MONTREAL – The Montreal Impact announced the nomination of Marc Dos Santos as interim head coach of the Impact on Thursday, to succeed John Limniatis in this role.
“After having analyzed the situation over the last few months, we have realized that the team was not playing to its level and that the positive results were not there,” said Impact technical director Nick De Santis. “The message was no longer getting through in the locker room. John will nevertheless remain in the Impact family and he continues to be one of our great team builders.”
Marc Dos Santos was the assistant coach of the Impact since June 10, 2008. He was also the head coach of the Trois-Rivières Attak for two seasons, in 2007 and 2008. Dos Santos took training internships with three first division clubs in Portugal: Boavista FC (November 2004), SC Beira Mar (November 2004) and FC Porto (March 2007). He has the UEFA B licence since July 2006 and is currently in the process of obtaining his UEFA A licence.
“It’s an honour for me to become interim head coach for the Impact,” said Marc Dos Santos. “I am ready today to take on these new responsibilities. It’s a great challenge in my coaching career and it’s a mandate in which I will invest myself fully. I have acquired a solid experience in the last years with the Impact and the Attak, as well as in Portugal. I will do everything I can for the team to be successful again.”
Dos Santos will count on three assistant coaches: Andrea Di Pietrantonio, who held the same functions last season, Mauro Biello, who becomes player-coach, and Youssef Dahha, who remains goalkeeper coach.
John Limniatis became Impact head coach on June 10, 2008, succeeding to Nick De Santis who in turn became technical director. In his first season at the helm of the team, he led the Impact to the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals and to the semifinals of the USL series. In 2009, the team had not won in its first four regular season games (0-3-1) and was shut out 1-0 by Toronto FC, Wednesday, in its first game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship.
Dos Santos becomes the eighth head coach in Impact history. He will coach his first game this Friday when the Impact will face the Charleston Battery.
Meanwhile, John Limniatis released the following statement through the Montreal Impact, "First of all I would like to thank everybody for their support when I was on duty as head coach. The management of the club, the organization, the fans, the media and the partners have all been extraordinary. I will never forget the moments I have spent with the Impact in the last year. Should this change help the team, I completely support the club's decision. In order not to interfere with the team's preparation for the upcoming games on Friday and Sunday, I will not make any further comments until next week".
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