'No bad words' - Wilfried Nancy recalls difficult failed Celtic spell

Failed Celtic coach Wilfried Nancy has opened up on his spell at the club, saying he has no bad blood for the club.

Nancy was sacked after just 33 days in charge of the Bhoys following a torrid run of results, although he was arguably a little unlucky to come in at the time he did. Ultimately, he was the sort of progressive coach who needs to be employed in the summer to make sure he can get his ideas across/

Mid-season appointments are for more basic and practical approaches, and that was shown both by the failed hiring of Nancy and the success Martin O'Neill had following his return.

Recalling the experience on the Sur La Ligne Podcast, Nancy said: "Honestly, it was a beautiful experience because, first of all, you have the passion. I do my job with passion. That’s why I love my job.

“In this club, in the fans and in the city, we can feel it. It was amazing for that. I spent a really good time over there. I didn’t have enough time to put the way I coach and the way I do things. But this is the way it is. I have no bad words regarding what happened over there. It’s part of my journey.”

Adding some more specific detail on what went wrong, he added: “Of course, Celtic are renowned for what they’ve done, so the idea was to bring something new.

“That’s why I was committed. When you’re at Celtic, winning Scottish titles is important. You don’t have a choice. But the idea was also to return to the European scene. That’s why the project interested me.

“I also knew that there were many issues regarding the chronic instability for years between the fans and the board. For quite a bit of the period after I arrived, there were a lot of matches and a lot of injured players, but the idea was to go ahead and put things in place. After that, unfortunately, it became a bit irrational in terms of performance.”

Much has been made of Nancy's failed spell, and much has been said about him as a coach. But in football, there are times when the wrong person arrives as the wrong time, and it's much more likely that was the case over Nancy's coaching ability or his background.

At another time, it might have worked, but the Celtic board should have known better than to employ a coach who wanted to significantly change the style of play during the season.