Martin O'Neill could easily have carried on as Celtic manager for the rest of the season
Former Celtic coach Mark Fotheringham, who was part of the interim team prior to Nancy's appointment, is convinced the Celtic legend could have remained in the post - even beyond the summer.
Following my evisceration of Wilfried Nancy after the weekend defeat to Hearts, we are now facing a stark reality where Club Brugge have sacked Nicky Hayen - after tensions rose behind the scenes with the 45 year old reportedly unhappy with player recruitment and other aspects of the role - and Mark Fotheringham - who was part of Martin O’Neill’s interim management team - is adamant that the Celtic legend could have easily continued in the role until the summer and potentially beyond that also.
So it begs the question, did we actually talk to anyone else beyond Wilfried Nancy for the role? I have criticised Nancy off the back of Sunday’s farcical scenes - and I suspect there will be more to come in the weeks and months ahead. But, the whole situation reeks of one man being given too much power, by a board hiding in the trenches, to appoint a guy who is a mate of a mate - and talks a good game.
Yes the MLS may be ranked higher than the Scottish Premiership in the World Rankings - but the demands at Celtic, the passion of all the fans in the league, and the pressure from all sides in the Scottish Premiership dwarfs what the MLS can produce. It is a league living in its own wee bubble - they play a full season and then they all head into the playoffs to decide the winner. The only domestic league on the planet that can see a 7th place team in the league at the end of the season end up potentially being crowned MLS champions. This doesn’t breed winners, it breeds a culture of mediocrity and Nancy’s own comments after Sunday’s game doesn’t sit well with me either - he’s ‘not about losing or winning’ that he is all ‘about having a good performance’. Really? I’m sorry that may work with a 7th placed team in the MLS - but at Celtic Football Club, the fans demand success. We don’t expect it to fall into our lap. We don’t think we are entitled to it like others believe they are - we demand our players, our management, and our board do everything in their power to secure success. Hiring a manager who cares more about the way we play than if we win or lose games is worrying.
Give Nancy his dues, he has came out quite clearly and said what he is all about and I don’t doubt for a minute that he hasn’t said this to the hierarchy either - so why in the hell was he given the job when he muttered that he isn’t about winning or losing games? It should have been a major red flag straight away - we want to win every game and if we can win it pretty then great. But if it is an ugly 1-0 we will take it. That is one of the reasons why I was so critical of the Frenchman after Sunday’s game.
As some others have pointed out, under Martin O’Neill, we didn’t necessarily win pretty, we struggled. But we won all the same. I honestly believe that if he was in charge on Sunday - we would have won that game. It may not have been pretty but we didn’t need it to be - we just needed to win and that is what Nancy and his big pal Tisdale seems to forget.
So again it begs the question, who else did Tisdale talk to? Clearly not Knutsen. Did we even approach Hayen? I doubt it very much. And the most galling part of this whole fiasco - is that now Mark Fotheringham has come out and said that Martin O’Neill could have easily continued in the job.
O’Neill took a side bereft of respect and belief under Brendan Rodgers this season, and within hours of entering the Lennoxtown training ground had worked his magic and managed to get a response out of the dressing room - which had disappeared after Rodgers decided to ridicule and belittle the same players with his Honda car jibes to the press.
Fotheringham highlighted O’Neill’s man management and demand for standards which immediately raised the level among the Celtic squad, and that only ‘small adjustments’ were needed to turn performances and results around.
And it was this balance and continuity we were lacking on Sunday as Nancy made wholesale changes to the style of play and the formation we set out in, with the players clearly struggling to come to terms with his instructions in the second half.
Martin O’Neill had always been careful to highlight that his return was short-term and that the club would be looking for a younger, long-term coach. Fotheringham argued that if the club had wanted O’Neill to remain then he would have stayed.
Ultimately, the club hierarchy turned their back on the prospect of O’Neill continuing in the role early on, despite the results he secured, and the ready-made management team already in place. Deciding on Wilfried Nancy instead - with a huge slice of nepotism thrown into the mix whether you want to believe it or not.
After my highly critical article on Nancy following the 2-1 defeat to Hearts, there was talk of how the manager should be given our full support now that he is in the job. I have and will always counter such a belief that there needs to be 100% support of a manager straight from the first minute. Yes, we all want them to succeed at Celtic, yes we want to win titles and trophies, but support is earned. Respect is earned. The Celtic jersey is earned. And if they do not earn it, then they don’t deserve their place at Celtic.
When Brendan Rodgers came back a second time to the club, he had a huge amount to prove given the manner of how he left the club the first time round. He had to prove to the fans that he deserved to be Celtic manager and he duly delivered. Before it soured once again this season.
So why is Wilfried Nancy any different? He needs to prove to the fans that he deserves to be Celtic manager. And how that comes about is through winning games - not just having good performances - and winning trophies. That’s the difference between managing in the MLS and managing Celtic Football Club. Hopefully, Nancy realises that sooner rather than later.
Time will tell if that clicks with Nancy. Until then, the club will always have my support, the manager and some of the players are still to win me over. Whether some detractors like it or not.
If Nancy ultimately proves me wrong then great. I’ll hold my hands up and say I was wrong. But until then, there are no free passes at Celtic for anyone.
Your critical and constructive analysis of the Wilfrid Nancy fiasco is spot on again, Andy.
Celtic should not have appointed an unproven, rookie manager who is ignorant
of Scottish and British football, and had no proven European football experience, it was a disaster waiting to happen. The man with the funny hat, Paul Tisdale, should cop the blame for this disastrous hiring. I think all of us Celtic fans will be hiding behind the sofa on Thursday night, when the formidable Roma come to town, and again on Sunday, when Stephen Robinson's Paisley Buddies cross swords with Celtic on Sunday.
I know you've copped some flak over your last article Andy ...but I for one think your analysis and reasoning on this are correct.
Yes, of course it goes without saying that we are all ultimately on the same team and would like nothing more than a successful new manager. It's nothing personal against Wilfred ...and of course we hope he comes good , and nothing would please me more than him knocking it out of the park.
But it is also now blindingly obvious that this "Board" (more akin to Trump's cabinet of shameless fluffers) have exercised minimal due diligence in the apparently exhaustive "search" for Brendan's replacement.
It is the reckless dereliction of professional process in this hiring saga which really sticks in the draw. Was there an actual shortlist? Who else was benchmarked/considered/interviewed?
In short - Why is the club taking such a wild risk?
(Didn't DD's boy at the AGM warn us about the dangers of "taking a swing and then missing"?)
The old saying that "mediocrity is always at its best" really sums up our current custodians ...they are sub-par middle managers and masquerading as elite executives, with a total vacuum of proper leadership.