Wilfried Nancy has spoken about his spell at Celtic for the first time.
We are now almost five months on from the day Celtic confirmed the departure of Nancy and Paul Tisdale, following a nightmare 33-day spell.
Brought to Glasgow from Columbus Crew, his decision to immediately transplant his 3-4-3 system from MLS to Celtic was catastrophic for the team’s results.
Five months on, he has spoken about the experience for the first time.
Sum up Wilfried Nancy’s 33 days at Celtic in one word…
Wilfried Nancy: I had a plan at Celtic
Speaking on the Training Ground Guru, Nancy said in reflection: “Honestly, it was a beautiful experience because first of all, you have the passion. I do my job with passion.
“That’s why I love my job and I’m looking for a player to play with passion.
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“In this club and the fans and the city, we can feel it. It’s been amazing for that.
“Obviously things could have been better but life is about moments. The moment when I went there, with reflection, was maybe not the good moment.
“The Celtic brand, this is something that I like a lot. That’s why I wanted to go over there, despite the fact that I had many opportunities, with a lot of humility, with different clubs.
“That’s why I put everything into perspective. After that, the pressure is the pressure and they changed their mind. But I spent a really, really good time over there.
“I didn’t have enough time to put the way I coach, the way I do things. But this is the way it is. I have no bad words regarding what happened over there. It’s part of my journey.”
He continued: “Celtic hired me to change [the style of play]. I’m not a conservative coach, that’s why they hired me.
“We had a plan, everything was clear because I did my due diligence. But after that, the pressure, we still had everything in our hands to change things and adjust.
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“My idea was not to change everything, it’s impossible. I’m not stupid to come and change everything. The idea was to bring something new step by step, or something different.
“But after that, pressure, and it is so huge, that’s why what happened, happened.
“The support I had from the chairman and everyone was huge. But after that, there are results, and we know in our job that it’s difficult if we don’t include them.
“Football is irrational sometimes, so it’s a no brainer to say I didn’t have enough time.
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