New manager

Sorry but there is absolutely no chance we will get Knutsen. I genuinelly think that he could easily, easily, get a top 6 job in any of the top leagues in the world. He will have offers all over his desk

The insane job he have done have sent shockwaves all over the football world

 

Frenchman Wilfried Nancy has recently emerged as the bookmakers' favourite to become Celtic's next permanent manager.


The Parkhead club are on the hunt for a successor to Brendan Rodgers following his shock resignation a fortnight ago.

Martin O'Neill has taken interim charge of the team since, leading Celtic to impressive victories over Falkirk, Rangers, and Kilmarnock.

However, with the third international break of the season underway, now could be the ideal time for the William Hill Premiership champions to appoint a new permanent boss, and Nancy may well be the man.

Who is Wiflried Nancy?
Nancy is a 48-year-old Frenchman who is currently in charge of MLS side Columbus Crew.

He was born in Le Havre in 1977 to a father from Guadeloupe and a mother from West Africa.

Playing career
Nancy's playing career lasted just eight years, during which he turned out for a multitude of clubs across the French lower divisions.

He was a defender and retired in 2006 after spending six months at UQAM Citadins in Canada.

Who Wiflried Nancy has managed
Nancy is currently in charge of Columbus Crew, although he started his managerial career at Montreal after serving as assistant to Mauro Biello, Remi Garde, Thierry Henry and Wilmer Cabrera at the Canada-based side.




He became their boss in March 2021 before moving to Columbus in December of the following year, where he has been since.

Wilfried Nancy's win ratio
Across his career, Nancy has managed 215 games, winning 109. That gives him a win ratio of 50.6 per cent.

What has Wiflried Nancy won?
In just over a year at Montreal, Nancy won the Canadian Cup. Then, in 2023, he won the MLS Cup with Columbus Crew.

He was named MLS Coach of the Year for 2024 after securing a club-record 66 points and 72 goals during the regular season.

Nancy also guided Columbus to the Leagues Cup in August of last year.

What people say about Wilfried Nancy
Celtic's Alistair Johnston turned out for Nancy at Montreal.

"Playing in this system really challenges you to do something different," said the Canadian. "I think we all took some steps in our offensive game this year.

"Wilfried told me, ‘We want you to get in behind,’ and it was a really good stepping stone for me."

Columbus Crew goalkeeper Patrick Schulte said [GOAL]: "He [Nancy] wants me to be brave, to cause commotion, to cause chaos.

"I was hesitant to come out, and he was like 'I don't care'. We spent 20 minutes the next day with our goalie coach whipping in crosses.

"He was jumping on my back, and it was rough. It was like an MMA fight in the six-yard box, but it was like, 'If you can get through this, if you can claim the ball with me doing all this, then why can't you do it in a game?'

"Moments like that make you better and give you confidence."

Current bookies' odds on Nancy
It remains to be seen whether Nancy will become Celtic's next permanent manager, although William Hill currently have him odds-on at 1/5 to get the job.

The second favourite is Kjetil Knutsen, who sits at 9/2. O'Neill is 6/1, with Kieran McKenna double that at 12/1.

 

Regarding Nancy i do like the system but i am just worried that the players wont buy into his extreme high tempo game ala Ange after a calming successful period under MON with a more relaxed style.

If they don't train and run with that intensity we are *. And that risk is kind of high with players that have been here for a long time and are looking to move aawy.

 

And there's the reason we wont be getting him mate. Rodgers found that out twice, work with what hes given.

 

Would much rather someone with more experience of winning in Europe. The Nancy appointment gives me the fear a bit … hope im wrong the same way i was about Ange.

 

The more I think about it, the more I want it to be McKenna.
Marc Guidi says McKenna is desperate for the job, because he thinks he can't take Ipswich any further.

 

FFS no, the board will give him even less funds they would give any other candidate.

 

Again cheap option from the board. Guess they have not listen to the fans concerns, not wanting spend money im happy to keep MON for the season

 

I don't know about that.

The Board gave Brendan £26M and he couldn't even beat Kairat. I'm sure Kieran McKenna would have got us by Kairat with the squad we had. Back to back promotions with Ipswich Town too, no mean feat.

 

That sum must be cumulative over the course of his second stint. No way did he have this in the summer. And the less money the board give, the more of a magician the manager must be to succeed in Europe with said team. McKenna wouldn't cut it. Try Ranieri, Mourinho, and such level of manager.

 

The board want a manager who will work with austerity and not kick up a fuss. Get us winning leagues and qualification for Europe and achieving consistent profits. They don't really care for us growing or improving as a club.

A guy like Nancy is perfect for them. The board have given him his big break in Europe. He's going to eat * because this is his chance to enhance his reputation, add titles to his belt and make a name for himself in European football. If he does well, he goes in 2 years like Ange. If he doesn't really work out he goes in 2 years like Deila, if he's a disaster he goes at the end of the season.


It's a huge gamble as was Ange but as was said earlier. Ange seemed a lot more of proven quantity when he was appointed.

 

Joe Ledley believes his fellow countryman Craig Bellamy would be a perfect fit for the vacant Celtic job.


The pair both turned out for the Parkhead club but at different junctures.

With Celtic still on the hunt for a permanent successor to Brendan Rodgers, Ledly thinks Bellamy, currently in charge of the Welsh national team, fits the bill.

"I like Craig Bellamy," he said [BBC]. "I've seen a lot of [what] he's been doing here in Wales as manager of the national team.

"And I just think the style of play he's using with Wales would suit, definitely, Celtic. He's very passionate about the club as well; he knows a lot of it.

"For me, he'd be perfect but whether it's a little bit too soon, I think he's already come out and said he's got unfinished business here with the national team.


Whether it's one of those that the club will agree to wait to see what Craig does, or they might have to move on."

Addressing links to the Celtic job last week, Bellamy himself said: "I can understand the links because I played there.

"I definitely understand the links, but I love what I’m doing at this present moment and I’m completely focused on what’s to come.

"It’s looks like it’s going to be a (World Cup) play-off in March, and that’s what I’m focused on.

"I couldn’t want anything more than I have at this present moment. That’s where it lies with me.

"Anything else just isn’t on my radar and it won’t be on my radar. I’m a real proud Welshman."

 

Cumatively the money was there, like it or not.

Sadly Ranieri, Mourinho, and such level of manager are far fetched. We have to live within our means. We were giving teams of the calibre of Bayern and Villa a good run for their money in the Champions League only last year, and came within a whisker of progressing, that was under Brendan.Then because some story came out in the Sun about him, he arguably decided payback to the Board would be self sabotage against Kairat. £40M down the toilet pan.O'Neil would have got us by Kairat. Brendan played Yang and Forrest, and kept players like Idah, Shin and Kenny on the bench.It was unforgivable.If we had beat Kairat, as we should have done, I've no doubt the Board would have opened the coffers again for the CL Group Stages.

This * is all down to Rodgers.

 

It's a sum he's reached by counting the incomings and not the outgoings. This is a perverse measure of how much money Rodgers had even in a good year. If I take away a fantastic shirt you had worth £70 and buy you another good one with potential for £50, how much did I spend on you? £50? Really? And remember, this is an analogy for a good year, such as summer 24.

And in a bad year, like this summer and the first summer, I basically sold your £70 shirt and bought you a £50 in a style that doesn't suit you and that you didn't want and some folk are criticizing you for not looking better after having £50 spent on you.

 

Do we have to live within our means or do we have to live with a high 7-figure sum in our bank account? Do we need to generally turn a profit on player trading or do we need to make a 7-figure profit every single window?

Every single person on this forum knew we were in for a very tough season the day the window closed. There's reams and reams of posts on it from the time.

Rodgers definitely made mistakes and reasonable people can argue over how many and how bad they were and to what extent he made things worse; but what can't reasonably be argued is that, "This * is all down to Rodgers."

 

The shirt analogy is a * analogy.
And in answer to your question, " Yes we do have to live within our means, even big clubs like Celtic.
We don't want to end up like Sevco, do we ?
Up to our eyeballs in debt and in hawk to other people. That's no way to run a business.