It’s been a whirlwind few days, no doubt, but Phillip Dos Santos now has both feet firmly planted on the ground here in Winnipeg as Valour FC’s new GM and head coach.

And he’s likely already getting a sense for the maelstrom he’s parachuted into as Winnipeg’s professional soccer side tries to steady itself and push toward a Canadian Premier League playoff spot with 10 regular-season matches remaining.

Valour FC President & CEO Wade Miller announced Thursday morning that Rob Gale had been relieved of his duties as GM and head coach, stating: ‘This is a results-driven business and those results have fallen short of our expectations.’

The club has stumbled recently after a brilliant start to the 2021 campaign that saw Valour go 5-0-1 in its first six matches in the CPL’s Kickoff event bubble at IG Field. Now at 7-9-2 and with just one win and one draw against nine losses in its last 11, Valour has fallen to fifth place in the standings – three points back of York United FC, 6-8-5, with a match in hand.

As fate would have it, Dos Santos will make his Valour managerial debut Sunday on the road vs York United.

Dos Santos said he was contacted by Valour FC last week and that the process of investigating, discussing and ultimately accepting the offer came quickly over the last five-six days.

“There’s 11 professional teams in Canada (eight CPL, three MLS) and just being home, just being in the Canadian market was something that for me, for my family, felt well,” said Dos Santos in a media Zoom call Thursday afternoon. “I’m going to start by saying it was a bittersweet moment for me because I knew it would come with someone else being in a situation that is more difficult and more complex.

“But at the same time I realized on that day that had it been me or someone else when an organization is set on making a change you have to understand that it’s part of the process and part of the game. I tried to keep that to the side and think about what was best for me professionally, the club felt it was the best thing for them as well and everything happened really quick.

Thursday’s news is noteworthy for many reasons, but especially given Gale had been so instrumental in helping build Valour FC’s foundation. He was essentially the face of the franchise dating back to 2018 and was forever promoting the team’s brand and values. Starting a pro franchise from scratch also meant Valour was playing catch up to other CPL teams who had pre-existing infrastructures in other leagues like Cavalry FC, FC Edmonton and Forge FC.

On top of that, the team did lose its best player early in the season in co-captain and dominant centre back Andrew Jean-Baptiste, and is currently without leading scorer Austin Ricci, also due to injury. Several other key players, including versatile defender/midfielder Stefan Cebara, veteran midfielders Jose Galan, Brett Levis and Keven Aleman have also spent time on the injured list.

That said, in a bottom-line business Valour posted 17 wins and eight draws against 28 losses in Gale’s tenure and has yet to advance to the playoffs..

Dos Santos certainly understands the bottom-line aspect of the game, as he and his brother Marc were let go earlier this year by the Vancouver Whitecaps, where Phillip had served as his brother’s assistant coach.

He spent much of his first day meeting with Valour staff and also spoke to the team briefly on Thursday before his media appearance.

“I spoke about the responsibility we all have,” said Dos Santos. “It’s a tough day for everyone. It’s a day where emotionally it’s been hard. The last three-four days have been difficult because there’s a human side in everyone where you know it’s going to be a day you’re supposed to enjoy (for being hired), but it comes with the sad and the dark side of this sport where someone is let go.

“It’s been hard. I didn’t want to talk too much to the players. I want to progressively feel every individual. But the energy seemed there; the desire is there and I think they need to feel the responsibility as part of this organization that there’s objectives that were set at the beginning of the season and we’re still on track for those objectives.

“We all have to embrace the responsibility that we have and try to get across that line and make it up. When there’s a situation like this, it’s not only the coach, there’s little things we probably all have to work on and I want the players to also feel that responsibility.

“If we haven’t met or checked all the boxes that led to the club being where they come to a decision like this, why did that happen and what do we do moving forward?,” Dos Santos added. “I want them to realize their part of the responsibility, but also go with confidence that we’re still in the run and we can still make it happen starting on Sunday.”