Wilfried Nancy talks about his time at Celtic (Image: Training ground master)
Wilfried Nancy claimed that Celtic’s players struggled to get out of their comfort zone under his management and that his widely criticized style had become “beyond winning”. But the Frenchman insists his ill-fated 33 days at Parkhead were a “beautiful experience” but perhaps came at the wrong time.
Following the departure of Brendan Rodgers, Martin O’Neill took over temporarily, with the former Columbus Crew boss taking charge. However, with two wins and four losses in six Premiership games, and a loss to St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup final, the Hoops board ceased operations and sent a second SOS to Mr O’Neill. The move could prove valuable as Celtic face Hearts for the title on the final day of the season.
Nancy believes the players were not receptive to his approach. “When I was at Celtic I spoke to a lot of the players and they wanted to know when I had the ball,” he told Training Ground Guru.
“So let’s say my No. 6 has the ball. They want to know if we’re going to play 4-3-3. I want to know that my No. 8 name should be there and my No. 10 should be in this position.”
“So I said, okay, this is safe. But I don’t care about the name. I care about how I connect with the players around me. And this can be difficult for people who don’t want to step out of their comfort zone. They have a little bit of a hard time with that.”
“I don’t need a coach. I want to play one-touch, two-touch football. No, sometimes you have to make 10 touches. ‘Yes, but I’m not confident in that.'”
“My job is to show them videos and pictures from on the pitch, discuss them, create exercises to express or try something, to show them that it works. If this fails, there’s a voice in the back saying it’s your fault if you make a mistake. That’s why it’s so much more than winning.”
Wilfried Nancy lasted just 33 days as Celtic manager (Image: Getty)
The Frenchman made it clear that he was appointed to transform Celtic’s approach because of his playing philosophy. However, he admits that he was not given enough time because of the result. “Celtic hired me to change that. I’m not a conservative coach, that’s why they hired me. We had a plan and everything was clear because I did my due diligence.”
“But even then there was pressure and we still had everything in our hands to change things and adjust. My idea is not to change everything, that’s not possible. I’m not stupid enough to come here and change everything.”
“The idea was to step up and bring something new or different. But then the pressure came on and it was huge and that’s why what happened happened.
“The support from the president and everyone else was huge. But after that, the results came out, and I know that it’s difficult in my job if I don’t include that. Soccer can be irrational at times, so it’s no wonder I didn’t have enough time.”
Despite this, Nancy claims she has no regrets. “Honestly, it’s been a great experience because, first of all, you all have passion,” he added. “I approach my work with passion.
“That’s why I look for players who love what they do and play with passion. We can feel that at this club, our fans and our city.”
“It was great. Obviously things could have been better, but life is moments. The moment I went there, on reflection, probably wasn’t a good moment.”
“Celtic is a brand that I really like, so despite being humble and having a lot of opportunities at different clubs, I wanted to go there.”
“That’s why I put everything into perspective. Then pressure is pressure and they changed their mind.”
“But I had a really, really great time over there. I didn’t have enough time to explain how I coached and how I did things. But this is what it is. I don’t have a bad word about what happened over there. It’s part of my journey.”
