The Columbus Crew have a new head coach in their sights and it appears to be current CF Montreal’s Wilfried Nancy.
According to sources, Nancy’s 2023 contract option was immediately triggered by the club qualifying for the Audi 2022 MLS Cup Playoffs, which means Columbus would require Montréal’s consent to interview Nancy. They would also have to compensate CFMTL if Nancy left and took the Crew job.
Nancy guided Montreal to second place in the Eastern Conference with a club-record 65 points. During his two years at the club, they’ve played an appealing, front-foot style of soccer, taking over right before preseason camp in 2021 when Thierry Henry decided to leave.
Montréal used only one of their three Designated Player spots (Victor Wanyama) and were in the bottom third in terms of salary spend, according to MLS Players Association numbers, yet they performed above their class.
This ability to get a team of Montreal’s standing to perform the way it did this season makes Nancy a very attractive target in league where the “money ball’ approach is the norm.
Columbus has a squad geared up to make another championship push but underperformed under former head coach Caleb Porter this season.
“We’d obviously plan and want to have our coach in place for the beginning of preseason even though it is the earliest preseason we’ve had in MLS history,” Crew president Tim Bezbatchenko said two weeks ago. “From there, ideally by December, although whether or not that’s December 1 or mid-December we won’t know.
“Some of it will be determined by when we can speak to certain candidates, whether or not we are looking to talk to coaches who are still playing. That all factors in. I would say by December we’re hoping to have it finalized, but as we all know these things are unpredictable.”
