The 48-year-old, who has spent the past four seasons with Montreal and Columbus Crew in the MLS, was a surprise choice to take over at the Scottish champions and many fans and pundits are highly sceptical that he will be able to justify his appointment.
However, the MLS Coach of the Year is in no doubt about why majority Celtic shareholder Dermot Desmond, chief executive Michael Nicholson and head of football operations Paul Tidsdale were so keen to get him on board.
“The style of play, first of all,” said Nancy. “And the way I manage as a leader. You know the style of play of Celtic. So, with the way I see football, I think we can fit together.
“For me, this is about being proactive, about trying to put that on the opposition, trying to attack the ball as soon as possible. And after that to be disgusting to play against when we defend. Because you’re going to have moments when you’re going to suffer. So the idea is to be good also defensively.
“After that, it was also important to know what type of person I am because the club is different. So it was about knowing if I can be the coach and also if I can be the leader they are looking for.
“I had to ask myself the right question to see if this is the club that I want to be. After that, it’s been about discussion, discussion, discussion. We ended up finding a good connection to work together.
“Again, I try to prioritise everything, I’m not here to change everything. I just try to add certain things to be able to see what we need to do for the future. And after that, it’s about time and we’ll see.”
He continued, “It’s really important for me to work with people who know the culture and especially who know the clubs. So this is what I decided to do. So Stevie Woods, the goalkeeper coach, stays with us and also Gavin Strachan stays with us. So this is really important for me.
“When I discussed this with them, I felt the desire to work together, but also the desire to adjust to the way I see football and the way I manage. But I’m not here to change everything, I’m here to add certain things. The link with my staff, the mix, is really important if we are to be able to do good things.”