GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - DECEMBER 07: Celtic Manager Wilfried Nancy alongside Assistant Coach Kwame Ampadu, Gavin Strachan and Assistant and Fitness coach Jules Gueguen during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and Heart of Midlothian at Celtic Park, on December 06, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Celtic fans have very little positives to hold onto following the 2-1 defeat at home to Hearts.
It is a result that could have occurred under Brendan Rodgers or Martin O’Neill.
The current Celtic squad is very fragile.
That is the outcome when recruitment over the last few years has been shaped by Mark Lawwell and Paul Tisdale.
Dozens of players have been signed, ten of millions spent yet the backbone of the team comes from two sources.
CHRONIC RECRUITMENT
It is more than a decade since Callum McGregor and Kieran Tierney stepped up from the Celtic Academy. Other than those two the first picks in the team come from two brilliant transfer windows under Ange Postecoglou and Frank Trimboli.
Since Alistair Johnston joined in January 2023 no-one of real substance has been signed and remained.
Bizarrely to solve that issue, to provide joined up thinking Celtic have turned to Tisdale as the newly created Head of Football Operations.
The recruitment process for that job can only be speculated on. It probably involved golf courses, PowerPoint Presentations and ‘sounding really impressive’.
EXETER CITY
And with that not only has recruitment been handed over to a guy that managed Exeter City for also the lead role in appointing a new manager.
Tisdale managed Exeter City for 602 matches over 12 years. Kwame Ampadu was one of the many coaches during that marathon stint in Devon.
It really is incredible that through an Exeter connection Celtic have their new management team in place.
Discussing his assistant manager Nancy told the Daily Record:
I told the board that if Kwame doesn’t come, I will not come! No, I’m joking. Kwame is my friend. He’s my guy. He’s the oldest guy in the staff. And obviously, the background that he has is really important. He knows the culture.
He was so emotional when I told him that we have the possibility to come here, because Celtic is his club too. So, this is a really nice story. Obviously, he knows also people within the club.
And obviously, his experience is going to be massive. And that’s why he’s with me. And that’s why we want to assess and process everything.
That middle line is the stand out ‘obviously he knows also people within the club’.
His former Exeter City colleague Tisdale seems to be the dominant football source at Celtic.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Someone that post Exeter managed at MK Dons, Bristol Rovers and Stevenage. It is fair to say that his career hasn’t been on the rise,
Now with his management team in place Tisdale is having a power nap during the first match of the Nancy and Ampadu regime.
Following on from Rodgers and O’Neill was always going to be a tough task.
Yesterday’s result and the optics have made that job much tougher for the former Columbus Crew coaching team.
Performances and possession don’t matter at Celtic, hopefully Nancy is a fast learner. If not it looks like Celtic are facing the toughest winter since the impossible to forget 20/21 season. But this time with fans inside the stadiums.
We are now making the same mistakes as the rangers have been doing for years,,this board just don’t seam able to nake a right decision everything they do they get wrong and mistakes must go, I hate saying it but the future scares me
Not mistakes that should be Tisdale
It’s a tough one for Nancy – as it would be for any new manager, coming into the club now?
It looks like the majority [?] of the support has already lost patience with the Board.
Could that impact the new manager?
Will Nancy be given some leeway to get up to speed at the club?
It would be a challenging environment for an experienced manager from England or Europe.
But, for a relatively inexperienced manager from a totally different football culture, it’s a steep learning curve.
And now Tisdale – rightly – is getting the spotlight.
Nancy is a left field choice and must [?] be Tisdale’s choice?
Roma might be brutal, but winning the LC will be a massive boost to Nancy and the team.
(Losing the Final doesn’t bear thinking about, though.)
So basically we have one very under qualified manager and his assistant.
I dunno about you but first impressions always tell a story for me. Seeing Nancy calling over the most decorated and experienced captain in the country to look at a toy speaks on way too many levels for me. If I didn’t feel so worried I’d laugh.
It’s performance not winning that important. Did he get an interview???
Na man not for me !!!
First impressions matter.
Its all down to how that squad of players receive the new manager and his staff.
Not us fans, not the media, not the board….the players.
If it doesn’t click very quickly, if the first impressions of his methods, his man management, his communication doesn’t grab the players from the beginning, then it just won’t work.
I’m sure most of us at work have had new management come in, their first impressions weren’t good, and from then on nothing they do will ever change peoples minds.
I have always believed communication is absolutely key, and often wondered that when a foreign coach is hired, can they get their points across in the same way a natural speaking manager can?
I listen to them in interview and just think I would find it difficult to draw the enthusiasm from what is often broken english or certainly a difficulty finding the language required to get the point across, combine that with a magnet board and maybe players are gonna struggle to understand what he wants.
Maybe I’m talking crap, but I just know we all struggle with change no matter what our line of work is, and one thing is certain, BR & MON were communicators par excellance…to go from that to someone who you find difficult to understand could cause all sorts of problems for a bit.
Coonect4 yesterday,what’s this week Operation or not got a Cluedo,how about Scrabble or Monopoly,or maybe he can bring out his dot-dot colouring inbook.
Follow the bouncing ball,this guy is out of his depth.
Lol,he will bring in a couple of players from the MLS league on a scholarship.
Some if the posters on here belong in the Donald CULT,MAKE CELTUC GREAT AGAIN,only going by what GASLIGHTING the board put out,everything is good at the club ,money in the bank,ticket prices are reasonable and AFFORDABLE,we are going to win all the trophies available to us because we are the best.
Don’t go by the league position,or failure in the cup next week,it will be a goid failure as we got to the final and lost,but our klub is still the best and most successful in the world.
Anybody would think it was sevco fans in charge at our club,oh wait a minute it is.
I still say Mr Nancy’s ‘ unveiling ‘ as new head coach should have taken place after the League Cup final on Sunday ? The Hearts ,Roma and St Mirren games would have been better managed by Martin O’ Neill with the new manager in place on the morning after Sunday’s final ! Why throw the new boss into position in the top of the table match yesterday with so much at stake and a brand new system which he implemented and many players struggled with yesterday ?
Totally agree.
The ship had been steadied, and it made sense for that to continue till after the final.
It’s not as if it was 3 league games against Dundee, Falkirk n Killie, a top of the table clash, a must win euro game and a cup final…..continuity for me all day long.
Wow a point of view on here that I totally agree with. That’s a first lol.
Leading in from that how inept does that make our board.
Unless Martin didn’t want it either !!
Excellent Analysis Joe, You Are Certainly a Smart Man. I Do Fear The Incompetents Have Made Another Bad Decision But I Really Do Hope I Am Wrong As I Genuinely Want Mr Nancy to Succeed.
The problem is the players, anyone would struggle to consistently get a tune out of these below par bottlers.
Did you’se actually watch half the performances under Martin?, the exact same flaws, but mostly with a little luck thrown in. That said, I agree, why not wait until after the final to bring the new guy in, just for a little continuity, cause believe me, the manager makes little difference with this squad.
The players just don’t have the skills, the only difference Martin made was to instill a bit of self belief in them, but that only takes you so far, and even then the performances where mostly pretty woeful, and we scraped a few results.
Even in Europe we got our arse handed to us, getting a result only against a team more lacking than ourselves, and even then it could easily have went the other way.
There is no doubt in my mind, that by the end of his stint, Martin was painfully aware of these deficiencies , and that his apparent upward trajectory would soon come to an end, probably yesterday.
I’m afraid our problems are much deeper than Brendan Rogers, who made a convenient scapegoat for the board, as he had more integrity than go along with their shenanigans.
Editor: The players recruited by Dr Football after he impressed an elderly golfer into giving him a consultancy, now he calls the shots while Nicholson nods and smiles nervously.
RESULTS
RESULTS
RESULTS
RESULTS
RESULTS
Are all that count in ‘Bonnie’ Scotland Mr Nancy…
And if ya don’t realise that sunshine – Then you very very soon will !
I see strachan still clings like a barnacle or arse berry take your pick.