As crazy as it sounds, Celtic may consider sacking Wilfried Nancy.
Peter Martin reported that Nancy’s disastrous tenure could come to an end inside two weeks after he suffered a fourth straight defeat in the 2-1 loss against Dundee United.
While the Frenchman has pledged with supporters to allow him to turn things around, some have already made their mind up after chants calling for him to be sacked were heard loud and clear.
Michael Nicholson has thrown his support behind Nancy but, if he does go against his word and sack him, how much will it cost?
67 Hail Hail spoke to our financial expert Adam Williams to get the lowdown.
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How many more games are you going to give Wilfried Nancy?
Celtic able to afford Wilfried Nancy sacking despite large pay off
At the time of writing, Nancy has been in the job for less than a month after signing a two-and-a-half year contract.
While the full details of the 48-year-old’s contract are not well known, Williams told 67 Hail Hail that it could cost as much as £5m.
He said: “Nancy signed on a two-and-a-half-year deal from Columbus Crew, and the reported compensation was around £2m.
“He rejected a contract from Crew that reportedly would have made him the best-paid coach in the MLS, which would probably have put him on up to $2m annually. There is a good benchmark in the fact that MLS player salaries are public, so we can use that as a yardstick.
“You have to assume that he would be on similar money at Celtic. Perhaps he would have forfeited some salary expectations in exchange for the chance to manage in Europe, but you also aren’t likely to take a huge step backwards. So let’s say he’s on £1.5-2m per year. Over a two-and-a-half-year deal, that’s around £3.75m up to £5m in guaranteed pay over the course of his Celtic contract.
If Celtic sacked Wilfried Nancy, which manager would you like to replace him?
“The basic assumption when you talk about the costs of dismissing a manager is that you have to pay out the remaining value of his contract, although that often isn’t the case. Typically, there is a provision or a break clause which protects the club if the manager doesn’t deliver to the level that is expected in the first few months of his deal.
“We can’t know the terms of Nancy’s deal without actually seeing it, so clearly we can’t say exactly what he would get as a payout in the event that he is dismissed. I would instinctively say, however, that we’re talking minimum £1m in any event. You’ve also got legal fees, the costs of potentially replacing his staff and so on.”
Williams thinks Wilfried Nancy sacking is unlikely
Dismissing Nancy at this stage would hand him the embarrassing record of being the shortest-serving manager in Celtic history.
Celtic have money in the bank to do this, but the damage this would have on the club would be a bigger hit than any dent in the finances.
“Two things to note… I personally don’t think this would happen, although who knows given the regime change with Lawwell leaving,” Williams added.
“It would seem like too big of a U-turn for a board who have already lost the fans’ confidence. However, if they did choose to change direction again, they have got huge cash reserves of about £77m at the last count to absorb the hit.”
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