Celtic fans have spent much of their week so far talking about Wilfried Nancy.
The Columbus Crew boss is now the front-runner for the Parkhead hotseat, with Martin O’Neill’s situation yet to be cleared up with Dermot Desmond.
The Hoops have won three of their four games since O’Neill took over from Brendan Rodgers on an interim basis, finding their feet domestically but continuing to struggle in the Europa League.
It’s been an inconsistent season for the Hoops, and they find themselves behind Hearts in the Scottish Premiership table. Is it time for a permanent manager to fix that?
Chris Sutton has a message to Hoops fans about Nancy and fellow candidate Kjetil Knutsen.
Chris Sutton on Wilfried Nancy and Celtic’s squad
Nancy’s candidacy has drawn a mixed reaction from Celtic fans.
He may have impressed in MLS, but whether he can translate this to a totally different environment at Celtic is impossible to know.
READ MORE: Reo Hatate and three other Celtic players who would thrive in Wilfried Nancy’s 3-4-3 system
But is it really possible to get this Celtic squad playing like the teams of the last few seasons? Sutton doesn’t think so, and thus isn’t getting too fussed on who the new man is.
He said on the Record Celtic Podcast: “It’s interesting about Knutsen, because we would probably all look at his track record and think that Celtic would be better off going for him.
“But it’s like anything. When Ange Postecoglou came in, he took a lot of flak, didn’t he, because nobody had ever heard of him and dismissed his track record.
“I don’t know how people would view Knutsen’s track record and what he’s achieved at Bodo/Glimt, but the fact that he’s gone deep in European competitions before certainly would bode well.
“If Wilfried Nancy is the choice, you’ve got to give him a chance and give him opportunity. You know my view on this – any manager taking over this current squad has their work cut out.
“They just do, because it’s about the level of player and standard of player which they’re taking over. It’s going to be interesting to see, from now until January, there’s another couple of games in the Europa, how Celtic cope in that and the reaction from the fanbase.
“But I think now, the truth is that most Celtic fans are thinking, ‘blimey. If we can just win one thing this season, it has to be the league. Take the league, and we just have to forget about Europe.
“Because as much as everyone wanted to see progression this year in Europe, it doesn’t really look like this strong enough to be competitive at all.”
Wilfried Nancy, Kjetil Knutsen or Martin O’Neill?
O’Neill getting the permanent job is far from out of the equation, despite the club’s publicised efforts to seek out other managers.
Desmond’s trust in him is evidenced by his interim appointment. O’Neill has said that he expects nothing, despite being well-received by the Hoops faithful.
Knutsen is a more familiar face for Hoops fans, having enjoyed immense European success at Bodo/Glimt. He guided them to the Europa League semi-final against Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham last season.
But with Tisdale’s pre-existing connections to Nancy, Desmond could be tempted to take the gamble.
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