Q: Are you the kind of manager that pays attention, listens to all the reaction online, reads the papers, listens to the radio, are you not interested in all of that?
Wilfried Nancy, Head Coach of Celtic FC speaks to the media during a Celtic FC Press Conference at Celtic Park on December 10, 2025 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Wilfried Nancy: “That’s a really good question, I’m going to be really honest with you. When I had the opportunity to become a coach, I was assistant coach for seven years, so I worked with many coaches. So I always told myself that when you become a coach, cut everything. So this is what I did, on Twitter I cut everything, regarding my name, regarding the club, regarding what people can say, because they have the right to say something.
“This is part of the job, that’s why we study for that, and after that, I’m not here to comment on everything. We can go to the restaurant together and maybe you’re going to say that you like the food, and me I’m going to say I don’t like it. So at the end of the day, this is part of the job, and I control what I can control to be good with my players, with my club, with the people that I work with, and to maximise our chance to win games by having good performance.”
Q: The players we’ve spoken to say they’re happy with the tactical tweaks, including changing the formation. Have they taken to your tactics and messaging well over the past week?
Wilfried Nancy, Manager of Celtic, looks on during a Celtic FC Training Session at Lennoxtown Training Centre on December 10, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Wilfried Nancy: “Yes, to be honest, again, with a lot of humility I felt it, and it was a good challenge for me too, because this is the first time as a coach that I take a team in the middle of the season, and it’s new, so I come with a lot of confidence, but also with a lot of humility. And listen, it’s not about, you know everybody talks about the system, but we played with a back four the last game. Yes, defensively you would think that it was a back five, but we didn’t defend with a back five, we defended with a back four, sometimes it was a back three.
“So it’s not about the system, this is about the concept, this is about how do we want to play, how we can connect better, how we can manipulate the opposition to attack the box better, how we can disrupt the lines, how we can defend our box. This is the most important. And they understood that, and for me the system is not important, and also I like to be coherent.
“If I do something it’s because I believe that it can be good for the team, and if I need to adjust anything I will do it, because this is part of my job. But again, the idea is to be coherent with the way I am as a coach, the way I see football, and to give time to my players to process everything. Knowing that I know I need to win to buy time, but this hasn’t changed. It was the same when I was in MLS, it was the same when I was a player, it’s the same for you in your job, you have to be good to stay, it doesn’t change.”
Q: Has this been a whirlwind first couple of days for you and your staff?
Wilfried Nancy, Manager of Celtic, looks on during a Celtic FC Training Session at Lennoxtown Training Centre on December 10, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Wilfried Nancy: “I just came in, jet lag, tried to anticipate everything, but again, this is part of our job. I’m really excited by that. I try to stay at peace with myself, at peace with the person that I am, try to open my eyes to understand the culture, try to open my eyes to also understand what is the context. After that, I’m going to do what I used to do in terms of the way I want to play, because this is a lifestyle, this is not something where I try to cope, this is something that I feel. After that, we’ll see.”
