Celtic target Wilfried Nancy likened to Champions League winning manager
Wilfried Nancy has been given major endorsement to be a success at Celtic after being compared to a Champions League winning manager.
Brendan Rodgers resigned as Celtic manager last month, meaning Martin O’Neill is currently in temporary charge of the team.
O’Neill is ‘happy to stay’ at Celtic, but the Hoops are looking during the international break for a new permanent boss.
Nancy is available for Celtic, after the end of the Major League Soccer [MLS] season in America for his Columbus Crew side.
Wilfried Nancy ‘is very much Luis Enrique’
Former MLS star Herculez Gomez has followed the rise of Nancy in America and, as per BBC Sport [12 November], gave his insight into what the 48-year-old could bring to Celtic Park, whilst comparing him to PSG boss Luis Enrique.
“If I could get somewhere close to his brand, it would be Luis Enrique’s PSG. Enrique bases his philosophy off the interpretation of space, time and movement. There are no set positions,” Gomez said.
“‘Relacionismo’, they say in Spanish. It’s how you relate to a certain sector on the field and how you can advance and really consume your opponent in numbers. That’s Wilfred Nancy.
“And there’s a reason he’s garnering attention. It’s because his brand is so pleasing to the eye. It’s catchy.
“It can also be a Catch-22 every once in a while, because you’re playing on the edge. It’s a double-sided sword, but certainly he’s been on the better side of that sword.
“I see a lot of traits that could make him successful on a bigger stage, with more money, with more attention, He was MLS coach of the year last year but he didn’t need the title to be regarded as one of the best. He’s immensely respected.
“Certainly the philosophy of, ‘this is who we are, this is how we’re going to play, and we’re not straying from it’ is very much Luis Enrique.”
Nancy pedigree examined
Nancy has spent over four years in the MLS with spells at Montreal CF and Columbus Crew, managing over 200 games.
| Games Managed | 215 |
| Games Won | 109 |
| Games Drawn | 48 |
| Games Lost | 58 |
| Goals Scored | 413 |
| Goals Against | 313 |
The Frenchman has never managed outside of America, with no prior experience in European football or UEFA competition.
Such an appointment could be therefore deemed a risk for Celtic, whose ambitions are to challenge again in the Champions League having made the knockout stages last season.