With the jump up to MLS looming on the horizon for the Montreal Impact, a dreadful 2-7-3 start to the season has taken its toll. The club has fallen to 7th place in the NASL, and on Tuesday, head coach Marc Dos Santos resigned.
The Impact named current sporting Nick de Santis as interim head coach, effective immediately.
“I’ve accepted Marc’s resignation, because the team is having a difficult and unacceptable sequence," club president Joey Saputo said in a statement. “This is too important of a year to let it go like this. From the start of the season, I said it was important to finish our journey in the second division on a positive note in order to start MLS on a high. Our goal today hasn't changed. We want to make the playoffs and get as far as possible.”
Dos Santos, 34, has been in charge of the Impact since May 14, 2009. That year, he led the side to the league championship, the club’s third title. However, the club struggled to repeat the following year, finishing 6th overall in the USSF D-2 standings and falling in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.
Dos Santos departs the club with a regular-season record of 26-25-16.
De Santis, who made more than 200 appearances for the Impact as a player, returns to the head coaching role he held with Montreal from 2004-2008. During that time, he earned a 69-29-30 record and won the league title in 2004. He was named Coach of the Year in 2005.
"Following Marc's departure and after analysing our current situation as a club, [hiring De Santis] is our best short-term option,” Saputo said. “Additionally, being with the team every day, Nick will get the chance to evaluate the group. I am confident that our coaches will straighten up the situation."
