THE SCOTTISH SUN 🔵 What players, coaches and club chiefs say about incoming Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy and why he’ll NEVER be an underdog

“WE started, and I told the guys, impossible is an opinion.

“Just enjoy it, and we’re going to grow. This is what happened and it’s unbelievable.”

Those are the words of incoming Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy after his biggest success so far when he guided Columbus Crew to MLS Cup glory in 2023.

It was not only a great soundbite but gave an insight into his mindset as a manager.

He once bristled at suggestions from a reporter that his team were underdogs in a match with Cincinnati last season.

He said: “I will never be an underdog, never. Never in my life.

“I don’t know this word. I hate this word because again I respect myself too much to be an underdog.”

That air of defiance perhaps just epitomises his career.

There was no fast pass to become a manager because of what he achieved in his playing career, unlike others.

He played in the lower tiers of French football, ex-team-mates say he wasn’t blessed with tremendous speed or athleticism, but more than made up for that with his game intelligence.

Still it’s been a remarkable rise after emigrating to Canada.

Nancy has had to put the graft in to get where he is now, working his way up over a decade from being a youth coach to a first team manager with CF Montreal.

He began at Montreal with the U18s, U21s and U16s between 2011 and 2015 before becoming assistant in the first team a year later.

But his big break came in 2021 when he replaced Arsenal legend Thierry Henry who returned to Europe to be closer with his family during the pandemic.

Reports in the US say Nancy told the club’s sporting director he wanted the job and he was ready for it.

By that point he already had a philosophy of how he wanted his teams to play.

This bullishness paid off as he was given the post.

Nancy said after being appointed Henry’s successor: “What I like is my players to recognise the moments to defend or attack.

“I like when everything is clear and simple for the players and when they’re able to express themselves within the structure.”

It wasn’t long before his style of play yielded results on the pitch, with victory in the Canadian Championship later that year against Toronto earning qualification for the Concacaf Champions League.

Celtic star Alistair Johnston joined Montreal from Nashville just a few weeks later in 2021 and admitted it took a while to get used to.

He said in October 2022: “It was difficult coming to this system.

“And the coaching staff were very clear with me. They said, ‘You’re going to have to forget how you were taught to play, to a certain degree.’

“Because especially as a defender, you’re instinctively taught, how fast can I move the ball forward? Whereas here, it’s like, how long can you wait, until a striker steps on your toe, before you pass the ball?

“So for me it’s just getting rid of some of those subconscious tools that you’re taught… it took some time.”

Republic of Ireland hero and Celtic fan Kevin Kilbane works for Canadian Sports Broadcaster TSN and saw Nancy’s teams at close quarters.

He told Betway Insider: “What he did in those two years was phenomenal.

“He took CF Montreal, with such a low budget, to the playoffs. In his last year there, I genuinely felt they were contenders to go on and win it – it just didn’t quite happen.

“Nancy got performances out of players who weren’t really excelling before.

“He found a system that suited them perfectly.

“He’s a really, really good coach. I’ve spoken to him quite a lot, actually – had conversations with him on the phone when he was in Montreal.

“Tactically, he’s incredible. Brilliant to speak to.

“He understands the game, he understands players, he’s a players’ coach. Very calm, doesn’t get overexcited on the touchline, doesn’t go looking for attention.”

The following season, in 2022, Montreal had their best ever season as Nancy’s team finished second in the Eastern Conference and third in the MLS with a club record points total.

He was credited with playing an entertaining and attacking style of play and developing the likes of the aforementioned Johnston, Djordje Mihailovic who moved to Dutch side AZ and Ismael Kone who would join Watford all in multi-million pound deals.

Selling their best players and a reported behind the scenes fallout eventually saw Nancy move to Columbus Crew in December 2022.

The club’s general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said on his appointment: “With what [Nancy] has done with his prior club over the last two years, it would be impossible for him not to be the guy.”

More success followed for Nancy as he led Crew to the MLS Cup in his first season when they beat defending champions Los Angeles FC.

He became the first black coach to win the MLS Cup.

Henry, whom Nancy took over from at Montreal, was quick to lavish praise on the Frenchman.

He told CBS Sports Golazo: “You are the first black manager to win the MLS Cup.

“From the bottom of my heart, I know how important it was for you, to be the first one and to do it your way.

“Also, in the way that you like to play, that goal that [Crew] scored, that is you all day.

“I know how hard you work, I know how much a lover of the game you are, and how you like to see the game being played a certain way, to be on the ball, to possess the ball.

“From the bottom of my heart, well done.”

Nancy’s stock continued to rise in MLS football when the Leagues Cup followed in 2024 once again beating LAFC as well as being a Concacaf Champions League finalist.

He was named Major League Soccer‘s Coach of the Year in recognition for one of the club’s best ever seasons.

Nancy’s teams are moulded in his own determined and resolute personality.

He said: “My team will never be an underdog.

“We can play Real Madrid, Detriot, Cincinnati. It’s a game, let’s start the game and after that we’ll see.

“But imagine me as the coach saying, ‘guys, they have spent more money than us, they have new players so if we can do well it’s going to be enough’. What are they going to do? No, just play. “

Players seemingly love, respect and appreciate his honesty.

Aidan Morris, who played under him at Crew as a pivot in the midfield before his move to Middlesbrough last year, says he really helped him develop as a player.

He said: “Lots of respect to Wilfried for giving me that role of being that calming influence.

“It’s tough. I’ll have a great game, and he’ll come up to me and tell me something he wants me to do better. It’s like a father figure, almost.”

Nancy has shown his determination and desire to go from youth coach at Montreal to winning the top honours in football in the USA.

But the challenge at Celtic will be altogether different.

His arrival in Glasgow is imminent with Martin O’Neill set to hand over the reins after Wednesday’s night clash against Dundee.

Former Scotland defender Steven Caldwell, who watched his sides play whilst working for Canadian broadcaster TSN, does have some reservations though.

He told the Fixture: “He is such an unassuming guy that people maybe underestimated him a little bit, a little like Ange Postecoglou.

“So there might be a bit of that going on with Wilfried, but the thing is that football here in North America is different.

“Wilfried was in Montreal and we would have calls with him every Friday before the game.

“He keeps his cards close to his chest at times and can be guarded, he’s a hard man to get to know.

“But he really is good. He has great ideas, he plays some good football. He has bought great players and has really improved players as well.

“I think he will make Celtic a better team and create better players.

“All of that said I just don’t know how he will cope with the goldfish bowl and the scrutiny of the media.

“We know what it’s like, but Glasgow is one of those cities you can’t explain to someone until they come into it.”

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