Wilfried Nancy Reportedly on our shortlist for manager, Nancy is a really interesting candidate. 48 years old and currently managing Columbus Crew in the MLS, he has shown an ability to play possession based attacking football and win trophies in his young career.

Fully posted this thread starting off on how Slavia Prague hammered us during Covid and then realised it was Sparta Prague who hammered us

I’ll leave you with this article and a quote which I thought quite apt in relation to Celtic. “As said by Jindrich Trpisovsky, Slavia Prague *must* play an attacking style because the teams they play against play with five defenders at the back.” https://t.co/MmyB9auGEA

49 years old and close to his 400th game at Slavia Prague, Trpisovsky was linked to Celtic in 2023, and to Crystal Palace in 2024. I’m unsure if there’s a reason why he’s not been mentioned as much as other candidates, but on paper I think he’s as well suited to the job as any.

Tactically: - Mostly 3-4-3 or a variation of it - High possession, but play lots of direct balls, comfortable in transitions - Very aggressive press out of possession: the intense press is the main feature of their system https://t.co/CK4HnTTcKs

Jindrich Trpisovsky Another possible ‘left-field’ candidate, Trpisovsky has been manager of Slavia Prague since 2017, won eight trophies, and been European quarter-finalists three times. Czech league data is limited so no xG here, have to use actual goals, how ghoulish of me.

Will a coach like Knutsen be able to replicate the success he’s had with Bodo/Glimt at Celtic if he’s being hindered by operational issues above him? Maybe, maybe not. Every appointment has risk, but I fear the risk with Knutsen is created by the conditions within Celtic.

There’s clear reasons why Knutsen would be a good fit for Celtic. However… I worry about coaches coming in to Celtic whose success has come exclusively within an impeccable football structure. Because we don’t have an impeccable structure, probably the opposite.

There are a lot of similarities between how Knutsen sets up tactically and how we played under Ange: - Almost always 4-3-3 - Positionalism to the extreme - High press/high line - FB’s inverting/attacking, 8’s pushing into half spaces, wingers going 1v1 https://t.co/NTp6uBmGIE

Kjetil Knutsen Will preface this by saying I’m doubtful he would come to us, but the rumour’s flying about so let’s indulge. I think we’re all familiar with Knutsen and Bodo/Glimt by now - especially after they hammered us in 2022, but here’s a rundown of their recent seasons.

With Nancy, you have to look past pre-conceived notions about MLS and recognise that this is a highly intelligent young coach who has already achieved some great things. There have been many names floated around, but Wilfried Nancy is one that really excites me.

Tactically: - 3-4-3/3-4-2-1, double pivot + attacking wing-backs - lots of rotations, elements of relational principles - High press - Ball progression ability from CB’s is key Further reading -

Wilfried Nancy Reportedly on our shortlist for manager, Nancy is a really interesting candidate. 48 years old and currently managing Columbus Crew in the MLS, he has shown an ability to play possession based attacking football and win trophies in his young career.

My requirements would only be that you are a smart coach with a proven ability to get teams playing attacking football - at Celtic, success usually follows that. I’m not an expert on Swedish football, but based on what I could find, I think he’s a really interesting prospect.

Hellberg caught my eye when I was just looking through divisions, and the more I researched the more I thought “this guy has something about him”. Has he done enough to be the Celtic manager(whatever that actually means)?

Tactical stuff in this article here, in summary: - driven by tactical principles, rather than being wedded to one system - quick, vertical passing with the ball - intense pressing without the ball https://t.co/IzxiQYyBHJ

Prior to Hammarby, he took over at newly promoted IFK Varnamo in their maiden Allsvenskan season and within two seasons had them finishing 5th, just missing out on Europe. At Hammarby, successive 2nd place finishes, after a 7th place finish the season before his arrival.

Kim Hellberg This is a very left field suggestion, so please bear with me. Hellberg - currently manager of Hammarby - is only 37, plays an attacking, attractive brand of football, and has done some really impressive things in his young career.

Reading up on Wilfried Nancy and got hit by an absolute blast from the past reading that Darlington Nagbe plays for Columbus Crew. I remember him being heavily linked with Celtic about 7/8 years ago.

I’d be interested to see how he’d adapt to the unique competitive dynamics of Celtic in Scottish football - but he seems a really smart guy so not a major concern for me. Whether he wants to come/we can afford to bring him is a different matter, but I’d be happy if he’s our man.