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Olivier Renard to leave Montreal CF (according to Tony Marinaro)

Os*i! That was the first word that popped into my head.

What am I talking about? The very, very, very credible report that Olivier Renard and CF Montreal are over. Tony Marinaro (unfortunately) has good sources on this one, believe me.

It’s been in the air since last Friday, when Mathieu Choinière’s trade request loosened many tongues around the club.

I was quickly told that the club’s owner was behind Choinière’s trade request.

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Nilton Jorge then wondered if Olivier Renard would lose patience and leave his role as sporting director of MLS’s cheapest and least fun club to manage…

Syd Fowo, Montreal CF match describer on BPM Sports, then posted a very mysterious message last night…

Then, Tony nailed the final nail in that coffin this morning.

Three versions are possible (and logical):

1. Olivier Renard was ready to offer the $600,000 demanded by the Choinière clan, but Joey Saputo interfered. Renard didn’t like it, since he wanted to keep Mathieu Choinière’s services. He grew tired of working in such an environment and expressed his desire to leave.

2. Olivier Renard decided to trade Mathieu Choinière at the close of the mercato, since he knew he didn’t have Joey Saputo’s OK to extend him (at $600,000). Joey Saputo refused to trade Choinière, aware of his value to the club (but not willing to extend him the dollars he deserved). Renard and Saputo were no longer a match.

3. Faced with Joey Saputo’s stubborn refusal to offer Mathieu Choinière a competitive salary, Olivier Renard, directly or indirectly (with Mathieu Choinière’s agent), was behind the media leak (information about Choinière released by Tom Bogert). Joey Saputo and Gabriel Gervais couldn’t accept this and fired Olivier Renard.

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Who knows? Maybe the truth lies somewhere between these three possibilities?

It will be interesting to see when Montreal CF confirms this information and who they send to replace Olivier Renard. You can’t find a sporting director in the middle of the season by shouting scissors!

Will Vassili Cremanzidis leave with Renard? I don’t think so.

Will he be promoted to sporting director? Will he see someone else come in from elsewhere, someone to whom he will be right-hand man (as has been the case for some years now)?

Will Joey Saputo place someone from Bologna in Montreal? His son works for Bologna FC…

Who’s going to want to come to work with the smallest budget in MLS and the constant fear that your boss is going to prevent you from doing your job?

One thing’s for sure, the fact that several players were probably aware of Olivier Renard’s departure on Saturday, before going off to be slaughtered by Nashville FC. And Laurent Courtois’ two press briefings – on Saturday evening and yesterday morning – clearly didn’t have the same flavour…

It’s worth noting that Olivier Brett seems to think things could still work out. Stay tuned.

Breaking news

– Here is the Montreal CF starting 11 for this morning’s game against the Hamilton Forge (11:00am). #CanadianChampionship

– All those dark clouds over CF Montreal… the week Lionel Messi comes to town, it’s a disaster! #NothingOther

– While the CF Montréal is wading in the m*rde, the CS St-Laurent will be having quite a time tomorrow night at Centre Claude-Robillard.

– There are still over 1,000 individual tickets for Saturday’s match (Messi) for sale on the official CF Montreal website. The club has decided to sell its tickets 10 to 15 times more expensive than usual and obviously, the rubber band has been stretched too far. Resale sites are selling their tickets for less than CF Montreal is now. CF Montreal should have sold its tickets a little more expensive than usual, but not 10 times! And at that point, why didn’t they agree to sell more season tickets?

Everyone has the ability to pay, and right now, with inflation and interest rates, many people can’t afford to pay $2,000 to see Lionel Messi with their son or wife.