Wilfried Nancy’s reign at Celtic was short-lived, but damaging of the highest order.
Just how much damage the Frenchman’s 33-day stint has caused Celtic will only be known at the end of the season when the Premiership title is handed out.
Celtic appointed Nancy at the start of December after he arrived from Major League Soccer, where he had great success with the Columbus Crew, including being named MLS Coach of the Year for 2024.
The champions of Scotland had won all their domestic games during Martin O’Neill’s interim spell.
But after suffering six losses in eight matches, including losing a League Cup final to St Mirren, Nancy was sacked just after the turn of the year, after losing at home to Rangers.
That was probably a hint to all; don’t shop for coaches in the MLS, but West Bromwich Albion of the English Championship are probably now starting to live their own Nancy nightmare.
What message would you send Wilfried Nancy as Celtic sack the manager?
Eric Ramsay starts West Brom tenure in the worst possible way
Eric Ramsay was appointed West Brom coach on January 11, five days after Nancy headed for the Celtic door.
The Shrewsbury-born coach arrived from Minnesota United, where he had spent two seasons as Head Coach, after also working on the backroom staff at Manchester United, as well as for the Wales national team.
But Ramsay lost his first game in charge, 3-2 to Middlesbrough. Going 2-0 down. Clawing it back. Then losing the game in the 90th minute.
Then, on Tuesday night, West Brom were beaten 5-0 at home to Norwich City, who, incidentally, are now managed by Philippe Clement.
That puts the Baggies in troubling waters because they are 19th in the Championship table and three points outside of the relegation zone.
Ramsay tried to defend the MLS amid Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic nightmare
Given that many had seen and heard Nancy turn Celtic into absolute farcical chaos, you can understand that Ramsay was asked about coming into English football from the MLS.
But despite many not being convinced that a coach who had performed well in the MLS was going to succeed in British soil, Ramsay was still keen to defend that league in his first press conference.
“It’s completely understandable,” said Ramsay about the worry of his step up from the MLS to the English Championship.
“But I know what MLS has meant for me and my coaching journey. It’s a top 10 league in the world. It’s growing very quickly. The level is high. You see that with the outs from the league, you see it with the ins.
“It’s changing very rapidly. It’s a uniquely demanding league. I know very well the demands from a playing perspective, and I feel like the experience around the Championship that I’ve complemented with two years (at Minnesota) in a very demanding setting as a head coach.
“It could not have prepared me better for this. And I’ve said repeatedly that I wouldn’t be sitting in this chair if I didn’t feel like I’d done everything to make sure that I was prepared, that I would have taken that risk in that sense.”
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