Celtic’s January transfer plan revealed as Wilfried Nancy sack call made
Celtic are still keen to stick with Wilfried Nancy and hope he will be able to turn around his disastrous start to life at Parkhead.
That is according to former Man United and Blackburn chief scout Mick Brown, who remains very well-connected within the game, as he exclusively told Football Insider that the board are reluctant to oversee another drawn-out appointment process.
Celtic were without a boss for over a month before deciding Nancy was the man to take them forward, and they now feel he may need to be backed in the transfer market.
Football Insider revealed in September that Celtic will not act rashly in January and have no plans to invest further despite ongoing frustrations from the fans.
Nancy’s appointment as the permanent successor to Brendan Rodgers has since proved that the squad needs more than just a new man at the helm.
Celtic make transfer plan after Wilfried Nancy latest
Brown warned Football Insider on 18 December that Celtic are reluctant to spend big in January despite growing demands from the fans to invest.
The former scout, who has a wealth of experience in top-level player recruitment after over a decade at Man United during their most successful period, insisted that while the board remain reluctant, they may be forced to spend if results continue to dip.
“Celtic wouldn’t gain anything from sacking the manager,” he told Football Insider.
“They took their time over the decision, looked at a number of options, and then based on what they’ve seen from Nancy, they decided he was the right man for the job.
“Nothing has changed between then and now other than they’ve lost a couple of games.
“If they were to sack him now, it calls their own decision-making into question, because they decided he was the right person not even a month ago, so do they now want to go through that whole process again to find somebody else? And what if he doesn’t hit the ground running?
“I think their form this season will have shown them that they can’t just coast through.
“They need to invest in the squad, they need to bring in players who will improve them, because it feels a bit stagnant and changing the manager hasn’t helped.
“They hoped they’d be able to bring in somebody new and their form would immediately turn around, but that’s not how it works.
“They’ll have a budget for the January window, and I expect they’ll now be aware they have to spend it.”
When Nancy could be sacked after Celtic nightmare
Football Insider exclusively revealed on 20 December that Celtic will sack Nancy if they do not win their next two matches against Aberdeen and Livingston.
Four defeats in a row to start the new manager’s tenure have raised the stakes on his upcoming fixtures with fans now rapidly losing faith in his abilities to turn things around.
Supporters have called for Celtic to sack Nancy and re-appoint Martin O’Neill, who won seven of his eight matches during his spell as their interim manager.
O’Neill has since revealed he would have been happy to remain in the dugout for longer, but the club made the decision to move forward with appointing Nancy.
Should results not turn around quickly, though, the former Ireland boss could find himself back at Parkhead sooner than anybody expected.
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