Laurent Courtois thanked, Marco Donadel named 11th head coach of CF Montréal in MLS

I’ve rarely seen such a short press release…

Courtois will be replaced on an interim basis by Marco Donadel. David Sauvry, Kobié Johnson, and Ludovic Taillandier will remain as assistants to the head coach.

The Champions League of staff, to use Laurent Courtois’ expression, didn’t last long. At least, it only lost its leader; the other coaches will stay in place.

CF Montréal is currently last in the overall MLS standings (30 teams). A tie and four losses…

Saturday night in Nashville, we may have seen the worst half of Laurent Courtois’ tenure as coach.

Even worse! CF Montréal has only scored two goals in five games… both in the first game in Atlanta. Since then, 411 minutes have passed without a goal.

Adding to this is the fact that Laurent Courtois often found himself at the center of conflicts (open or not) with certain key players on his team (Victor Wanyama, Josef Martinez, Matias Coccaro, Caden Clark, etc.), that he didn’t always have a cordial and respectful relationship with the media covering the team, that his plan was increasingly being challenged by members of the media (notably Olivier Brett), that his starting XI was (too) different from one week to another, that he didn’t seem to be a master of communication (even if he could come up with nice phrases that put some people to sleep), that he made the front office look bad (a.k.a. the owners) by not playing players like Bgaj, Pearce, Marshall-Rutty, and others, and that he was the only one to receive some boos during the launch event at MTELUS: it was clear that his time was running out.

And one can wonder if the club and Laurent Courtois weren’t already preparing their divorce last week, when we were told that the coach was sick…

Reminder: Laurent Courtois was not with his team on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday; Marco Donadel was in charge of practice.

Otherwise, one can wonder if the fact that the team was training just as well, if not better, without Laurent Courtois around may have made some decision-makers think twice.

I’ve said it several times in the past few hours: it will take more, it will take better. Will Laurent Courtois’ departure mean more and better? We’ll see.

And the roster?
When you browse social media this morning, you don’t see CF Montréal fans applauding Laurent Courtois’ departure. Why? Because more and more fans are demanding better quality in the roster first and foremost.

We’re aware that the problem is bigger than just the head coach.

The team’s designated player, the best-paid defender, and the biggest transfer in club history have not played a single minute this season. It’s a bit unfair to show Laurent Courtois the door in these conditions, but that’s professional sports. You have to find ways to win.

Let’s hope Marco Donadel can work miracles… but also that the injured players will return to the game and that the sports management will decide to inject some quality into the roster.

In conclusion, I want to thank Laurent Courtois, who, despite giving some silly and dry answers to my questions, gave a lot to the Montreal club. Good luck for the future, Laurent.

In a nutshell

– According to what we’ve heard, Laurent Ciman lost his job partly because he didn’t get along with Laurent Courtois and because the team defended poorly on set pieces. Courtois is gone, and the team still defends poorly on free kicks and corners…

– Jesse Marsch, Mauro Biello, Marco Schallibaum, Frank Klopas, Rémi Garde, Wilmer Cabrera, Thierry Henry, Wilfried Nancy, Hernan Losada, Laurent Courtois, and Marco Donadel: CF Montréal is already on its 11th head coach since joining MLS (2012). We’re still looking for some stability behind the bench.

– I think Laurent Courtois could have been fired at the end of last season if Josef Martinez hadn’t saved by article discussing sent a message to Courtois; especially since initially, Laurent was Olivier Renard and Donadel’s choice, the Saputo family’s choice…

– Marco Donadel can speak a little French, but a few weeks ago, he told La Presse that he could speak a bit of French, but not enough to do so every day. He prefers to express himself in English.

– The first team has the day off today. Marco Donadel will lead his first practice as head coach tomorrow at the Centre Nutrilait (or at Marie-Victorin if the weather is capricious). His first game in charge of the team will be played on Saturday night in Chicago (on RDS, among others).

– Gabriel Gervais will meet with the media this afternoon at the Centre Nutrilait.

– Nilton Jorge and Sofiane Benzaza will broadcast a CCPP réagit on the noon hour. I’ll be on it.