Joey Saputo's loyalty to Nick De Santis has apparently run out as the Montreal Impact "parted ways" with their Sporting Director on Wednesday. De Santis had been a part of the Impact's organization for all but one of its years of existence since being founded in 1993. But after hiring their third permanent head coach in as many seasons and off to a horrible start that has the Impact with the worst record in all of MLS, ownership had seen enough.
Impact fire Sporting Director Nick De Santis
Head coach Frank Klopas will remain as head coach and take over player-personnel control.
“In business, the most difficult decisions to make are those made involving emotions,” Saputo said in a team statement, thanking De Santis for 20 years of service that spanned time as a player, coach and member of the front office. “I want to thank Nick for his dedication. He was a key element and architect of the organization, and one of the reasons we are in the MLS today. He’s acted as not only a great advisor, but was also a friend. However, we are in a results based business. Since July 2013, the results are not at the level of our expectations.”
Since joining MLS for the 2012 season -- making the jump after 18 seasons in various lower divisions -- the Impact have been one of the league's more tumultuous franchises. They fired head coach Jesse Marsch after an expansion season that showed some promise and then canned head coach Marco Schällibaum following the 2013 season that saw the Impact start strong only to 1-6-1 down the stretch before falling in the first round of the MLS playoffs.
Frank Klopas was hired before the start of the 2014 campaign, only to see the Impact start 3-12-5. Along the way their supporters staged a silent protest and have continued to show their displeasure with management.
While cycling through coaches, De Santis has been a constant. Although Saputo has shown a willingness to spend significant money on high-priced Designated Players, the rest of the roster has never been able to come together in a particularly cohesive way. Saputo seems to have effectively chosen Klopas over De Santis, as the head coach will also assume player personnel control and the Impact re-committed to him staying in charge through the 2015 season.
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