the first-team wage bill.
“The agreement with Olivier reflects a common desire to continue the collaboration begun in 2019 and now positions him at the heart of the corporate structure that we are putting in place,” said owner Joey Saputo.
A statement corroborated by Gabriel Gervais in the press release.
“Olivier shares the organization’s values and his appointment is part of a long-term perspective while promoting the stability necessary for the organization’s sports operations. »
Gervais says he is “very enthusiastic” about having Renard join his management team.
Youth turn
Under the leadership of the 43-year-old, CF Montreal has made a youthful turn. Since its arrival in 2019, the Bleu-et-noir has adopted the philosophy of “training club”. The club has thus prioritized local talent, while juxtaposing it with a certain balance in terms of arrivals of international players.
The results of this new philosophy are still awaited in terms of exports of these said talents. The last three years haven’t been too successful on the pitch either. The Impact missed the playoffs by four points in 2019. It then lost its playoff game to participate in 2020. The 2021 season has been the most encouraging: had it not been for a disappointing end to the season, a qualification for the autumn dance would have been in the pocket.
However, in 2022, success on the pitch has really started to take shape. CF Montreal is the MLS team with the most Canadian players in its squad. And is currently at 3e Eastern Ranking Rank. If we were content to aim for participation in the playoffs at the start of the 2022 calendar, we are now aiming without embarrassment for the first place in the conference.
Ismaël Koné, Sunusi Ibrahim, Robert Thorkelsson, Matko Miljevic, Gabriele Corbo, Zachary Brault-Guillard, Alistair Johnston, Lassi Lappalainen, Djordje Mihailovic, Mathieu Choinière and Mason Toye are all between 19 and 23 years old. They also regularly get game minutes, some more than others.
Other young people, like Rida Zouhir and Keesean Ferdinand, knock on the door.
“Since his arrival, Olivier has largely contributed to the development of the team,” notes Joey Saputo.
He refers to his “vision”, his “leadership” and his “flair” as qualities he uses to “target new talent” and “develop players”.
Before arriving in Montreal, Olivier Renard held the same position with the Belgian club KV Mechelen, from 2014 to 2016, then at Standard de Liège, from 2016 to 2019. Two clubs with which he had played as a goalkeeper in his playing career.
He had also worn the colors of Udinese, Modena FC and SSC Napoli, in Italy.