Wilfried Nancy sack: Celtic draw right conclusion from Ruben Amorim lesson

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 5 Jan 2026 10:21 CST
• 4 min read

Analysis

Celtic’s board have drawn the correct conclusion from the situation Manchester United find themselves in and have sacked Wilfried Nancy.

Poor results appear to have been a smokescreen for United to finally sack head coach Ruben Amorim after 14 painful months of underachievement at Old Trafford.

Instead, it was a broadside aimed at the board following a 1-1 draw with Leeds at the weekend that finally brought about his demise.

“I just want to say I came here to be the manager, not to be the coach,” he complained.

“In every department - the scouting department, the sporting director – [they] need to do their job. I will do mine for 18 months and then we move on.”

Wilfried Nancy: Echoes of Amorim issues

Amorim’s situation at Man Utd, though, was eerily similar to that of Wilfried Nancy at Celtic prior to his dismissal.

These are two managers who were parachuted into their respective clubs midway through an unsuccessful season. Amorim only made the situation worse at Old Trafford by sticking doggedly to his belief that a 3-4-3 formation was the way forward.

With six defeats in his eight matches, Nancy was on the same track in Glasgow, following the same formula.

United subsequently found themselves caught between two poles. On one hand, they were reluctant to back Amorim in the transfer market to allow him to achieve his goals with his dogmatic approach, while on the other, they gave him just enough freedom to spend heavily.

Celtic found themselves in a similar position heading into January. Results and body language showed that there was little evidence of the players under Nancy embracing his approach, yet the signing of Julian Araujo as an authentic right wing-back suggested that the board were willing to give him some leverage in the transfer market.

This was before the chastening 3-1 derby loss to Rangers, though, and no serious money was spent, with the former Barcelona youth arriving only on loan. Instead of continuing to gamble on Nancy, Celtic have drawn the right conclusion and sacked him before more damage could be done this month.

The Celtic board evidently realised that they could not furnish the Frenchman with the type of funds capable of making his vision of the team become a reality in the mid-season transfer window.

Nancy did not show that he is pragmatic enough to abandon his 3-4-3 ideals to adopt something more suitable for his players. It was a venture that was nothing but a colossal waste of time, money and, crucially, prestige.

With Hearts six points clear at the top of the Premiership, and outwitting Celtic at every level this season, the Parkhead board needs to get this next decision right and appreciate that after blowing Champions League football for this term, they could be throwing it away next year, too.

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store