Well, it looks like Wilfried Nancy is on his way to becoming the new Celtic manager.
We told late yesterday afternoon how Nancy was travelling to Celtic to prepare for the big announcement that is likely to happen tomorrow at some point.
The Frenchman has pretty much been the only name that has been talked about as Celtic’s pursuit of Nancy has hit fever pitch over the last few weeks.
With issues apparently surrounding Celtic’s communication with Columbus Crew being cited by an MLS club employee apparently now being ironed out, why then did it still take so long for the Parkhead board to get the deal concluded?
Journalist, Stephen McGowan shares what he thinks was the main reason for this as he shares what Celtic’s Plan B would have been if Nancy said no.
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The ‘unthinkable’ Celtic Plan B if Nancy deal falls through
Martin O’Neill has been doing a superb job at Celtic while he held the fort as the board looked for a new boss.
McGowan reckons that keeping the legendary boss would have been Celtic’s reluctant back-up plan.
McGowan told The Scottish Football Podcast, “I mean, Martin O’Neill, obviously, I think if you look objectively at the two CVs, Martin O’Neill would have a stronger CV, but he’s 73 now, does he want to be there? I think he would probably fancy a gig to the end of the season.
“I think fans would be in favour of that. But it looks like Celtic are committing to Wilfried Nancy at this stage.
What permanent role would you give Martin O’Neill at Celtic?
“I mean, yeah, of course it would be the plan B [to keep Martin O’Neill], but I think that would be unthinkable for them.”
Unthinkable is probably not the correct term as the vast majority of fans would approve of O’Neill staying. Embarrassing is what it would be if the deal fell through now.
What held Celtic up from announcing Wilfried Nancy
So what was the delay? Five weeks since Brendan Rodgers left Celtic and still no permanent manager. Why?
McGowan continues, “You know, I mean, the longer this goes on, the more fans start fretting about an Eddie Howe scenario. I don’t think that’s justified at this stage.
“I think it is paperwork, visa issues and so on. But, you know, it’s never signed until it’s signed, is it? And that’s always going to be the question.”
Thankfully, it appears that an announcement is not too far off and Celtic fans can look forward to the rest of the season with a permanent manager.
As for O’Neill, let’s hope Celtic give him the perfect send-off with a big win against Dundee at Celtic Park.
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