Keith Wyness drops verdict on Celtic manager appointment – ‘He’s in for a rude awakening’
Celtic look set to appoint a permanent replacement for Brendan Rodgers in the coming weeks.
Rodgers quit the Glasgow giants on Monday (27 October) evening, with owner Dermot Desmond subsequently criticising the Northern Irishman in a public statement.
Martin O’Neill is now in temporary charge of Celtic, and is set to continue as interim manager for the Hoops’ trip to St Mirren on Saturday (22 November).
The Glasgow giants currently sit second in the Scottish Premiership, seven points adrift of Hearts with a game in hand.
Wilfried Nancy set for new experience at Celtic
Wilfried Nancy is the firm favourite to be the next Celtic manager and is expected to take charge in the near future.
Aberdeen’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004, had lengthy spells as the chief of Everton and Aston Villa and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes that Nancy could be in for a rude awakening with the Hoops if he does make the switch from Columbus Crew.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, Wyness insisted that the Frenchman will have to deal with the media attention, as it will be very different in Glasgow compared to the MLS.
Wyness added that Nancy is a clever manager and has impressed throughout his career so far.
He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “It does look as though Nancy’s got this job sewn up. I did some research into him, and he’s thought of as probably the most talented manager in the MLS.
“I don’t know how much that says about you as a manager, to be honest. Certainly, in Columbus, Ohio, the media scrum is nothing like the East End of Glasgow, that’s for sure.
“I think he’ll have a rude awakening in terms of the reality of that, as we’ve seen with Rangers managers and Celtic managers before, it’s well documented. So he’s gonna have that job to handle all that, which will be new to him.
“I do think he’s a very clever manager. I think he’s one of this new breed of deeper-thinking managers. From what I’ve seen of his comments, I’ve been quite impressed so far.
“It would mean him at Celtic and Danny Rohl at Rangers, both in place as young forward-thinking managers, which is interesting. And that could lead to a new way of playing, thinking and redeveloping things at the Old Firm.”
Wilfried Nancy to raid MLS after Celtic appointment
Meanwhile, Nancy is likely to utilise the MLS market if he takes over at Celtic, sources have told Football Insider.
Ahead of Nancy’s expected appointment at Parkhead, Columbus Crew forward Diego Rossi has been linked with Celtic.
Rossi scored 16 goals and picked up five assists in the MLS last season and has previously hinted at a desire to return to Europe.
The 27-year-old spent two seasons with Turkish side Fenerbahce between 2021 and 2023.
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