MONTREAL -- It will be up to Frank Klopas to salvage something from an all-but lost 2014 season and try to build the Montreal Impact into a winning team. Club president Joey Saputo removed his friend and long-time Impact player, coach and manager Nick De Santis from his job as sporting director on Wednesday and handed control of the Major League Soccer team to Klopas, the head coach and director of player personnel. "Nick will have an administrative role, but will not be involved in the management of the technical team," said Saputo. Pressure from fans and the media had been building since the end of last season to replace De Santis, who seemed to be out of answers for a free fall that began with a 1-6-1 finish to the 2013 regular season and a 3-12-5 start to the 2014 campaign. De Santiss failure to make off-season changes other than replacing coach Marco Schallibaum with Klopas was his undoing, as the same weaknesses on defence and in the midfield that were exposed late last summer carried into this season. Now Klopas will have full control to decide who will play and who will sit out, and what trades or signings will be made. "He will have the responsibility to tweak this team according to what he feels he needs to be more competitive for the remainder of this season, the 2014 CONCACAF champions league and the 2015 season," said Saputo. The Impact have already made a handful of player moves since April, shipping out defender Jeb Brovsky, midfielders Collen Warner and Sanna Nyassi and forward Andrew Wenger. Midfielder Hernan Bernardello left in midseason to sign with a Mexican club. None of the moves made much difference as the Impact, now on a five-game losing run, sank further into the MLS basement. Saputo hopes to eliminate confusion over who is in charge, particularly among the players brought in by De Santis and those acquired by Klopas. "I want the message passed to the players that the person on top is Frank Klopas and not Nick De Santis. Its Frank who is the players boss," he said. Klopas is the Impacts third head coach in as many seasons in MLS, following Jesse Marsch for the expansion season in 2012 and Schallibaum last year. Saputo said he has assured Klopas, who signed in December for two years plus an option year, that he will have his job at least until the end of the 2015 campaign. "He has the security regardless of what happens this year, so if Frank decides tomorrow that he wants to start playing some of the younger players, I give him full responsibility, knowing that his job is not on the line," said Saputo. "Its obvious we need to change." The 47-year-old Klopas has extensive MLS experience as a player and as a former technical director and head coach of the Chicago Fire. It was De Santis who pushed for him to be hired. While reaching the MLS playoffs will be a long shot with only 14 regular season games left to play, the Impact can save face with a strong showing in the Champions League. They begin CONCACAF play Tuesday at home against FAS of El Salvador. One of the clubs high points came in 2009 when they drew more than 50,000 fans to Olympic Stadium for a quarter-final against Santos Laguna of Mexico. They also expect to have a second designated player, Argentine midfielder Ignacio Piatti, in camp starting next week. More player signings, although not a new DP, are planned for the off-season. Saputo did not say what De Santiss new duties will be. Montreal native De Santis has been part of the Impact since the team was formed from the ashes of the defunct Montreal Supra in 1993. The 46-year-old won an APSL championship as a player in 1994, won the A-League title as coach in 2004 and got a USL First Division championship as a manager in 2009. "He was a key element and architect of this organization and one of the reasons we are in MLS today," Saputo said of De Santis. "He is a friend, however, we are in a results-driven business and unfortunately, since July 2013, our results have not been what we expected them to be and hes paying the price for it." The Impacts next game is at home Saturday against Toronto FC. Fake Vapormax 2020 . -- Justin Verlander took a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and won his fourth straight decision, leading Detroit over the Kansas City Royals 9-4 Sunday and extending the Tigers winning streak to a season-high five games. Nike VaporMax Plus Sunset Black+Total Orange+Yellow . The Detroit Tigers star had microfracture surgery Friday to repair the medial and lateral meniscus in his left knee. "I dont want to say it was a surprise," team president and general manager Dave Dombrowski said. http://www.clearancevapormax.com/cheap-v...-clearance.html. Starters, when they struggle, have to live with it for five days. For Sergio Santos and Steve Delabar, two of the three men who authored one of the ugliest pitched innings in Blue Jays franchise history on Thursday night, the bounce-back chance came right away. Vapormax 2 Clearance . -- David Price didnt think he would be in Port Charlotte this spring. Cheap Vapormax 95 China . The midfielder had an operation on Saturday, and is set to miss seven Premier League games, the third round of the FA Cup and the semifinals of the League Cup.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Charlotte Hornets failed in an attempt to keep their winning streak intact, so theyll try to start a new one Saturday versus the Indiana Pacers at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Hornets were riding a five-game winning streak until they opened a four- game homestand with Wednesdays 98-93 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Manu Ginobili led the visitors with 27 points off the bench and Kemba Walker countered with 28 for the Hornets. Walker, the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Jan. 5-11, has scored 28 points or more in six straight games, posting an average of 29.8 ppg in that time. Bismack Biyombo recorded 12 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to go with five blocks for Charlotte, which made only 38.4 percent of its shot and fell to 8-13 at home this season. Against a team like that, you cant have a stretch of five minutes with no defense, said Hornets coach Steve Clifford. Youre not going to win. Lance Stephenson returned from a 14-game absence with a pelvic injury and scored five points. On Saturday, hell face the team he played with the first four seasons of his career with before bolting this summer via free agency. The Hornets have held the last seven opponents under 100 points and will also host the Minnesota Timberwolves and Miami Heat on the homestand.dddddddddddd Hornets guards Gerald Henderson (illness) and Gary Neal (hamstring) are questionable. The Pacers are slumping, losing three straight and all to teams with sub-.500 records. The last two came at home, but Indiana hits the road, starting Saturday. On Friday, the Pacers fell to the red-hot Detroit Pistons, 98-96. Andre Drummond turned defense into offense for the Pistons. He took a charge from Roy Hibbert with 23.9 seconds left and then tipped in the winning shot with 0.3 seconds remaining. It was definitely a difficult game. It was in our favor. We just have to learn to put games away, Indiana forward Solomon Hill said. Hibbert had 14 points, while David West and Damjan Rudez each scored 13 for the Pacers. Ian Mahinmi finished with 12, followed by 11 from Donald Sloan and 10 out of Hill. After their stop in Charlotte, the Pacers will also visit the Houston Rockets, Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat and Orlando Magic on this sojourn through the southern part of America. The Pacers edged the Hornets, 88-86, on Nov. 19, as Hills putback as time expired sealed the win for Indiana. Al Jefferson posted 28 points in that one for Charlotte, which has lost 16 of the last 19 games in this series. Indiana and Charlotte will meet again Feb. 8 and April 3. ' ' '