Wilfried Nancy has finally addressed one of the stranger moments from his short Celtic spell after speaking publicly about the touchline tactics board that quickly became a talking point during his time at Parkhead.
The French coach lasted only a month in Glasgow before being replaced, but supporters still remember the repeated scenes of Nancy pulling players over to the sideline and using a small board to explain positioning and movement during matches.
In Scotland, it never really landed well.
Half-time tactical tweaks are one thing. Every manager adjusts shape, distances and pressing triggers in the dressing room. But trying to explain patterns of play with magnets and diagrams during live Premiership matches felt different. Especially at a club where pressure moves at full speed and games rarely slow down long enough for detailed classroom-style coaching.
You would not have seen Martin O’Neill doing it.
Brendan Rodgers never needed it either. Ange Postecoglou was constantly giving instructions from the touchline, but always through quick direct communication. That contrast probably explains why Nancy’s methods stood out so sharply to Celtic supporters and pundits at the time.
The former Celtic manager reflected on the reaction during his first interview since leaving the club.
He was discussing criticism he received during his spell in Scotland.
He said: (Training Ground Guru), “So apparently when I have my tactical board, I’ve been destroyed for that.
“But again, me, the tactical board, I will use it again because it’s a tool, because I am visual.
“And sometimes when there is emotion, when there is pressure, depending the person that I talk with, it’s easier to show him, we’re going to talk like this.
“And sometimes because there is a lack of translation, because there is me, I am a French guy, but in France, I will use it also.
“But I mean, yes, there is emotion.
“So with three words and the tactical board, I can show him, you’re going to attack here, you’re going to defend there. That’s it.
“But now if people want to do things about this, I have no problem with that.”
Nancy’s explanation does make sense from a coaching point of view.
Football language changes across countries and dressing rooms. Visual coaching tools are common in training environments and many managers use boards behind closed doors every single day. His point about language barriers is also fair.
The issue at Celtic was timing more than anything else.
When results are poor, every small detail gets magnified. Celtic supporters were already watching a side struggling for rhythm, changing shape often and looking uncertain in possession. The tactics board became an easy symbol of that wider frustration.
Fairly or unfairly, it stuck to Nancy throughout his spell in Glasgow.
