It would be over between Olivier Renard and CF Montreal

The vice-president and head of sports management of CF Montreal, Olivier Renard, would part ways with the club after four seasons, according to journalist Tony Marinaro.

The information was published Tuesday morning, then taken up by other Montreal media a little later.

Asked about the news, a team spokesperson said: No comments.

By videoconference on Tuesday, CF Montreal head coach Laurent Courtois asked him give a day before commenting on Renard’s possible departure. Nothing was communicated to me officially. As long as nothing has been said in Mathieu Choinière’s file, from one side or the other, I am not going to comment. It’s been a long weekend.

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If proven, Renard’s departure coincides with a troubled period for the Bleu-blanc-noir. The contractual situation of Mathieu Choinière has caused a lot of ink to flow since the beginning of May. The Quebecer would have asked management to exchange him. Then, last Saturday, the team suffered a tough loss in Nashville.

Promoted in June 2022, the Belgian leader, who sat on the organization’s management committee, landed in Montreal in September 2019, hired as sports director.

His departure would offer a mirror of the situation which prevailed upon his arrival.

Little stability

At the time, the CFM was led by Wilmer Cabrera, who arrived in August 2019 after the hasty dismissal of Rémi Garde. Cabrera only spent four months in the metropolis.

The first key decision of the Renard era was the hiring of Thierry Henry as head coach.

Henry spent a season at the helm of the club, guiding his team to the playoffs for the first time in four years, in a season turned upside down by COVID-19. Less than two weeks before the opening of training camp for the following season, the former French international left his post for family reasons.

Wilfried Nancy then replaced him.

The Montrealer led CF Montréal in 2021 and 2022. In his first season under Nancy, the Bleu-blanc-noir missed the MLS playoffs, but managed to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

In 2022, a 20-win record allowed the team to finish 2nd in the Eastern Conference. They were ultimately eliminated in the Eastern semifinals by New York City FC. It was the club’s best season in the league.

Questions about Wilfried Nancy’s return to the helm of the team had dominated the end-of-year press briefings, and the head coach ultimately chose to leave the CFM for the Columbus Crew, after an argument with The direction.

The 2022 season was also the most prolific for Renard. Djordje Mihailovic moved to Dutch club AZ Alkmaar, Alistair Johnston was sent to Glasgow Celtic in the Scottish Premier League, and Ismaël Koné moved to Watford FC in the English Second Division.

Since then, CF Montreal has been looking for stability. Last season, Argentinian Hernàn Losada, who arrived at the start of the year, was fired after a disappointing campaign, where the team was excluded from the playoffs of the MLS after losing 2-1 to Columbus in the last match of the season.

Olivier Renard had clarified that the too hasty elimination of his team was not the cause of Losada’s dismissal.

It’s much broader than that. We saw in the results that players were disappointed with their relationship with the coach […]. My decision is not that of the players. I took the temperature of the locker room, but it was not them who decided.

To replace Losada, Renard called on French coach Laurent Courtois, who managed the Columbus Crew B, the Crew’s MLS school club. He is the team’s 10th coach since joining the MLS in 2012.

After 10 games, CF Montreal has a record of 3 wins, 3 draws and 4 losses and is in 11th place in the Eastern Association.

More details will follow.