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Wilfried Nancy<\/p>\nHe turned up at Celtic Park wearing a rabbit-in-the-headlights look and it soon perhaps proved the job was too big for him at that pointWilfried Nancy<\/p>\n
A few weeks after Ronny Delia<\/a> was given the Celtic job, there was still a wide-eyed sense the Norwegian couldn\u2019t quite believe where he\u2019d landed.<\/p>\n He\u2019d had the whirlwind appointment and faced the huge media throng at Celtic Park<\/a> and now it was down to work.<\/p>\n There was a slight rabbit-in-headlights quality about him back then, and no wonder. He was 38 years old and embarking on a mammoth job.<\/p>\n But a couple of things jumped out early on about him when a group of us hacks sat down with him for a casual chin wag on his first pre-season in Austria.<\/p>\n Firstly, he was a top bloke.<\/p>\n Bosses can have more faces than the town clock but Ronny was as straight as an arrow, down to Earth and immediately likeable.<\/p>\n Secondly, there was also substance. Delia had big ideas and got them across very well.<\/p>\n But also, tellingly, there was a revelation about the scale of the leap he\u2019d just made from Stromsgodset.<\/p>\n Delia was asked what the media demands were like at his old club and he explained that it tended to be one reporter would come up from Oslo once a week, he\u2019d invite him into his office for a cup of tea and a chat about team news.<\/p>\n He was half joking \u2013 but only half. Arriving at Celtic<\/a> was like going from Smallville to Metropolis.<\/p>\n It turned out Delia was no superman, but he went on to prove he\u2019s a more than decent boss who might\u2019ve just got that role too soon.<\/p>\n There\u2019s no doubt he was a gamble back then. Just as Wilfried Nancy<\/a> is a risk right now.<\/p>\n And the Frenchman might have a similar response when he sees the incredible level of interest and scrutiny that comes with the Celtic gig.<\/p>\n The soccer media in the US is not exactly ferocious. There are some hard core enthusiasts and the crowds have shot up over the years.<\/p>\n But in terms of widescale demand, it\u2019s still a battle to find space alongside the NFL, college grid iron, baseball, basketball, hockey and whatever other sports America invented and claim as \u2018world champions\u2019.<\/p>\n Soccer doesn\u2019t get much of a look in. It\u2019ll be a whole new world for Nancy if this deal gets nudged over the line as expected.<\/p>\n Yet this is not like the Delia move. While the bold Ronny defied the odds to win the Norwegian title, the step up for Nancy in terms of the actual job won\u2019t be as wild.<\/p>\n Columbus Crew are no small town outfit. The 48-year-old has an extensive coaching staff, analysts, fitness and conditioning experts<\/a>, he was backed by a superb recruitment set up. He had all the bells and whistles.<\/p>\n Delia didn\u2019t have half of that stuff. He was parachuted in to Celtic on his Todd and it was hardly a surprise he struggled at times with the culture shock.<\/p>\n Nancy will be more prepared. He might meet the similar resistance Delia got, however, and then Ange Postecoglou<\/a> after him.<\/p>\n The in-built snobbery among some fans when faced with something of the unknown.<\/p>\n In a lot of ways, Nancy is the kind of manager Celtic should be looking to. Okay, the circumstances are rough, with the club midseason with a pile of problems.<\/p>\n But it might come down to the name. If Thierry Henry has stayed out in the States<\/a> and won the MLS Cup, would Celtic fans be happy with him?<\/p>\n Too right they would. So why scoff at this guy, who is cleary rated as one of the best head coaches in Major League Soccer<\/a> and has been tipped to make the jump to Europe for more than a year?<\/p>\n What might be hard for Hoops fans to get is the notion that their club might not be able to attract a so-called blockbuster manager any more.<\/p>\n The apparent list of runners and riders this time around seemed to miss the usual headline act.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_12095262.jpg\")
Ronny Deila(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Screenshot-2025-11-16-at-165702.png\")
Wilfried Nancy and Thierry Henry <\/p>\n
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Celtic interim manager Martin O’Neill (Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n