It has been over a week since Wilfried Nancy was sacked by Celtic.
Yet the impact of those 33 days Nancy spent at Celtic will probably be permanent on the former MLS coach, and you wonder if he will land a top coaching gig in Europe again.
One of the big issues with Nancy’s time at Celtic is the fact that many were ringing the alarm bells before he could replace Martin O’Neill at the start of December.
Everyone knew Nancy was going to change the system, but they had warned him that he wouldn’t have enough time to do it, given the heavy schedule.
Johan Mjallby looked back on Nancy’s ill-fated spell and how not even Pep Guardiola would have made such calls of ‘stupidity.’
How much responsibility should the players take for Nancy’s tenure, given how quickly they seem to have turned it around with Dundee win?
Johan Mjallby doesn’t hold back on Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic reign
Not only did Nancy have little time to express what he wanted from the players, Mjallby rightfully pointed out that this is a crop of Celtic players that simply aren’t good enough.
Mjallby explained that it’s ‘a bit of a weakness’ from this current squad that they can’t play ‘different systems’, yet Nancy still went down his own road.
Speaking on talkSPORT, Mjallby stated that if Guardiola had joined Celtic after O’Neill’s winning run, then even the legendary coach ‘wouldn’t have changed things like Wilfried Nancy did to start with.’
“Wilfried Nancy’s record speaks for itself,” stated Mjallby. “He had to go.
“It wasn’t about time. I think he was, in a way, showing arrogance. I don’t know whether it was stupidity, stubbornness or stupidity in a way.
“Why not come in and just take it easy? Not changing too many things. Having a look at the players. I was very, very surprised by, not maybe the appointment, more that he was too stubborn. He didn’t have the players for it. Very, very strange for me.
“When a manager comes in, it’s a bit complicated, and they are going to change the system. The players are losing confidence, and they don’t really know what to do.
“Yes, you could say that’s a wee bit of a weakness at this current crop of players at Celtic. They should be experienced enough. They should have enough in the bag to play different systems.
“But right now, they have been so used to playing in certain ways. Even a guy like Pep Guardiola, he wouldn’t have changed things like Wilfried Nancy did to start with.”
Will we hunt Hearts down and win the title?
Celtic’s ‘fighting chance’ of winning the title under Martin O’Neill
Now it’s a case of how much damage has been done. Only time will tell, and it will be proven if Celtic lift the title at the end of the campaign.
Celtic beat Dundee United at the weekend to return to winning ways, as Mjallby hailed O’Neill and how his presence alone increases the team’s chances of lifting title number 56.
“Now they give themselves a fighting chance to win the league,” added Mjallby.
“They all know Martin O’Neill is good at simplifying things for players. I got the experience of that. He knows the club. The supporters are going to be very happy that he is back.”
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