Wilfried Nancy: Celtic's winless run has broken records for the wrong reasons, so what happens next?
Wilfried Nancy has lost his first four games in charge of Celtic but retains the full support of the club's board; they trail Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts by six points, with a game in hand; Celtic's next game is at home to Aberdeen on Sunday, kick-off 3pm
Thursday 18 December 2025 22:14, UK
Wilfried Nancy's start to life at Celtic ranks as the worst of any manager and, after just 15 days, some fans have already had enough.
Defeats in all four of his games so far mean Celtic are also on their poorest run of form since 1978, with former player Stiliyan Petrov opining that Nancy could be sacked before the end of this month, if things don't improve.
Despite that, Sky Sports News understands the club's board are still fully behind their new manager.
- 'Wilf's way isn't working' - Sutton blasts 'third-placed team' Celtic
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Nancy has taken over following Martin O'Neill's interim reign, which left Celtic with the chance to win silverware, go top of the league and progress in Europe.
Fast forward two weeks, and their Premiership title hopes have taken a blow with defeats to Hearts and Dundee Utd, Europa League progression dreams are fading, while the League Cup is no longer in the trophy cabinet after defeat to St Mirren.
Supporters have been chanting for him to be sacked, while criticism towards the board has resulted in chairman Peter Lawwell announcing he is stepping down due to "abuse and threats".
Petrov has sympathy for the Celtic boss but has warned the 48-year-old that things must change if he wants to avoid being the shortest-serving manager in the club's history.
'Tactics? What tactics?'
Nancy has come under fire for immediately introducing a new 3-4-3 formation and sticking with it through all four defeats.
Evan Ferguson, who scored a brace in Roma's Europa League win at Celtic Park, claimed some Hoops players "didn't know what they were doing".
Speaking after the defeat at Dundee Utd, Nancy told Sky Sports the team were on the right tracks, insisting: "I know there is improvement. Just step back, have a look at the context."
But Petrov said: "What tactics? We haven't seen nothing yet," he said. "You can only talk about tactics if you see something positive.
"The positive things is winning games, being able to put yourself in that position for people to judge you.
"At the moment, the only judgment is negative towards Wilfried Nancy, and saying that, he has only been here for two weeks.
"Watching his interview last night [at Tannadice], it made me feel sorry for him because, you know what, it's not his fault.
"Unfortunately, you've got an opportunity to be a Celtic manager, and you have to produce quickly."
Are Celtic a 'third-place team' or good enough to compete?
With Petrov claiming the issue is not Nancy's fault, where else could the blame lie?
Much has been made of the club's recruitment, with previous boss Brendan Rodgers critical of signings, while even the club's CEO, Michael Nicholson, admitted the club had failed to land key targets in the summer.
While some fans believe a return for O'Neill would solve things after his successful interim spell in which Celtic won every league game, Sky Sports' Chris Sutton insists even the 73-year-old would need to improve the squad.
"Martin did unbelievably well," Sutton told Sky Sports. "However, he came out himself and said there needs to be recruitment in January. He knew Celtic were getting away with it.
"He produced miracles. Let's not make out that this Celtic team is a good team. It's bang average, and with key players missing, January's going to be key. This Celtic team look like a third-placed team.
"We can't get past the fact that Celtic are so poor in certain areas and they need to improve it. The only way to do that is through recruitment and that's not on Nancy - he inherited this squad and it hasn't been a good squad all season.
"Martin told you that his team was papering over the cracks and were struggling to win games, but they found a way. It was unbelievable what he did with that group of players. But he wasn't fooled by that. He knew that wasn't the level.
"Nancy needed to come in and hit the ground running and he hasn't done that. There are fans who, after four games, have lost faith with Nancy and you think, 'is that fair?'"
Petrov, who played alongside Sutton during O'Neill's first spell as Celtic boss, agrees recruitment is vital but is not sure Nancy will be the manager making the changes.
"After what we've seen so far, will you trust the manager with the funds and the money that he wants to spend and the players he wants to bring?" he added.
"That's a big question, and there are another two weeks until the transfer window opens.
"And if he doesn't win games, I don't think he'll see the transfer window."
Nancy appointment was 'bad timing'
Nancy was appointed days before a top-of-the-table Scottish Premiership meeting with Hearts, which was quickly followed by the Europa League visit of Roma and the League Cup final against St Mirren.
O'Neill was on a winning domestic run as interim boss, so was it foolish to make the change ahead of such a pivotal week?
"I think the appointment of Nancy was really bad timing," Petrov said.
"Martin O'Neill managed to give the players the confidence, the winning feeling again, and I don't think that change should have been made.
"You know what is really interesting? I've read that Wilfred Nancy and Martin O'Neill only had a 15-minute chat.
"If I was Wilfried Nancy, I would be dragging Martin O'Neill beside me every single day to discuss that expectation, about the players, about the opposition, about what is required to be successful."
'This is going to take time' - Nancy backed by Celtic CEO
Ahead of Wednesday night's defeat, CEO Nicholson claimed he was fully behind the manager, despite his winless start.
Whilst insisting he understood "discontent" from supporters, the Parkhead chief then revealed discussions were underway to help Nancy improve the squad in January and in the summer.
He added that it was "going to take time" to get Nancy's side firing on all cylinders, but insisted "we know that we've got a project to support here, we're excited about where we're going to get to".
However, Petrov is not sure how far the board's loyalty will extend if his winless run continues.
"You only get time if you win games. If you lose games, nobody's going to wait for you.
"Unfortunately, we live in a world where people don't have much patience, especially the Celtic fans.
"The Celtic fans have seen so much success. At the moment, they haven't seen what they require from a manager and the team.
"That's why they're so anxious. They just want something to be done. Is it a change or results?"
Should Celtic have learned from Martin's Rangers spell?
Rangers took a risk when they appointed Russell Martin in the summer. He was not the fans' choice, but the Rangers hierarchy admired the way he set his teams up and the style of football he wanted to play.
The problem was that supporters turned on him almost immediately.
His football philosophy may have looked good on paper, but he had a squad of players who could not make his plans work.
Martin lasted 123 days.
Could Nancy's tenure be even shorter? Is it fair to say Celtic should have learned something from their Old Firm rivals?
The Frenchman's philosophy and style convinced the board he was the right man to replace Brendan Rodgers, even though not all the fans were convinced.
Questions were raised if the players could execute his style of football. Sound familiar?
Something else that sounds familiar is post-match interviews.
After drawing with Dundee, Martin told Sky Sports: "It's great learning for the players. It's a completely different challenge for them today and one we'll be better for moving forward."
Fast-forward to Celtic's defeat to Dundee United, Nancy insisted: "We are on the right track, but this is not enough - I know that. We all want to win, but I'm confident because of the game we played and every time I see an improvement."
At Celtic and Rangers, fans demand wins. Be it against Dortmund or Dundee United, St Mirren or Sevilla - only wins matter.
Martin perhaps found that out the hard way. It seems Celtic learned little from that era at Ibrox - but can their appointment of Nancy have a better ending?
