CF Montreal coach pays the price for missing playoffs

CF Montreal fired head coach Hernan Losada and assistant coach Sebastian Setti on Thursday, a few weeks after the Major League Soccer team finished two points short of a playoff spot.

The search for a new head coach was underway, the club said Thursday in a release.

Montreal finished 10th in the Eastern Conference this past season with 41 points and a 12-17-5 record.

It's the second straight off-season that Montreal has had to look for a new head coach. Wilfried Nancy, a coach-of-the-year finalist, left the club last December to join Columbus.

Losada, a 41-year-old from Argentina, took over later that month on a two-year contract with an option for a third. He previously served as head coach of D.C. United in 2021 and 2022.

His successor will be Montreal's 10th head coach since the team entered the league in 2012.

Losada's side was eliminated from the playoffs after losing 2-1 to Nancy's Crew and watching the New York Red Bulls beat Nashville SC 1-0 with a stoppage-time penalty on MLS Decision Day — the final day of the regular season.

The loss to Columbus capped a run of one win, three draws and five losses in Montreal's last nine league matches.

Montreal struggled on the road all season, finishing the campaign with a 2-13-2 record. Only lastplace Toronto FC was worse, going 0-13-4.

The club's 36 goals this season also ranked tied for fourth-last in MLS, as last season's top scorer Romell Quioto played just 13 games.

“I'll be as honest as I can, even if we would've made the playoffs, my answer would still be that I'm not satisfied with what I saw on the field this season,” sporting director Olivier Renard told reporters at an end-of-season media availability.

“There were some very good moments ... but the problem is we only played half the season. Away from home, we were non-existent both in terms of personality and style of play.”

Montreal began the season with three points in its first seven games — the worst start in the club's MLS history.

Losada's men then turned things around with seven wins, two draws and three losses in their ensuing 12 games to put themselves firmly in the playoff picture before steadily sliding down the standings in the latter half of the season.