Wilfried Nancy had a tough act to follow stepping into the shoes of Martin O’Neill.
O’Neill won seven out of his eight Celtic matches after replacing Brendan Rodgers on an interim basis.
Despite this, it quickly became apparent that the 73-year-old was solely an interim option, as the Hoops accelerated their pursuit of Wilfried Nancy.
Nancy’s first three weeks in charge were a baptism of fire, and with a 2-1 defeat to Hearts, it didn’t get off to a good start. Plenty are already questioning him.
But Owen Coyle thinks that the appointment will come good, and referred to performances under O’Neill while making his case.
Have the Scottish media been fair with Wilfried Nancy in his first week?
Owen Coyle on Martin O’Neill and Wilfried Nancy at Celtic
Coyle came close to joining Celtic both as a player and a manager.
He has managed over 12 clubs, most recently with Chennaiyin in the Indian Super League.
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So he’s familiar with football around the globe – and maintains that Celtic are on to a winner with Nancy.
“He’s going to play his way, he wants to implement it straight away, and I get that. I think the boy’s going to do really well.
“I think he’s a good appointment. I think he needs to be given time. This narrative that ‘they lost the game, so everything’s wrong’, give the man the time and I’m sure he’ll be a great appointment.
“All I would say, certainly with the experience that I’ve got and everything else, is that: Celtic haven’t been playing well, Martin’s come in and steadied the ship. I don’t think they were playing overly well, but they were back to winning.
“I think [Nancy]’s going to be a good appointment. He might think, ‘maybe I should’ve just kept it the way Martin had it, to win.’
“Because I know it’s the big picture, and everybody looks at it. But had they won, they’re three points clear, plus a game in hand, having turned around an eight-point deficit.
“It’d have been a remarkable turnaround. But that being said they’ve still got plenty of games, and plenty of points to go and win another title.”
Owen Coyle thinks Wilfried Nancy will still be a great appointment for Celtic
Celtic’s interim spell under Martin O’Neill
In a whirlwind 24 hours, O’Neill went from being a guest on talkSPORT to leading Celtic to a 4-0 win over Falkirk.
He followed that up with an extra-time win over Rangers, in which his bold calls to start Johnny Kenny and introduce Callum Osmand from the cold were backed up.
A last-minute winner from Callum McGregor at St Mirren was one of the sweetest moments of the season.
But the best was probably that night in Rotterdam, in which O’Neill led the Celts to their first win in the Netherlands since he led his original Hoops team to victory in Amsterdam, 24 years ago.
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