Former Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy has said Scottish football is not ready for change after his forgettable spell at Parkhead. Nancy was sacked after just 33 days in charge of the Bhoys, with the job quickly getting away from him.
Celtic have rarely got it wrong with their managerial appointments in recent years, and there were big hopes for Nancy, who arrived with a more progressive style of play.
On reflection, a change of style was a lot to ask mid-way through the season, and things did not go well for the Frenchman, who is still looking for his next job, seemingly focusing his search back home after a long spell in the US prior to his Celtic arrival.
Nancy reflects on Celtic spell
Speaking to Sur La Ligne podcast, Nancy spoke in depth about his time at Celtic, remembering: "It was great because I experienced a new culture, a new environment. Of course, Celtic is renowned for what they’ve achieved. So, the idea was to bring something new.
"That’s why I was hired. We had to win the Scottish title. We don’t have a choice. But the idea was also to get back on the European scene. So, the project appealed to me. I also knew there were many obstacles. There’s been chronic instability for years between the fans and the board.
“So, when I arrived, there were a lot of games and a lot of players who were injured. But the idea was to go there and get things in place. Afterwards, unfortunately, it became a bit irrational. In terms of performance, there were some really interesting things. We should have been winning matches.
“I’m not one to talk about ‘we should have done this, we should have done that’ or ‘if we had done this’ or anything like that. But the reality is that the performance indicators showed we should have won games by two or three goals. But no, we lost a few games. And then, a bit of fear set in regarding our results.
“And yet, we still won some games, but they decided we wouldn’t continue together, even though we were second, and we were only three points behind first place. That’s how it is. It was a good experience for me, considering how it all turned out.
Scotland is not ready to adapt
Nancy went on to speak about his attempts to change the style of play. “The Scots aren’t quite ready to adapt. Mind you, I’m not generalising," he added.
“But it was incredibly enriching in terms of my communication skills. It was the first time I’d arrived mid-year. So, how do you get your message across? How do you adapt?"
“I’m talking about the football side of things. They have a way of doing things, and they struggle a bit to change some of their ways of doing things, so I tried to implement it. There was some resistance, but that’s part of my story, and thanks to that period, I feel even stronger because I learned even more.”
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