Wilfried Nancy signed a two-and-a-half-year contract at Celtic, but he lasted just over a month.
After he took over from Martin O’Neill, the team’s drop-off in form was stark. In his first four games, Celtic lost four consecutive matches for the first time in almost 50 years.
His insistence on moving to an unfamiliar system put him on the back foot from the start, and after defeat to Rangers in the Glasgow Derby, the writing was on the wall.
Nancy was sacked along with Paul Tisdale, the main figure in hiring him. O’Neill has now made his return, as Celtic looked to simply erase the last 33 days.
Nancy is being shown some sympathy in some quarters, but none in others – Gordon Dalziel has made his thoughts clear.
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Gordon Dalziel on Celtic sacking Wilfried Nancy
Another factor which put Nancy on the back foot was the team’s excellent form under O’Neill before him, which abruptly ended after his departure.
O’Neill had reinstalled some much-needed confidence in a group of players which had just lost back-to-back away games under Brendan Rodgers.
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And Dalziel simply can’t fathom Nancy’s insistence on a different way of playing, despite such an obvious downturn in the team’s performances.
He said on Open Goal: “He just wasn’t the fit, was he? It’s easy for us to criticise, but this is where I couldn’t understand him…
“He comes in – and everything now in the modern day game is based on stats and everything, isn’t it? You look at the way Hearts go about, all the top clubs in England.
“Everything’s based on stats and everything – he comes in and plays a back-three, and he loses eighteen goals out of eight games. And he loses six games.
“Now, if you look back to the prior with Martin O’Neill, who played a back four and lost two goals out of seven, it’s staring you right in the face.
“At that moment in time, what you have to do until you get the right personnel in, to play in your system – the facts are telling you that that system, and everything you try to do, ain’t working.
“Because you’ve not got a clean sheet, you’ve lost 18 goals, and you’ve lost six out of eight games.
“The prior guy, who you’ve just taken over from with the same squad, played a back four and played a different style, and lost two goals out of seven games.
“And that’s where I thought he let himself down.”
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The day of Wilfried Nancy’s exit from Celtic
After Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Rangers at Celtic Park, many felt that the writing was on the wall for Nancy.
After radio silence on Sunday, Monday began without an announcement, until a press release appeared in the late afternoon.
This confirmed Nancy’s departure alongside assistants Kwame Ampadu, Jules Gueguen and Maxime Chalier.
O’Neill’s return was then confirmed in the evening, with the familiar coaching team of Shaun Maloney, Mark Fotheringham and Stephen McManus.
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