CF Montreal announced Thursday that it had terminated its professional relationship with Hernan Losada as head coach, effective immediately.
“Following the evaluation of the season, it was determined that this decision is optimal for the club with a view to the 2024 season and subsequent seasons,” read the press release sent by the team.
The vice-president and chief sports officer, Olivier Renard, will meet with members of the media to discuss the situation starting at 1 p.m. this afternoon at the Nutrilait Center.
The selection process for the next head coach for the 2024 season is underway, said CF Montreal.
Losada, who was hired on December 21, 2022, was CF Montreal’s ninth head coach since its jump to MLS in 2012.
Assistant coach Sebastian Setti was also relieved of his duties.
These decisions are not surprising, however.
Already, during the Montreal club’s end-of-season review on October 24, Renard did not hide from saying that he had not been satisfied with his men’s season.
“No, I’m not satisfied. Even if we had been able to qualify for the playoffs, I would have had the same answer,” he said.
His club was eliminated from the MLS playoffs after losing 2-1 at Columbus in the season finale and watching the New York Red Bulls score on a penalty shot in stoppage time. the second half of a duel presented at the same time in Nashville.
This honesty from the vice-president of the sports directorate of the Bleu-blanc-noir should in itself have caused a lot of ink to flow, but it was only incidental to what had previously been said at the microphone.
After Quebecers Mathieu Choinière and Jonathan Sirois won individual trophies, designated player Victor Wanyama ignited the situation by openly blaming Losada for his lack of communication.
So, in theory, Losada was under contract for the next season, but his future with the team was far from assured. This was confirmed by CF Montreal on Thursday morning.