Celtic: Martin O'Neill 'would happily have stayed on' as interim boss but what is going wrong for Wilfried Nancy?
Wilfried Nancy was appointed Celtic manager on December 3 but has lost all three of his opening games; Martin O'Neill had been in interim charge following Brendan Rodgers' resignation and won seven of his eight matches in charge; watch Dundee Utd vs Celtic on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports
Monday 15 December 2025 17:28, UK
Martin O'Neill insists he would "have happily stayed on" as Celtic's interim manager for their League Cup final, which ended in defeat under new boss Wilfried Nancy.
The 73-year-old returned to Celtic Park following Brendan Rodgers' resignation and won seven of his eight matches in charge.
That run included a League Cup semi-final win over Rangers, a 3-1 victory away to Feyenoord in the Europa League and five wins from five in the Scottish Premiership, which saw Celtic draw level with leaders Hearts, with a game in hand.
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However, since taking over on a two-and-a-half-year deal, former Columbus Crew boss Nancy has lost in all three of those competitions - including a League Cup final defeat to St Mirren and a loss at home to top-of-the-table Hearts.
O'Neill also revealed he had a "10 or 15 minute conversation" with the "very affable, very nice" Nancy after handing over the reins.
When asked if he wanted to take Celtic into Sunday's League Cup final at Hampden Park, O'Neill "that wasn't a driving force" for him.
"If they'd had asked me to stay, I would have done so," he told TalkSport. "But the minute that they said no, 'listen, that's your time', that is fine by me.
"I stepped into the job, Dermot (Desmond) has said to me 'you could be in it for two weeks or two months - we're looking for someone' - which is absolutely right. And that they'd be looking for somebody younger.
"My job was like holding the fort for a while, but when you get into it, you really enjoy it. You enjoy winning the games."
He continued: "Beating Rangers in the semi-final gave us a chance going into the final. Finals are still difficult, but at the end of it all, if the board had said 'we still have problems with visas and things like this', I'd have happily stayed on, whatever that game may be, my last game. But that wasn't a driving force from my viewpoint."
Nancy's start of three successive defeats, ahead of visiting Dundee United on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports, is the worst start to any Celtic manager's era.
However, O'Neill believes the Frenchman should be given time to get things right in Glasgow and opened up on his conversations with Nancy.
"The board asked me if I would stay on and speak to the incoming manager. My last game was on Wednesday night vs Dundee. I would have been flying back to London on Thursday anyway, but I stayed until later on, and I met the incoming manager.
"Very affable, very nice. It's only a 10 or 15-minute conversation.
"He's got his own philosophy and his own viewpoint in the game, and that's absolutely fine, but I was not going to be coming in and giving him advice.
"I would have passed on anything the incoming manager would have wanted to have heard from me. It's as simple as that."
Nancy asks Celtic fans to 'trust' him
Celtic's defeat to St Mirren has some fans already questioning his appointment as Rodgers' permanent successor. However, the 48-year-old is adamant he will get it right.
"I tell them that I want to do better for sure. But I am asking them, not to be patient but to trust what I am going to say regarding I can see what we are trying to do," he said after the Hampden defeat.
"My point is, I can see something good but this is not enough. We are not able to be consistent.
"I can understand the fans. It is totally normal. I can ask the fans to believe in me and to trust I can do things, but that is not my job. I have to act instead of talking."
Sutton: Nancy does not have squad capable of making changes
Nancy immediately changed Celtic's formation, opting to use his favoured back three since he took charge.
However, Sky Sports' Chris Sutton says the squad at his former club are not good enough to adapt to what he wants.
He said: "I feel for Wilfried Nancy. He is trying to implement a style, but his problem is that he has overestimated the level of player at the club right now.
"To play the way he wants takes tactical intelligence and flexibility and good decision making, something this group of players lack."
Nancy was asked if his players were struggling to cope with the switch, but does not feel that is the case.
"No, not at all. To be honest with you, we had a really good performance in the first half vs Hearts, second half vs Roma and first half today," the former Columbus Crew and CF Montreal boss added.
"I am questioning everything. That is my job. Here, in the past and so on, this is our job to try and find solutions.
"I didn't see it like that. The structure we had was really interesting. We were able to go wide, go through the middle and we were able to attack the box.
"To me this is taking care of the ball and this is the only way to maximise our chance to do better."
Celtic's upcoming fixtures
- Dundee Utd (A) - Scottish Premiership - Wednesday - live on Sky Sports
- Aberdeen (H) - Scottish Premiership - December 21
- Livingston (A) - Scottish Premiership - December 27 - live on Sky Sports
- Motherwell (A) - Scottish Premiership - December 30
- Rangers (H) - Scottish Premiership - January 3 - live on Sky Sports
