The first question of the Montreal Impactās offseason is, does this team have a head coach? A permanent one, that is.
Mauro Biello says not just yet.
After the teamās Audi 2015 MLS Cup Playoffs Eastern Conference Semifinal elimination in Columbus on Sunday night, reporters surrounding Biello asked whether he would be back next season after a successful spell as interim head coach. The Impact were eliminated by Crew SC via a 4-3 aggregate score following their 3-1 loss in Leg 2.
Though Montrealās turnaround in the last third of the season makes a strong case for Biello to retain the job in 2016, the man himself wouldnāt confirm.
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āWeāll see,ā Biello told reporters. āWeāre going to let things settle down after this loss. Weāll take the next steps and see whatāll happen.ā
Biello took over for Frank Klopas this past Aug. 30, with the teamās MLS record standing at 8-11-4 at the time. After a defeat at rivals Toronto FC, Montreal had dropped just below the red line.
From then on, Montreal went 9-3-2, knocking Toronto out of the post-season in the Knockout Round before falling to Columbus Crew SC.
Pressed by reporters on whether he thought heād done enough to secure the full-time job, Biello simply praised his group of players.
āI think the team did well,ā Biello said. āWeād won our last five games. We did everything we could to get into the playoffs. Sadly, our road came to an end a little earlier. But Iām proud of what the group did.ā
All Biello would confirm was that there is āno offerā on the table for now.
āAs Iāve said from the beginning,ā Biello said, āweāll talk about it after the season.ā