Why Wilfred, Why? A breakdown of the worst managerial reign in Celtic history

Nancy Sacked by Celtic - Breaking Down His Historically Poor Reign

Wilfred Nancy will be remembered in Celtic history for all the wrong reasons, losing 6 of the 8 games he took charge of, leaving him with a win rate of just 25%, the lowest of any Celtic manager.

The Frenchman began his managerial career with CF Montreal in March 2021, and won them the Canadian Championship that year, defeating FC Toronto in the final. He would leave Montreal in 2022 to join Colombus Crew, where he would spend the next 3 years of his career. Nancy won the MLS cup in 2023, becoming the first coach of colour to do so, defeating LAFC 2-1 in the final after finishing 3rd in the overall table. He would then win the Leagues Cup the following year, once again defeating LAFC in the final, this time by 3 goals to 1. So on the surface it looked like what could've been a good fit for Celtic, a manager with experience winning trophies, however as we know, this is not how things played out.

Celtic 1-2 Hearts

Nancy's first game was a visit from high flying Hearts, Celtic fans had high hopes that this would be their moment to finally go above the Jambo's in the table... but no. Poor defending and squandered chances allowed Hearts to leave Celtic Park with all 3 points despite a bright first half from Celtic, before letting it slip in the second half. However it can take time for a manager to settle in, just look at Ange Postecoglu's record when he first arrived at Celtic Park.

Celtic 0-3 Roma

Up next for Nancy was a visit from Serie A giants Roma, who would cruise to victory and hand Celtic their second defeat on the bounce. An early own goal from Liam Scales set the tone of this game, then a first half brace from Evan Ferguson wrapped it up for the Italian side. This result meant that Nancy would become the first ever Celtic manager to lose his first 2 games in charge of the club.

St Mirren 3-1 Celtic (League Cup final)

This was a big day for Nancy and Celtic, a chance to win some silverware and put the disappointment of the first two games behind them, against a St Mirren side who most had written off as outsiders in this final. However, Stephen Robinson would tactically outclass Nancy, kicked on by taking the lead through Marcus Fraser after just 90 seconds, to win St Mirren their first major trophy since 2013. However alarm bells were now ringing amongst Celtic fans...

Dundee United 2-1 Celtic

Off the back of the Hampden disaster, Celtic travelled to Tannadice to face Dundee United, and similar to the Hearts game, Celtic would have a bright first half and lead at half time thanks to Daizen Maeda, however in similar fashion, a quick fire double from The Terrors in the second half would leave Nancy with another defeat, making it 4 losses from 4 games in charge, and people were starting to wonder if he would ever win a game.

Celtic 3-1 Aberdeen

Nancy's first win would come against Aberdeen, who sacked Jimmy Thelin just yesterday, Celtic led at the break thanks to a strike from Benjamin Nygren which had some promising build up play, and soon after Aberdeen would be reduced to 10 men following Dylan Lobban's red card, could it finally happen for Nancy? It wouldn't be that simple, as The Dons equalised through Kenan Bilalovic with 16 minutes left, but late goals from Tierney and James Forrest would give Nancy his first win in charge and maybe it was starting to click now.

Livingston 2-4 Celtic

The perfect game for Nancy to build on having a win on the board, a side who still currently have 1 win in the league all season. However he didn't make it easy for himself as a brace from Christian Montano had Livi 2-1 up after just 8 minutes, with Nygren scoring for Celtic, but goals from Yang, another from Nygren, and a penalty from Arne Engels gave Celtic a 4-2 lead going into half time, which they would hang on to, this marked 2 wins in a row for Nancy, had it finally started to gel? Were Celtic back?

Motherwell 2-0 Celtic

No, they were not. A great performance from The Steelmen had Nancy stumped as goals from Ibrahim Said and Elliot Watt gave the home side all three points at Fir Park and made it 5 defeats from 7 games in charge for the Frenchman, piling the pressure on not just himself, but also the Parkhead board as supporters were losing their patience with both parties, not what Nancy needed with the biggest game of his reign coming up next, the Old Firm.

Celtic 1-3 Rangers

The biggest game of Nancy's reign would ultimately be his last, as Celtic were embarrassed by City rivals Rangers in their own backyard. Following the common theme of Nancy's reign it was a bright first half from Celtic and they led at the interval thanks to a brilliant strike from Yang. But predictably, it all came crashing down in the second half as a brace from Youssef Chermiti and a strike from Spurs loanee Mikey Moore, would give Rangers another Old Firm victory, and this would ultimately be the final nail in the coffin for Wilfred Nancy's reign at Celtic Park.

So Nancy would last just 33 days in charge, a reign 4 days shorter than interim boss Martin O'Neil. And one Celtic fans will want to forget about very quickly, but with a trophy lost, sitting 3 points behind leaders Hearts, and only ahead of Rangers on goal difference, the damage will be prominent for a long time.