Celtic boss Martin O’Neill was quick to offer his opinion on Wilfried Nancy’s 33-day tenure in Glasgow. His verdict of the Frenchman’s poor stint shows the measure of a man who has endured it all as a manager over the last few decades.
It’s difficult not to feel for Nancy on a human level. People can, of course, share their opinion on his footballing philosophy and in-game management, but many other factors played their part in his sacking.
The dismissal of Paul Tisdale shows that poor management from the hierarchy, along with poor judgement, played significant parts in this failed appointment.
O’Neill returns to the Hoops for a second interim spell this season, highlighting such a bizarre season in Scottish football overall.
Speaking on TalkSport, the 73-year-old used a personal story to underline the immense pressure that managers face when first taking a job, and why it might’ve gone so wrong for Nancy in Glasgow:
“I drew the parallel with myself when I went to Leicester City and couldn’t win a game. Obviously, the crowd where unsettled. It was difficult and sometimes when things are going badly, it’s very difficult to pull it round.
“Eight or nine games is not very long at all. I know in this day and age, the minute managers step into a football club, have to win immediately. That’s very difficult to do, someone that comes in and doesn’t know the players that well. The players have to learn what the manager wants to do, that takes a little bit of time and that’s really unfortunate. In this day and age, it’s instant results.”
O’Neill continued:
“I know there were a couple of games that I saw where, had they had scored the second goal when they had taken the lead, they could’ve put the games beyond the opposition. Things happen, you lose a little bit of confidence. That’s what happens when you’re not winning, players’ confidence, no matter how good they are seems to disintegrate.”
The Irishman offers a balanced view of the trials and tribulations of managing a squad. Confidence and luck play a factor, but ultimately, if results aren’t met, then they’re the first to be shown the door.
The appointment of O’Neill until the end of the season gives the club time to find the right permanent replacement. They cannot get this one wrong.
In the meantime, O’Neill will be relied upon to steady the ship as he did so before, although now he knows that it’ll be for a few months rather than a few weeks.
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