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Celtic have officially ended their association with Wilfried Nancy as manager following a string of disappointing results, including a 3-1 defeat to Rangers on Saturday. This loss marked his sixth in just eight games, making his 33-day tenure the briefest in the club’s history. Nancy, who is 48 years old, was appointed on 4 December after concluding his role with Columbus Crew in Major League Soccer, signing a contract intended to last two and a half years.
The club’s form took a sharp downturn after a strong start under interim boss Martin O’Neill, who had won seven of eight matches. Nancy struggled from the onset, becoming the first Celtic manager to lose his first two matches. This poor run included a 3-1 defeat to St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup final and a 2-1 loss at Dundee United. The team’s four consecutive defeats were the first such losing streak since Jock Stein’s side experienced a similar downturn in 1978.
Celtic managed to halt the slide with wins over Aberdeen and Livingston, but soon fell back into trouble, losing 2-0 to Motherwell and then collapsing during the second half in the home match against Rangers. In addition to Nancy’s departure, the club has also parted ways with Paul Tisdale, who had served as head of football operations since October 2024. A club statement confirmed the exits of Nancy and his coaching staff—Kwame Ampadu, Jules Gueguen, and Maxime Chalier—stating that further updates will be shared with supporters in due course.
Despite being champions in 13 of the past 14 seasons, Celtic currently sit second in the Scottish Premiership, six points behind Hearts and ahead of Rangers on goal difference. Their total of 38 points from 20 matches is 15 fewer than at the same stage last season. Nancy’s tenure saw Celtic concede 18 goals, a figure exceeding the number they allowed during the first 24 games of the entire season. Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton criticized Nancy’s rigid tactical approach, saying, “Nancy was fixated on changing Celtic’s style, going to 3-4-3, playing in one particular way,” and described the results as “kamikaze stuff.”
Nancy, who had experienced previous success as head coach at Montreal before leading Columbus to victory in the 2023 MLS Cup and the Leagues Cup, followed Brendan Rodgers at Celtic after the latter resigned to manage in Saudi Arabia. Although Nancy was awarded MLS manager of the year for 2024, Columbus under his guidance had slipped to seventh in the Eastern Conference and finished 12th overall in the previous season. Before Nancy, the shortest managerial stint at Celtic was by John Barnes, who managed 29 matches between June 1999 and February 2000. As Nancy departs, he leaves with just five wins from his last 20 matches as a coach
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