Peter Grant urges Celtic to change Wilfried Nancy’s start date in backroom staff warning

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Wilfried Nancy comes to Celtic as something of an unknown quantity.

Having only worked in MLS, the Columbus Crew boss will be coming to a completely different environment, should he replace Martin O’Neill.

A winner of multiple trophies in the USA, there are reasons to be positive about the Frenchman – but not everyone is optimistic.

O’Neill has won four of his five games since replacing Brendan Rodgers on an interim basis, and some want to see him take charge of the final that he earned the place in.

But Celtic hero Peter Grant has gone even further than that.

Peter Grant urges Celtic to hold off on Wilfried Nancy

Celtic face a crucial run of fixtures in the coming weeks, with Roma, Hearts and Hibs on the list as well as the cup final against St Mirren.

It would certainly put Nancy to the test immediately.

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And for Grant, speaking on the Go Radio Football Show, it would be best off to allow him to prepare in the background, sticking with O’Neill until the new year.

He said: “I would go longer than [December 15th]. I would go to the turn of the year.

“Give him a bit of time to assess the squad from afar, without the pressure that comes with being Celtic manager.

“Martin knows about the pressure that goes along with being Celtic manager. Rohl’s doing a little bit of it at Rangers. He’s winning games, not playing well, but they’re winning.

“And it could go the opposite – you could maybe go into Celtic and not win a couple of games. There’s a little bit of pressure there. You could lose to St Mirren – St Mirren is not a gimme in the final, that’s for sure.”

“Martin O’Neill, for sure, I would keep in that for a little bit longer, so you’d be there with [Nancy], helping him and guiding him.

“Give the manager a bit of time. But also, I would say to the manager – with John Kennedy not there, he’s got to look at Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham, if that’s the two guys that’s in place to help him.

“One hundred percent, he has. Because Celtic and Rangers are different. You’ve got to have people in there that say no, and listen to them. ‘That’s not what you do, this is Celtic. We have to do this.‘

“And that’s very important. If you bring a completely different coaching staff that don’t understand that background, I think it’s difficult.”

Celtic’s pursuit of Wilfried Nancy

Celtic’s pursuit of Nancy is largely owed to the club’s head of football operations, Paul Tisdale, and his pre-existing relationship with Kwampe Ampadu, Nancy’s assistant in Columbus.

Dermot Desmond reportedly reached out to Nancy immediately after Rodgers’ departure, agreeing to wait until his play-off campaign was over.

Once he became available, things racked up – but reports in the US maintained that nothing was close, and Columbus’ general manager said that there had been no approach from Celtic.

But all reports are now suggesting that Nancy is on his way, regardless of when Grant wants him in the door.