The five favourites to replace Wilfried Nancy at Celtic as sack rumours intensify | OneFootball

Wilfried Nancy has endured a nightmare start to his Celtic career, having lost his first four matches since taking over earlier in the month.

A growing section of the Celtic fan base is already asking for the Frenchman to be sacked, less than a month in to the job.

Their latest defeat away at Dundee United was particularly damning as the Celtic away fans voiced their displeasure at Nancy and the board.

Using the latest bookies’ odds, here are the five favourites to replace Nancy, if Celtic do decide to bite the bullet and sack the 48-year-old.

1. Martin O’Neill – 2/1

The experienced Republic of Ireland boss took temporary charge of Celtic following Brendan Rodgers’ dismissal and did a fine job.

With the same group of players that Nancy is currently working with, he won seven of his eight matches and brought a sense of harmony back to the club.

Given O’Neill is 73 years old, it remains to be seen whether or not he’d take the job on a long-term basis, but he could consider taking over until the end of the season.

2. Kjetil Knutsen – 4/1

Prior to Nancy getting the job, Knutsen was being tipped as the second favourite to take over.

The 57-year-old is currently in charge of Bodø/Glimt and has plenty of experience when it comes to winning league titles.

From 2020 to 2020, Knutsen won the Eliteserien for four consecutive years, but lost out on the title by one point to Viking this year.

3. Robbie Keane – 11/2

Since retiring in 2018, Keane has been making a name for himself in the managerial world.

The former Celtic striker is currently with Hungarian side Ferencvaros, where he boasts a 60.7% win ratio.

As of writing, Ferencvaros sit second in the Nemzeti Bajnoksag I and trail league leaders ETO FC Gyor by one point.

When speaking in the press, Keane hasn’t ruled out taking the Celtic job in the future, but has insisted that he’s happy where he currently is.

“Listen, you can never say never in football,” Keane told talkSPORT earlier this month.

“Of course you don’t know, but I’m one of those guys that I never think too far ahead. I have to concentrate on what I do.

“Because you take your eye off the ball here and then you start losing games, and you lose your job.

“So, never say never, of course but at the moment, I’m very, very happy here. As I said before to your colleague, it’s a fantastic club.

“I think you’ve seen, the stadium is amazing, the training ground is great, the fans are incredible fans.

“A bit like the Celtic fans in terms of how loud they are and stuff, they’re really passionate about their team.”

4. Ange Postecoglou – 8/1

They say never go back, but a large section of the Celtic fan base would surely take him back.

Postecoglou spent two years in Scotland and won five trophies in emphatic style.

After being dismissed by Nottingham Forest, the 60-year-old looks set to take a break from management, but perhaps Celtic could lure him back if the stars align.

5. Shaun Maloney – 9/1

The 42-year-old was recently the interim assistant manager under O’Neill, who oversaw Celtic win seven out of eight matches.

Maloney spent most of his playing career with Celtic and racked up 215 appearances for the club across two spells.

He does have some managerial experience himself, having previously been the number one at Hibernian and Wigan Athletic.

However, compared to the other candidates on this list, his CV isn’t quite as stacked.