The Wanderers Notebook: Playoff fallout and off-season tidbits
It's been less than a week since the Wanderers crashed out of the Canadian Premier League (CPL) playoffs but it feels like a lifetime.
The club announced on Friday — less than 48-hours after the marathon match versus York United FC — that they were parting ways with head coach Patrice Gheisar. They also shared in their release they'd begun the search for his replacement, with the incoming coach also donning the title of sporting director as they restructure their football department.
The off-season, of course, is in full swing in Halifax as the players underwent their end of year medicals before going their separate ways. For some, it'll be the last time they spend in Nova Scotia as they continue to chase the beautiful game around the world but several key players — be it Lorenzo Callegari, Tiago Coimbra, Isaiah Johnston or Thomas Meilleur-Giguère — remain signed through 2026 or beyond.
So, without further ado, here's some tidbits on the Wanderers post-season fallout and news coming from the players' last media availability of the year.
Processing playoff emotions
Kareem Sow says he ruined his sleep schedule for the next three days following the Wanderers' dramatic playoff exit as he and teammates struggled to process what had happened.
"The day of the game, I think I literally went to bed at six in the morning not comprehending what happened and not accepting what happened. In my mind,, those three days after the game, I was still ready mentally and physically to be playing a game on the weekend, a Sunday game against (Cavalry)," he tells HFX Football Post.
He adds the Wanderers should've done a better job of closing out the match for either of their leads. But if there's a silver lining, says Sow, its how the squad banded together following Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé's penalty miss.
"The only positive I could see out of it, at the end of the game, nobody was pointing fingers. Everybody stayed together," he says.
Saying goodbye to their coach
Gheisar recruited most of the players on Halifax's squad so it's only natural they're still processing his departure. Players like Callegari, for example, found a home in Wanderers blue following a career marked by instability and broken promises. That trust from Gheisar meant something. Now, players will have to rebuild that trust with a yet to be named replacement and it'll take time to forge those connections.
"It's a big loss," Meilleur-Giguère says of Gheisar's departure. "He helped the club from bottom of the league to playoffs, every year, that's the standard. You can't say anything bad about what he brought to the city and the football community here.
"I came to Halifax for him. He's the one that welcomed me the best in the city and stuff and now that he's not here I feel a bit . . . it doesn't feel right, it doesn't feel good. I'll be honest with you: I'm sure they're going to find a new coach and he's going to be great but it's still going to take time to heal the wound that Pat's gone."
Meilleur-Giguère adds he understands the club didn't meet all their expectations. Change is part of football. And despite several positive metrics, results in big moments matter.
"I see (the season) as a bit of a disappointment and, if I use a big word, it's a bit of a failure for what we wanted to do," he says.
Delayed roster decisions
Typically, the head coach takes the week after the end of the season to debrief all his players and to discuss the vision for the following year. However, with Gheisar and the club parting ways so quickly following Wednesday's playoff exit, the future of all players on options will be delayed until a new head coach is hired.
The club has already begun their search but that's little comfort for players like Sow, who want to return to the Wanderers, but leave the province not knowing their future.
"Nobody knows too much what'll happen next year," says Sow. "It's a special situation."
He adds he feels like he's got unfinished business in Nova Scotia with the way the club collapsed versus York United. But until the club knows their new head coach, and what system they want to play, there's little to be done for players waiting in the wings.
“I want to return, 100 per cent, I made my intentions clear with the staff and everyone but we’ll have to see who the new coach is because ultimately he has the decision to make which players he wants to have, what system he wants to have," says Sow.
Julian Dunn, Jefferson Alphonse, Nassim Mekidèche, Rayane Yesli, Reshaun Walkes and Sow all have club options.
Players out of contract
The spine of the Wanderers is signed through 2026, with Meilleur-Giguère, Callegari, Johnston, Coimbra, Jason Bahamboula, Yohan Baï, Andre Rampersad and Ryan Telfer locked up. Several younger players are also signed long-term. But one of the big names on the hunt for their next deal is midfielder Sean Rea.
Rea has been clear this year that his intention is to explore the market. He told both HFX Football Post and OneSoccer his goal this off-season is to try and return to a higher level, be that Major League Soccer (MLS) or somewhere in Europe.
The truth of the matter is Rea has likely played his last match in a Wanderers shirt. At 23-years old, and given his talent, it's not expected that Rea will have difficulty finding a new home.
Vitor Dias, Gagnon-Laparé, Wesley Timóteo and Aiden Rushenas are all also on expiring deals.
Matt Fegan will have a new role
It's been clear for years that Matt Fegan's role with the Wanderers extended beyond sporting director. Although his new role wasn't officially spelled out in the release addressing the coaching change, the subtext is that Fegan will be responsible for a different dossier moving forward. Sources also confirmed Fegan remains with the club.
Fegan has long been at the cutting edge of the Wanderers' development program. Be it the International Summer Series, the friendly against Portland Hearts of Pine or setting up the development squad itself, these projects have been his passion. They've also been largely successful.
Roster decisions were made by committee this year, with Wanderers president Derek Martin, Fegan, Mark Watson and Gheisar around the table. But that appears to be a thing of the past, as per the club's press release on Friday.
"The next head coach of the Wanderers will have a clear mandate to build and lead a team capable of bringing a championship to Halifax and have full control of constructing our roster," Martin states.
That is a distinct change from the way the club has operated in the past but is also similar to several other CPL clubs, the most successful being Cavalry FC and Forge FC.
It also raises questions — yet unanswered — around Watson, who was brought on as a football strategy advisor last year, with an eye towards recruitment.
Wanderers staying the off-season in Halifax
Just a small note but a few Wanderers will be sticking around for part of the off-season. Rampersad, of course, has lived in Halifax permanently for some time but both Johnston and Meilleur-Giguère will be here for part of the winter.
Meilleur-Giguère says he'll spend the majority of the off-season in the city, aside from a trip two week trip to Montréal, before players start to return in January ahead of training camp. They've been arriving earlier and earlier every year.
Cover Photo Credit: Halifax Wanderers FC
