Wilfried Nancy came to Celtic with a glittering reputation in MLS.
He was an MLS Cup winner, Leagues Cup winner, MLS Coach of the Year recipient… but in the end, won just two matches at Celtic.
His abrupt replacement of Martin O’Neill, and the team’s subsequent collapse in form, made the appointment immediately look like an error.
And after losing a home Glasgow Derby against Rangers and falling behind them in the league, Nancy was dismissed alongside the man who hired him, Paul Tisdale.
In the same week, West Brom sacked Ryan Mason. They have now replaced him with the Head Coach of Minnesota United. So is the cycle about to repeat again?
What do you think is the main reason Wilfried Nancy couldn’t buy a win as Celtic manager? 🤔
The stats are damning…
West Brom boss Eric Ramsay unshaken by Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic sacking
Eric Ramsay is just 34 years of age, and moves to The Hawthorns after two seasons in Minnesota.
An Englishman, he left the backroom staff of Manchester United for the MLS, establishing a reputation for a counter-attacking brand of football.
READ MORE: The four priorities Martin O’Neill and Michael Nicholson discussed at Celtic transfer meeting
Speaking in his new role, he was understandably asked about the step from MLS to British football, given the widespread derision of Nancy.
On the scepticism, Nancy said: “It’s completely understandable.
“But I know what MLS has meant for me or 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. (Players leaving and entering MLS in the transfer market.) 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 sat 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.”
Ramsay lost his first game in charge of the Baggies 3-2 to Middlesbrough, fighting back from 2-0 down before conceding a last-minute winner.
Is MLS an appropriate league for Celtic to be taking managers from?
Wilfried Nancy’s ill-fated Celtic spell
Nancy’s start to life at Celtic was daunting on paper – and in the end, the worst-case scenario was exactly what played out.
After O’Neill’s run of wins in his interim spell, Nancy lost 2-1 to Hearts, 3-0 to Roma and 3-1 to St Mirren in his first week.
This was bruising enough, and after a 1-0 defeat to Dundee United, fans were already calling for him to be sacked.
Wins over Aberdeen and Livingston weathered the storm and showed better signs on the pitch – but in a crucial week of games against Motherwell and Rangers, two more defeats sealed Nancy’s fate.
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