Who is Wilfried Nancy? The surprise favourite for the Celtic job

Tom Weber

• 11 Nov 2025 07:02 GMT
• 7 min read

News

Columbus Crew head coach Wilfried Nancy has emerged as one of the surprise favourites for the Celtic job.

The Hoops have been forced to step up their coaching search following the resignation of Brendan Rodgers. Succession planning had already been underway as the Northern Irishman would have been out of contract in the summer, but his exit has accelerated the process.

Celtic are considering a number of different options. Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen has been deemed one of the favourites for the job, while Ipswich Town head coach Kieran McKenna is viewed as an unattainable dream target.

The likes of Craig Bellamy, Robbie Keane and Nicky Hayen are also on Celtic's shortlist. All of them, with the exception of Knutsen, are difficult to get mid-season.

The Norwegian, on the other hand, is out of contract in December due to the different schedule of Scandinavian football. However, his side is in the midst of a Champions League run, and he is reportedly keen to see out this European campaign.

Nancy emerging as Celtic favourite

Perhaps because of this, Columbus Crew boss Wilfried Nancy is now emerging as the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Rodgers in the Celtic hotseat.

The Major League Soccer season is in its latter stages and Nancy is free to talk to clubs after his side was knocked out of the playoffs by Ohio rivals FC Cincinnati in a thrilling clash at the weekend.

The Frenchman had led the Crew to a seventh place in the Eastern Conference in the 2025 regular season, the lowest finish of his three seasons in charge, brought about by injuries to several key players.

While this year may have been a bit of a write-off, Nancy still enjoys a sparkling reputation in MLS circles. He has one of the best track records in recent league history and is a hugely popular character.

Nancy wants his team to play exciting, free-flowing football, which has endeared him to fans and pundits alike and which is exactly what Celtic fans are craving after a dull start to the season under Rodgers.

Nancy is a born winner and great character

Compared to current interim Celtic boss Martin O'Neill, Nancy's coaching career is still in its infancy. He has only been a senior football head coach since 2021, when he made the step up from CF Montreal's academy to replace Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

Montreal have been perennial strugglers in MLS in recent years, so taking that job was anything but a guarantee to get your coaching career off to a flying start. However, after just a few games, the 48-year-old was promoted from interim to permanent head coach.

Although Nancy did not get Montreal into the playoffs, he won the Canadian Championship by beating hated rivals Toronto FC in the final. It was only the franchise's second cup success since 2014 and qualified them for the CONCACAF Champions League.

Consistently one of the lowest spenders in MLS, Montreal could not compete with Liga MX giants Cruz Azul when they met them in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2022.

Domestically, the 2022 regular season would be a huge success. Bizarrely, Nancy threatened to walk away from the job just a few months into the campaign after a disagreement with owner Joey Saputo. However, his players convinced him to stay and achieved a record-breaking season.

Montreal ended up finishing second in the East and third overall with a club-record 20 wins, which included a league-record 11 victories away from home. They did not get far in the playoffs, however.

Off the back of this stunning season, for which Nancy almost won Coach of the Year, Columbus bought him out of his contract, and his hot streak continued. The French tactician won MLS Cup with the Crew in his first season in charge.

Again, this was not enough to win Coach of the Year honours, but he belatedly claimed the award in 2024 after leading the Crew to second in the East, while juggling CONCACAF Champions Cup (the rebranded Champions League) commitments.

The Crew achieved the unheard-of feat of beating Mexican giants Tigres and Monterrey on Mexican soil before falling in the Champions Cup final against Pachuca at altitude and with several players suffering from food poisoning.

Although the Crew did not get far in the playoffs in 2024, they did finish the season with silverware after winning Leagues Cup, the competition pitting MLS franchises against Liga MX clubs, by beating LAFC in the final.

Nancy is clearly a winner with a fantastic tactical brain, but he is also a great person. Hugely popular with his players and adored by fans for his unassuming demeanour, the Frenchman made headlines during a game against the Seattle Sounders this year.

Late in the match, Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei suffered a serious neck injury and had to be transported off the field by an ambulance. The players were visibly shaken by the incident, yet the referee wanted to play on.

The score was 1-1, and the unfortunate injury gave Columbus a good chance to keep their three-game winning streak alive. However, Nancy and Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer successfully urged the referee to blow the final whistle.

Speaking after the game, Schmetzer choked up and was on the verge of tears as he thanked Nancy for this gesture. The injury to Frei ended up not being too serious, and he managed to return in the latter stages of the regular season.

“When we see that, football is not important,” Nancy said after the game. The following month, he again prompted supporters to call him a 'class act' when he applauded a reporter for effortlessly translating his interview into Spanish.

"He's just a genuinely good dude," one Crew fan wrote on Reddit, while another added: "We really have an incredibly humble coach who is also a tactical genius, I will remember these days fondly and try to appreciate him."

Should Nancy take the Parkhead job, Celtic would get a good'un.

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