It’s been a rough year for soccer fans in the city.
CF Montréal has only won three games, including just one at home, in 24 MLS contests this season.
“We have not achieved the standards we set for ourselves or those you are entitled to expect. That’s why we felt the need to communicate directly with you today,” said the team’s three senior sports directors, Gabriel Gervais, Luca Saputo, and Simone Saputo, in a letter to fans published in La Presse on Wednesday.
“We share your dissatisfaction with the club’s results, and it is our responsibility to build a winning team of which we can all be proud.”
CF Montréal has had a rough go of it this season. Unable to win in the first four games of the season, coach Laurent Courtois was fired. He was replaced by one of his assistants, former Impact player Marco Donadel, who still holds this position today, on an interim basis.
Despite this changing of the guard, the losses continued. With a meagre 15 points in the standings, Montreal is languishing in last place overall in the MLS table.
The team has only managed to score 20 goals in league games. Only Austin FC has done worse, with 17 goals.
CF Montréal therefore has little to no chance of qualifying for the playoffs.
Adding insult to injury, the club was also bounced from the Canadian championship by lower-level Hamilton-based Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League.
In these tough circumstances, the team reaffirmed its intention to embark on a reconstruction.
“We have made the decision to undertake a rebuild and launch a new chapter at CF Montréal. A chapter built on ambition and pride. A new era that puts victory back at the heart of our sports management while valuing our rich history and the link with you, our 12th player,” promises the organization in its letter.
To “regain the trust” of its fans, the club promises “concrete gestures” during the next transfer windows.
At his last press conference at the end of May, Gervais explained that it would take two or even three transfer windows to rebuild the roster. This delay can be explained by the presence of heavy contracts granted to unproductive players, he said.
To compensate for future departures, CF Montréal will undoubtedly rely on youth, rather than on prestigious, and above all, expensive acquisitions, he added.
“We want to build with the youth, with local players, and supervise them,” said Gervais.
