It was not a surprise that Impact head coach Mauro Biello was fired on Monday.
The rumours of his impending dismissal began weeks ago, and on Oct. 3 TSN reported that Biello would no longer be head coach once the season finished.
The team made it official the day Montreal ended its Major League Soccer season with a loss at home to New England.
The 11-17-6 club finished ninth in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs for the first time in three years.
"We struggled all season long. We never hit our stride and more importantly, this team never had a clear identity of play," said the team's president, Joey Saputo.
Biello had been promoted to head coach two years ago, but on Monday he and his assistants, Jason Di Tullio and Wilfred Nancy, were all dismissed.
"I know this is a difficult moment for him and it's not an easy decision for this club given everything Mauro has done for this team over the years. Having said that I also know he understands the reality of this sport. He was given full control to build this team and today after nearly three seasons and in light of these results we believe it's time to make a change," said Saputo.
TSN 690 host Tony Marinaro said the problems with the Impact were not solely the fault of the coach.
"They weren't able to find the solution and he wasn't able to put the right 11 on the field at the same time. And look it's not all Mauro Biello. It's too bad when a coach loses his job. I don't think it's ever one person that is to blame but they were never able to find their stride," said Marinaro.
The Montreal native took the team to the conference semifinal in 2015 and reached the conference final last season.
Saputo said the next coach will be unlike anything the club has seen before and he's willing to invest more money to find the right person for the job.
"We're talking about experience. The next coach has to have a certain experience level. And I'm not talking about, no disrespect to the coaches we've brought in the past, it's not the experience of a second division level, we also want a coach that's won something," said Saputo.
