First Wilfried Nancy, now Eric Ramsay: Why MLS coaches fail in the UK

Tom Weber

• Updated: 25 Feb 2026 07:47 CST
• 9 min read

Analysis

After Wilfried Nancy's disastrous tenure at Celtic, Eric Ramsay has become the latest former Major League Soccer coach to crash and burn in Europe following his unsurprising sacking by West Brom.

The 34-year-old Welshman was axed by the Baggies on Tuesday evening after a 1-1 draw with Charlton, not even two months after being appointed. Ramsay was in charge for just nine games and did not record a single victory, leaving West Brom 21st in the Championship table.

Ramsey's spell at The Hawthorns will be swiftly forgotten, but he will surely be back in a new job before long. He has shown himself to be a very promising manager. After all, he is the youngest British coach to attain a UEFA Pro License and was previously an assistant at Man Utd.

It will have been a valuable learning experience on a personal level, but it was another damaging blow for MLS, where Ramsay previously impressed with Minnesota United.

Mere days before he was appointed at West Brom, Wilfried Nancy, one of the best coaches in MLS over the past half-decade, was sacked by Celtic following a tumultuous 33-day tenure at Parkhead. In the eyes of many, these two coaching failures have discredited MLS.

Nancy at Celtic

Compared to Nancy's Celtic spell, Ramsay's time at West Brom was child's play. The 34-year-old can be given the benefit of the doubt because of his inexperience and age, as well as the club's circumstances, given that they were already struggling massively before he arrived.

Nancy at Celtic was on a different level. Although Ramsay had boosted his reputation by achieving some of the best results in franchise history at Minnesota, his team did not play great football and did not win any silverware.

By contrast, Nancy had won MLS Cup and Leagues Cup with the Columbus Crew and also led them to the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup (formerly the Champions League), all while playing some of the best football in North America.

The 48-year-old also boasted some 20 years of coaching experience, even if he had never before managed in Europe and only made the step up to the senior level in 2021 when he replaced Thierry Henry in charge of CF Montreal.

When Nancy arrived, Celtic were doing well under interim boss Martin O'Neill. The Frenchman, however, undid any good work the veteran head coach had done in stabilising the Hoops.

Nancy lost the dressing room almost immediately, with players baffled by his training methods and alleged lack of opposition analysis. He failed to command the respect of the team and was doomed to fail from the very start.

Celtic expert Martin Macdonald told FootballTransfers: "Even before Wilfried Nancy was officially appointed Celtic manager, there was trepidation about the decision due to the fact he had never worked in Europe before, never mind the United Kingdom.

"Yes, that was the case for Ange Postecoglou, too, but he was a serial winner in other parts of the world while Nancy was respected more for his playing style than his trophy cabinet.

"Things went wrong pretty much immediately for Nancy as he made the bold decision to adopt a 3-5-2 formation in his very first game after just a few days on the training ground with the players. It came against surprise league leaders, Hearts, and Celtic ended up losing 2-1 as the Edinburgh side increased their lead at the top of the table.

"After that match, he would be haunted by memes and jibes about his use of a small tactics board on his lap while Celtic toiled on the pitch in front of him. This came after Martin O'Neill had steadied the ship with an unbeaten domestic run after Brendan Rodgers' departure.

"The 3-5-2 did not fit the playing personnel Nancy had at his disposal, yet he remained adamant about the team structure and his playing style. Things went from bad to worse after they lost the League Cup 3-1 final to St. Mirren

"When Nancy did leave, various exposé pieces shed light on his first few training sessions. Telling the most decorated player in Celtic's history, James Forrest, how to control the ball was a particular highlight."

Why MLS coaches fail in the UK

Nancy and Ramsay are the latest high-profile cases of MLS coaches failing in the UK, but they are not the only ones. US legend Bob Bradley famously lasted just 85 days in charge of Premier League side Swansea City in 2016, while Jesse Marsch was sacked by Leeds in 2023, with the club eventually suffering relegation from the top flight that year.

Instead of saying that MLS coaches fail in Europe, we tried to specify that they primarily fail in the UK. Before taking the Swansea job, Bradley managed Stabaek in Norway and Le Havre in Ligue 2. He left both jobs on his own volition to pursue bigger opportunities.

Similarly, Marsch enjoyed success, winning consecutive domestic doubles with Red Bull Salzburg. These achievements were dismissed at the time as Salzburg were the dominant force in Austrian football, but they have now been trophyless since 2023. Admittedly, however, Marsch's brief stint at RB Leipzig did not go to plan, with the 52-year-old lasting just 20 games.

Because of the cultural and lingual links between the US and the UK, there is greater pressure on coaches going from MLS to Britain than to other parts of Europe. Simply uttering the word "soccer" will cause a stir in the British press.

"I think there is probably a stigma [towards American coaches], although I’m not sure Ted Lasso helped," Marsch said after his Leeds appointment. "I haven’t watched the show, but I do get it. People hate hearing the word 'soccer.'"

This point has been echoed by Bradley, who told The Guardian after Nancy's sacking at Celtic: "You always have to prove yourself," he explained. "And when you come from the outside, it is going to be even more the case."

MLS's nebulous standing in the grander footballing ecosystem also makes the transition difficult. It is still perceived as being a retirement league, despite many teams establishing themselves as top-level producers of talent, both domestic and foreign, particularly from South America.

Bradley's son, USMNT great Michael, who had a lengthy playing career in Europe, is now in charge of the New York Red Bulls, and he made waves at the weekend for trusting numerous teenagers in his first-ever competitive starting XI. 17-year-old Julian Hall netted twice to down Orlando City.

Still, the stigma persists. Nancy, who was celebrated in MLS circles for his coaching methods, was looked down upon by Celtic players. MLS remains a "lesser" league in the eyes of the British and European public.

However, perhaps the most significant and tangible difference between MLS and Europe is the calendar, which the league will, of course, address next season by switching to a European fall-spring model.

Nancy and Ramsay, who are both "project coaches," were appointed in the middle of the European season shortly after the MLS campaign concluded. As a result, they had no time to properly implement their ideas on the training ground.

Of course, they should have been able to show flexibility and adjust to the circumstances, but this is easier said than done, given that they had never before been in this situation. Bradley and Marsch, even though they were already in Europe, were also appointed mid-season.

At the Columbus Crew, it was not unusual for players to require several months of bedding in and getting familiar with Nancy's style of play. When it finally clicked, it was spectacular, but he was not allowed that time at Celtic.

"When you go in mid-season, it is particularly challenging,” Bradley noted. "You can come in and try to implement your system immediately. The other idea is to go and get the best out of things and figure out what is going to be the best for that group in the short term."

Short-termism is, of course, a big aspect of European football because the stakes are simply higher than in MLS. A run of poor results could end in relegation, which is always a huge financial and sporting blow. In general, there is also more money involved in elite European football.

Former Man Utd and Leeds assistant Chris Armas told The Guardian: "The stakes are higher with promotion and relegation. There is lots of money on the line, and the intensity does seem higher.

"David Beckham, Robbie Keane and Thomas Muller would all say there is something special going on in MLS, but we are not where Europe is in that regard to the top, top, leagues.

"You see some managers are at a club in Europe for a very long time, and they get the support, and then others don’t. I have seen that support in MLS, too, but the noise can come quickly in Europe. The demands are very high."

This support system also generally looks different in Europe than in MLS. Hierarchies are delineated with much more clarity in the US, resulting in more collaboration between the "front office" and the coaching staff.

The MLS system, by extension, also just generally offers coaches more job security. Because of the stringent roster-building regulations, which are meant to ensure parity, the differences between a successful and an unsuccessful season can be marginal.

One smart trade can often be enough to turn a team from a wooden spoon contender into a playoff side, or vice versa. The LA Galaxy won MLS Cup in 2024 but then finished second bottom in the Western Conference in 2025.

Europe, by contrast, is much more cut-throat. Getting used to this takes time. But as a football coach in Europe and the UK, it is very rare to get time.

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