Inside Futbol
·27 November 2025
Ex-Top Flight Star Warns Against Writing Off Celtic Bound Wilfried Nancy

In partnership with
Yahoo sportsInside Futbol
·27 November 2025

Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Former top flight star Marvin Bartley has warned against being dismissive of managers such as Wilfried Nancy because of a lack of knowledge about them, citing the example of Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.
Celtic are on the verge of appointing Columbus Crew boss Nancy as the permanent replacement for Brendan Rodgers.
There have been doubts about his appointment, given his inexperience as a manager of a top club as he has only managed in the United States and Canada, and that too over the course of just four years.
Former Celtic star Kenny Miller, who saw Nancy up close during his stint in the MLS, though, said there are similarities between Nancy’s style of football and that of former boss Postecoglou, who, he believes, has a real style about his play.
Bartley echoes a similar sentiment, refusing to give a verdict on the soon-to-be incoming Celtic manager, insisting that the Celtic hierarchy must have done their homework on him.

“A lot of the time we dismiss people as not being good enough, having not known enough about them”, Bartley said on Clyde 1’s Superscoreboard (1.39.20).
“Celtic would have definitely done their homework on this, in the transferable skills that he has demonstrated in the MLS, that he can come to Celtic Football Club and work.
“A lot of people spoke about the 3-4-3.
“That is one thing that I am thinking will that work for Celtic with the kind of players they do have?
“But I think managers now are a lot more adaptable than what they were a few years ago.”

Bartley expects Nancy to work out what is best for the squad that Celtic have on offer.
“People are talking about philosophies or these sort of things, it is about winning the game of football.
“He will look at the squad and see what the best fit is for that squad.
“I think they will still play high press, still play a lot of short passes and forward passes and high energy.
“The shape might be slightly different.”
Bartley further took time to cite the example of Postecolgou, who was relatively unknown before arriving at Celtic Park.
“But I am interested to see how he does because the last manager Ange came across and people did not know too much about him and it didn’t work out too badly for him.”
Celtic have a tough run of fixtures coming up, with tonight’s Europa League fixture against Feyenoord set to be followed by a league match against Hibernian.
They also have a Scottish League Cup final set up against St Mirren on 14th December.









































