Wilfried Nancy Sacked After 33 Days in Charge at Celtic | OneFootball

Just thirty-three days after his appointment as Celtic head coach, Wilfried Nancy has been relieved of his duties. He will go down as the worst manager in the history of the football club, with six defeats from eight games in charge. From the outside looking in, this may appear to be a kneejerk decision from the Celtic hierarchy, but it was clear he was the wrong guy in the wrong movie.

Historical Context

To understand the situation at Celtic right now, you need to understand the historical context. Celtic’s domestic dominance over the last 15 years has been littered with high-profile failings in European competition and long-simmering supporter discontent over persistent recruitment failures. The club has squandered multiple opportunities to grow from a position of strength, both on and off the pitch, largely due to a restrictive financial model built around planning for the next time the club fails, rather than focusing on continuous improvement.

At the outset of the 2025–26 season, Celtic embarked on a campaign that hinged on navigating a Champions League play-off tie in August. These games are season-defining, given the financial rewards of competing in Europe’s elite competition. Celtic were coming off three consecutive seasons of automatic Champions League qualification by winning the Scottish Premiership. Yet the squad was in desperate need of reinforcement following the departures of Kyogo Furuhashi in January 2025 and Nicolas Kühn earlier in the summer. Once again, Celtic’s inability to recruit reared its head as they reached the play-off against Kairat Almaty predictably underprepared. The second-leg exit on penalties sparked major supporter protests, with the summer of 2025 becoming the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Brendan Rodgers’ friction with the board over recruitment continued and results deteriorated. He resigned following a 3–1 defeat to Hearts in October, with Celtic’s largest shareholder subsequently tearing into his character through an extraordinary statement published on the club’s website.

Wilfried Nancy’s Tenure

So let’s reintroduce Wilfried Nancy — the 20th manager in Celtic’s history. He took over from interim manager and Celtic legend Martin O’Neill, who had delivered seven wins from eight games during his temporary spell. Nancy inherited the consequences of multiple poor transfer windows: a thin squad lacking depth and quality, compounded by long-term injuries to key players including Cameron Carter-Vickers, Alistair Johnston and Jota.

This was a vulnerable Celtic squad, ill-equipped for the abrupt change that was about to be introduced. Nancy’s distinctive 3-4-3 system was implemented immediately, just two days into his reign, for a top-of-the-table clash against Hearts. Defeat that day, followed by a 3–0 hammering by Roma in the Europa League and the loss of the League Cup final to St Mirren, meant the writing was on the wall for many after just seven days.

Of course, it sounds ludicrous to judge a football manager a week into the job. But the hallmarks of “Nancy-ball” at Celtic quickly became clear: defensive disorganisation, squandered chances and stubbornness. There were periods of decent play and spells where Celtic created chances, but the only guarantee under Nancy was kamikaze defending and tactical inflexibility. In four of his eight games, promising first halves were followed by catastrophic second halves, with simple opposition tweaks rendering Celtic ineffective. Once momentum was lost, it was never regained. Even in the two victories, Celtic endured long spells of incoherent football against ten-man Aberdeen and bottom-of-the-table Livingston.

Desperate Defense, to No Avail

In what would prove to be his final pre-match press conference as Celtic boss, Nancy delivered an impassioned seven-minute defense of himself and the challenges he inherited. He insisted that he hadn’t had a pre-season to implement his ideas and that progress would inevitably take time. The problem in Glasgow is that time is not an option — winning is the only currency. And while the reality is that he didn’t have a pre-season, if time was what he needed, then rather than being married to an idealistic way of playing, winning at all costs should have been his mistress.

Saturday’s 3–1 defeat to Rangers at Celtic Park was the final nail in the coffin. Eighteen goals conceded in eight games told its own story, and once again there was no resilience or response as Rangers turned the game after half-time. Celtic were in freefall under Wilfried Nancy, with no signs of recovery. Was he dealt a difficult hand? Of course. Did he help himself? Absolutely not.

Celtic now find themselves trapped in short-termism, with the messianic O’Neill returning in an attempt to steady the ship. The hierarchy can now focus on appointing a long-term manager ahead of the 2026–27 season. Above all else, however, new leadership in the boardroom should precede any such decision.