Why Celtic Have Turned Their Attention to This MLS Manager as New Frontrunner

Celtic are in talks with multiple managers as they seek a replacement for Brendan Rodgers who left the club abruptly in late October.

Rodgers resigned from Celtic in what was a shock exit before he was lambastes by chief shareholder Dermot Desmond in a parting shot.

It was a significant turn of events in Glasgow with Celts sitting second in the Scottish Premiership table and came at an awkward time for the club.

Hearts are in the lead and chasing silverware this term while there have been regular fan protests throughout the campaign.

Rodgers had attempted numerous times to bring the fans back in line with the club in a bid to smooth things over after what was a nightmare transfer window for the Scottish giants.

But his attempts failed and he, too, would ultimately fall out with the hierarchy and leave before the turn of the year.

Celtic next manager shortlist includes Wilfried Nancy

Celtic icon Martin O’Neill was brought in as interim manager alongside Shaun Maloney and he has won three of his first four matches in charge.

However, at 73, it is unrealistic for the Irishman to take the full-time job long-term and the club are on the lookout for a permanent manager to lead them into the next stage.

Highly rated Kjetil Knutsen is of interest to Celtic while Craig Bellamy has also been mentioned as a possible option.

But there is one Frenchman working in the MLS in the United States who has emerged as the new frontrunner with betting suspended by more than one bookmaker north of the border.

Who is Celtic candidate Wilfried Nancy?

Wilfried Nancy is a 48-year-old French coach who was born in Le Havre.

He had a half decent playing career where he turned out for Toulon and six other clubs including Châtellerault and Orleans in the lower leagues of French football.

His coaching career has been more prolific than his own playing days as he started with Montreal Impact in Canada with their academy sides as far back as 2011.

He would go on to become their head coach, taking over from Thierry Henry in 2021 after the France and Arsenal icon left for personal reasons amid the Covid pandemic. Nancy would win the club the Canadian Championship the same season.

The club qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League and would make it to the quarter-finals before being knocked out.

The following year his side would set win records and he would eventually be snapped up by Columbus Crew in MLS who paid a compensation package to take him from Montreal.

In his time with the Crew, Nancy has won the MLS Cup and the Leagues Cup while he was named Coach of the Year in 2024.

Wilfried Nancy’s record as a manager

Outside of silverware, Nancy’s actual game by game record makes for interesting reading.

Celtic fans will certainly be intrigued to see exactly how well the coach has done with his clubs.

In total he took charge of 79 matches as head coach of CF Montreal and he won 38 of those fixtures.

In terms of defeats there he suffered 25 and drew 16 outings before he left.

Of those 79 games he watched his side perform well and score 131 goals. They shipped 112 with a points per game ratio of 1.65.

They only failed to score in just 13 overall matches of 79 which meant they scored in 84 percent of their games.

With the Crew, Nancy has managed more fixtures than in Canada. He has taken charge of 136 games for the club and won 71 of them.

He has drawn 32 and lost 33 with 282 goals scored and 201 conceded which hints at the sort of football fans might expect with an attacking emphasis and a confidence that his side can outscore their opponents.

In terms of points per match for Columbus Nancy sits at 1.80 and an overall win rate of 52.2 percent across all competitions.

Again, Crew only went 18 games without finding the net (multiple 0-0 draws) from Nancy’s 131 which means they found the net in 86.3 percent of matches.

What style of football does Wilfried Nancy play?

One agent source who spoke to FootballBlog has had a number of players turn out for Crew and CF Montreal over the years.

Our source describes the Frenchman’s style as: “Front foot, attacking football.”

They added: “He’s very good is Wilfried Nancy. I would have said the best coach in the MLS over the last few seasons.

“I haven’t heard specifically about him leaving (for Celtic), but Columbus are now out of the playoffs so he could go now and it would make sense.”

Other Celtic manager options

Celtic is arguably the biggest club in Scotland and thus will have plenty of managers waiting in the wings to take the job if they can get it.

Robbie Keane at Ferencvaros has been named as a possible candidate for the Hoops given his link with the club having played there for a season back in 2010.

FootballBlog understands former West Ham and West Brom boss Slaven Bilic wanted a crack at the role while Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna remains under consideration by the board.

Club Brugge gaffer Nicky Hayen is also being considered at Lennoxtown with the Belgian giants making contingency plans should he be persuaded to make the move to Scotland.