Hernan Losada: what had to happen did happen

Hernan Losada: what had to happen, happened. And I’m not talking about the snow on a November morning…

CF Montreal announced about an hour ago that it had ended its professional relationship with Hernan Losasa. These are the exact words used by the club’s communications department.

CF Montreal ends professional relationship with Hernán Losada >>> https://t.co/GSmehwi5Nd

CF Montréal parts ways with Hernán Losada >>> https://t.co/PwmKWRPR8t#CFMTL pic.twitter.com/Zrjod0f6Ng

– CF Montréal (@cfmontreal) November 9, 2023

Curious minds like mine were quick to wonder whether this was a dismissal or a mutual decision(Jean-Charles Lajoie/BPM Sports, Mike Babcock/Blue Jackets, etc.).

I went to read the definition of dismissal on the CNESST website.

“Dismissal occurs when an employer, in the exercise of his right of management, terminates the employment of a worker definitively.”

Sounds a lot like the words chosen by CF Montréal in their morning communication.

Hernan Losada, who had one year left on his contract, has been dismissed by CF Montreal. His assistant Sebastián Setti has also been dismissed.

This means that Losada will pocket a salary in 2024 for NOT coaching CF Montreal. He had one year left on his contract.

What else do I take away from this dismissal?

1. Hernan Losasa should never have been hired in the first place. I remember that the day after he was hired, old articles in which D.C. United players criticized him for his overly intense training sessions, his coaching methods and (above all) his lack of communication (or poor communication skills) made headlines in Montreal. As in the case of Sandro Grande, one wonders if Montreal CF had done its research before making a major hire. And if so, why hire a coach who was openly criticized by his former players after he left. It’s not a common occurrence, let’s face it…

2. Hernan Losada had quite a challenge replacing a beloved, respected and successful coach in Wilfried Nancy. And all this without Mihailovic, Kone and Johnson. Then Miller, Camacho and others…

He failed.

3. His poor start to the season – due in part to his very different style of play from Nancy – could have been forgiven. However, his catastrophic end to the season, and the lack of urgency shown by his lads in the final games, could not. The day after the last game of the season, it was clear that Losada was no longer the right man for the job. Keeping him would have set back Olivier Renard’s project.

4. Sean Rea, Rudy Camacho, Victor Wanyama… there were several who stood up to the coach and paid the price. It couldn’t go on.

Not to mention George Campbell, Romell Quioto and Bryce Duke, who seemed to have trouble dealing with a guy like Losada! Without Choinière, Saliba and Sirois, this lost season would have been an even bigger disaster.

5. Constantly refusing to change your tactical scheme – no matter what the score – and always going with change for change also “exposed” Hernan Losada.

6. On September 23, after a loss in Atlanta, Jeff Petry Samuel Piette went on the media to say that the players were lost on the field, that they didn’t know what to do, that Atlanta was better prepared, that they were light years ahead of them, that they looked like they had an extra player, etc., etc., etc.

From that day on, it was clear: Dominique Ducharme Hernan Losada had to go.

7. Tony Marinaro knew something Tuesday night. I love it when we see his ass he’s talking to us in coded language, the Tony…

Over the next month and a half, we’ll be doing two more podcasts.

(1) when they announce the firing of the coach.

(2) when they announce the hiring of the new coach.

As for 2024, we’ll see… https://t. co/88ImyUPleg

– The Sick Podcast – CF Montréal Talk (@sickpodcfmtl) November 8, 2023

8. Jesse Marsch, Marco Schallibaum, Frank Klopas, Mauro Biello, Rémi Garde, Wilmer Cabrera, Thierry Henry, Wilfried Nancy, Hernan Losada… that’s a lot of coaches in Montreal since the team’s “promotion” to MLS (2012). The next CFM coach will be the 10th in just over 11 years. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The fact remains that no fewer than 11 coaches lost their jobs this year in MLS. Out of 29 teams… that’s a lot!

9. The process of (again) finding a new coach is already underway in Montreal. Could Bobby Smyrniotis be the next Montreal CF coach? Watching the penultimate episode of the Couscous Piri Podcast, I get the impression that it could happen… that Kyt Selaidipoulos could also follow him to Montreal. The latter speaks French and it seems Bobby knows a few words too…

10. Laurent Ciman isn’t going anywhere in my opinion. But I don’t see him taking over the team. For many reasons…

In closing, I’d like to wish Hernan Losada the best of luck for the rest of his career. The “poor guy ” was just about everyone’s pet peeve at the team’s last end-of-season review. Players took shots at him, he took notes, he tried to defend himself… but he didn’t have the support of his boss. Couldn’t/shouldn’t he have been fired earlier?