“I’m not Martin O’Neill” – Wilfried Nancy on his Celtic mistakes
Former Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy has spoken of his short and dire spell in charge of the club and admits he made a mistake in regard to the timing of starting the job…
The Frenchman even suggested that arriving in “one of the most intense periods in the club’s history” was a major factor in his spectacular failure, but at the same time claimed he was happy with the way things turned out.
He told La Presse: “I knew the challenge was going to be difficult. Looking back, I think I made a mistake with the timing. I should have waited, and maybe gone in January.
“The period I was there was one of the most intense periods in the club’s history. They had a lot of injuries; there were a lot of matches.
“To be honest with you, I’m still happy with how it turned out. Despite, of course, the fact that I got fired.”
Nancy also tried to blame the somewhat baffled Celtic players, whom he claimed were more comfortable under the guidance of Martin O’Neill.
“When I arrived, well, I’m not Martin O’Neill. I have different methods. However, I didn’t want to change them much. Everything was going well in terms of the game. But as soon as we conceded a goal, we started to get nervous.
“There were some players who were resistant because they were comfortable [with O’Neill]. I wouldn’t have had the same narrative if things hadn’t gone well in terms of performance.
“I don’t like ‘ifs’ or ‘shoulds,’ but the reality is that we lost games with 4.2 and 3.8 xG. We should have won more games. That’s why it’s still a little hard to accept, because it would have been totally different.
“But at the same time, it was an experience to be had. It was great.”
It might have been great for you Wilfried but I can assure you that it was a horrible time for the Celtic supporters and I suspect most of the players who had little clue about what you were trying to achieve.
Nancy arrived at Lennoxtown – not Celtic Park – and got an awkward cuddle from CEO Michael Nicholson who did NOT sit alongside Nancy in his ‘welcome to Celtic’ media conference. Basically he was thrown to the wolves from day one is such a cowardly fashion.
However the decision to appoint Wilfried Nancy as Celtic manager was fatally flawed from the outside – listening to the self proclaimed Doctor of Football Paul Tisdale and removing Martin O’Neill ahead of top of the table clash with Hearts, a Europa League match with Roma at Celtic Park and a Premier Sports League Cup Final against St Mirren.
Nancy was doomed after the support turned against him at Tannadice telling him where he should get to and another defeat to the Rangers at Celtic Park at the start of the year meant that he had to go. The 2-0 defeat at Fir Park against Motherwell at the end of last year was much more emphatic that the scoreline suggests.
There were two wins against Livingston and Aberdeen but he will remain I reckon the least successful Celtic manager of all time.
The millions that this cost Celtic is buried somewhere in the recent PLC Financial Results and that probably turned a small profit into a big loss.
