Just hire Bobby, already
It must be the offseason because CF Montreal is looking for a new manager
Last weekās news that HernĆ”n Losada was fired by Montreal surprised literally no one who has paid any attention to The Club Formally Known As The Impact over the years. This is a club that has had as many head coaches as it has had seasons in MLS.
Call it the Joey Factor, perhaps, but there are few things more predictable than Montreal firing its coach. It hardly matters if the guy deserves it or not. Itās just something that happens.
Truth be told, you usually can make an argument for it being the right move ā and you can here ā but taken collectively it is fair to ask questions. MLS is a league that rewards consistency. Changing your coach every year is the very opposite of that. Montreal has never been able to maintain success over a sustained period of time.
The dots connect.
Regardless, itās happened again. Iām not sure if the adage of beating a dead horse translates in French, but if it does you can apply it to any effort I were to make now at suggesting that the club change its ways. Until proven otherwise, a job in Montreal is a fleeting opportunity that will be taken away from you at the first hint of adversity.
Any coach who goes into the situation will know this, which means that Montreal can attract three different kinds of candidates:
Coaches who have no MLS experience
Club loyalists
Coaches who failed in their last job
So, where does that leave Montreal now? Trying to predict how Montreal will act is a bit of a suckerās play, but there is an obvious choice.
He fits the above criteria. He knows the Canadian player pool and he would likely be willing to go into the lionās den that is the Montreal head coaching job so that he can increase his profile outside Canada.
I think itās pretty obvious that Iām talking about Forge FCās Bobby Smyrniotis.
It was suggested to me that he was the runner-up to Losada last year (and that he was given some consideration for the TFC job, although they had Herdman in mind from the beginning). He has nothing more to prove at the CanPL. The only thing stopping CF Montreal from offering him the opportunity is a bias against the CanPL, really.
As I wrote last year, that bias is dumb.
Itās got to be his turn, no?
Maybe he doesnāt want the job. He might want to hold out for the CanMNT job and know that he has Forge in the Champions League again if that falls through. I suspect he would jump at the chance though.
I mean, who knows? Maybe heāll be the guy that sticks long-term in Montreal.
Stranger things have happened. I think.
This space is supported through paid subscriptions and magic beans.