In the end Dome Torrent did not hide his frustrations about some of NYCFC’s inner workings despite a successful regular season. (Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports)

It’s not always FrontRowSoccer.com honors a coach who has left his team, but Dome Torrent had a whale of a season running New York City FC.

Torrent, who left the Major League Soccer side in a mutual parting of the ways on Nov. 9, was named this website’s local coach of the year.

City captured its first conference crown this season with a sterling 18-6-10 mark and 64 points.

“While I’ve greatly enjoyed coaching NYCFC and the incredible life experience of living in New York, in mutual discussion with the club, I feel this is the right time for myself and my family to look for other opportunities as I develop my career as a head coach,” Torrent said in a statement. “I’d like to thank NYCFC for giving me this opportunity. I’ve learned a lot during my time at the club after working with a fantastic sporting department and a great group of coaches.”

Despite a stumbling start in which NYCFC gave away home points, the team recovered and became the dominant force in the Eastern Conference.

In some quarters, Torrent was said to be in trouble if he could not turn around NYCFC’s fortunes. Well, he did.

For the fourth consecutive year, City was eliminated in its first playoff encounter, this time by eventual MLS Cup finalist Toronto FC in a 2-1 result.

When asked whether he wanted to return as coach, Torrent sounded very non-committal after the game. A frustrated Torrent, however, strongly hinted of problems behind the scenes.

“I need to talk about with Manchester because this season was a tough, tough season for us,” he said. “Many things happened. The people don’t know that. We were able to win the Eastern Conference. We have in the middle in the budget. people don’t know that.”

In fact, Torrent sounded he would be replaced as coach by CFG.

“They are ready for another coach because they are a big group,” he said. “They are ready. Don’t worry. Patrick [Vieira] is not here. Dome is not here. Another coach. The important [thing], believe me, are the players. They keep the important players right now in our club and they are the reason why New York City plays really well. Not Dome. Forget about it. … Every single coach needs the players. I am very proud of the players. I want to thank the players. Every single day in every single training session, they fight to the last moment. I love these players. I love these players.”

It has been reported that City is close to naming Valerenga boss Ronny Deila as its fourth head coach in its six-year history, perhaps as soon as this week.

Here is another story you might be interested in:

MAXI-MUM IMPACT: Moralez named local men’s pro player of the year

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.