Wilfred Nancy appointment timeline 'revealed' - a look at when the MLS boss is set to be announced at Celtic
The 48-year old is now the clear front runner to replace Brendan Rodgers in the Celtic Park dugout.
After nearly a month wait, Celtic are closing in on appointing Columbus Crew boss, Wilfried Nancy.
Following the shock departure of Brendan Rodgers, Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney were brought in to steady and the ship. However, during this time Dermot Desmond and the Celtic board have been searching for a permanent replacement.
While Nancy may be a relative unknown to the Hoops faithful at this moment in time, he has a good record of silverware in America’s top-flight, winning two trophies in three seasons with ‘The Crew’. He also won the MLS Coach of the Year award last season.
After a long, drawn out process, the Frenchman is now the clear favourite for the Parkhead hot-seat, however with the American season finish next month, the timeline of his Celtic move has been largely unknown. Despite this, TEAMTalk have reported that Nancy could be announced in the coming weeks.
Nancy to be announced for Hibs showdown
While O’Neill looks to be the man that will manage Celtic on Saturday against St Mirren in their first post-International break fixture, TEAMtalk understand that after that Nancy will be appointed. They say: “Celtic are closing in on the appointment of Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy as Brendan Rodgers’ permanent successor, with the deal now at an advanced stage, and TEAMtalk sources have revealed the timeline for his arrival at Parkhead.
“Interim manager Martin O’Neill, assisted by Shaun Maloney, will remain in charge for this weekend’s Premiership trip to St Mirren. However, Celtic hope to have Nancy in the dugout as early as the following league match, away to Hibernian on 30 November.”
In between the St Mirren and Hibs fixtures, Celtic will travel to Rotterdam for a Europa League fixture against Feyenoord in a repeat of the 1970 European Cup final, this match expected to be O’Neill’s last as interim gaffer.
A relative unknown
Celtic’s Recruitment Chief, Paul Tisdale, is believed to have been a strong advocate for Nancy and believes that despite his lack of European pedigree he could be similar to Ange Postecoglou, who won five out of six trophies at Celtic in his first ever European job.
Postecoglou himself was in the running to regain the top job, alongside Craig Bellamy, Kjetil Knutsen and Kieran McKenna, however Nancy now looks to be the man. Obvious parallels have be drawn between himself and ‘big Ange’ as two attacking-minded philosophers of the game.
Regarding his tactical style, Nancy said: “yes, I want to win, but I want to win in my way – and my way is to have a structure, but also to give the freedom and the creativity to my players, to play with creativity within the structure. For me, this is really important.”