Afshin Ghotbi SACKED: What comes next for Vancouver FC? 👀 | OS DIRECT ⤴️

This week marks the start of a new chapter for Vancouver FC, as they announced Wednesday that they’ve mutually parted ways with their first-ever head coach, Afshin Ghotbi, replacing him with a familiar face to many Canadian Premier League fans - Martin Nash.

Nash, of course, spent parts of three seasons behind the bench as York United’s bench boss between 2022 and 2024, as well as an assistant coach with Cavalry between 2019 and 2021, making him a fitting name to step in as Vancouver’s interim boss for the immediate future.

Born in Regina, Nash grew up on Vancouver Island and is quite familiar with the Lower Mainland, too, as he had three separate stints with the Vancouver Whitecaps organization as a player, making over 230 appearances across the time he spent with the Vancouver 86ers (1995-1996, 1999) and the Whitecaps (2004-2010).

Also a Canadian international with 38 caps, the 49-year-old’s role with Vancouver will include helming their academy, showing that the club is looking to invest in him long-term, as they look to lean on his experience as both a player and a coach going forward.

“I'm excited about bringing in Martin as an interim coach,” Vancouver FC’s President and CEO, Rob Friend, said on Wednesday. “He comes with a ton of experience as a player, and he’s local, based in Vancouver. He knows this league inside and out, so it's an opportunity to recalibrate and look forward. Martin is going to bring stability, he understands this league, and with that stability, it’s going to allow this club to find the right fit to take this club in the direction that we feel it deserves, and that the community of Greater Vancouver and this league also deserve.”

In the meantime, Nash’s big focus will be on helping turn Vancouver’s fortunes around. He isn’t walking into the easiest of situations, either, as Vancouver sit last in the CPL regular season table with eight points after 15 games, leaving them with a lot of work to do over their last 13 matches as they try and narrow the 13 point gap between them and York United, who currently occupy the fifth and final playoff spot.

Despite that, Vancouver have another competition to look forward to, however, as they’ve reached the semi-finals of the Canadian Championship, where they’ll take on Atlético Ottawa across a two-legged aggregate tie.

That’s key to note, as it helps give an idea of what Nash has to look forward to in this interim role. Despite Vancouver’s place in the league table, they’ll look to push towards the playoffs as long as they’re still mathematically able to do so, while looking to put a bow on what’s been an impressive cup run so far, giving them plenty to play for over the next few months.

From there, Nash will look to put himself in contention to earn this job full time, something that Friend mentioned he’s not ruling out happening, even despite his hire as head of the academy.

“We've been fully transparent that we’re going to put out a domestic and a global search for head coaches,” Friend said. “We're going to run a formal hiring process, and in the meantime, we’re hopeful that Martin can get some wins and put himself in that window.”

In the wake of this news, though, Friend made sure to stress one thing - he doesn’t want to rush this hiring process. It wasn’t easy for him to let go of Ghotbi, whom he’s known for decades, but he felt that the timing was right, calling it a business decision.

Already in the aftermath of this move, Friend’s phone has been blowing up, so he won’t have a shortage of candidates to sift through - now, it’ll be all about finding the right fit, and there, he’s not promising a timeline to find that name quite yet, either.

“There's no timeline on this,” he stressed. “Everything we do is not reactionary; it’s not short-term. If the right coach doesn't show up right away, we're going to take our time, because we’re thinking about the next 2, 3, 4, 5 years here. This next coach that we find, they have to fit the model.”

In terms of what to expect from a new permanent coach, be it Nash or the other, it’s clear what their objectives are - develop talent, and to win games while doing so.

That’s easier said than done, of course, as it can be hard to maintain continuity when investing in youngsters, but Vancouver knows that’s part of the challenge of becoming the ‘football factory’ they want to be.

They’ve certainly shown that they’re willing to invest in youth - they’re second in the CPL in U-21 Canadian minutes with 4,245 in 2025, and have been the leader in that category since their club’s inaugural season in 2023.

Now, the challenge is to surround those youngsters with the right talent, as he feels he has a good base to build on, led by players such as Emrick Fotsing, Thierno Bah, Matteo Campagna, and Henri Godbout, just to name a few of their U-21 Canadians currently playing a key role on their side this season.

“We have talent, it just needs to be put together, and maybe needs to be in a different structure with a fresh voice,” Friend explained. “We're going to monitor this group, but I think it's important that we stay consistent and we don't blow the whole thing up, because I think that with the talent that we have, no question that we have some of the most talented players in this country, but they need a bit of time, so we need a bit of patience, and maybe in a bit of a different structure they're going to find better success on the field.”

From there, they’ll look to continue and tweak to find the right balance on the pitch, especially in terms of finding veteran players who can support their talented youngsters, as those veterans can almost act like on-field coaches to the youngsters, while helping deliver the team short-term results.

That’s the challenge Vancouver faces, however. It’s one thing to put together a lineup filled with talented young players, but those players need support around them, or else it can be hard for them to find success, and they know that. At the same time, they don’t want to go heavy on older players, either - it’s all about finding that right formula, in Friend’s words.

“It’s about finding that balance with our formula of developing and moving young players on, which is our number one objective as a club, as you also need to win, which means you need some experienced players - but you need the right experienced players, (as well),” he offered.

Yet, that just further highlights the importance of getting this coaching hire right, hence the call for patience.

No doubt, though, that this can be a huge opportunity for Vancouver, who faces a critical crossroads as they reach the end of their third campaign as a club.

After a tough start to their existence, they want to turn things around quickly, and finding the right name to lead this team going forward will go a long way towards helping them do that.

“We can be a league that offers (an opportunity) to the next generation of coaches,” Friend finished. “That could be Canadians, or internationals, as I always believe in the balance of Canadian and international players, and the same with coaches, so hopefully we can find that right fit.”

“From a specific standpoint, there's not an exact profile we're looking for, so we're going to take our time to find the right (profile) that fits the DNA of this club.”