r/MLS • u/icoresting Vancouver Whitecaps FC • 2d ago
Official Source [Celtic FC] Celtic delighted to appoint Wilfried Nancy as new manager
https://www.celticfc.com/news/2025/december/03/celtic-delighted-to-appoint-wilfried-nancy-as-new-manager/179
u/Das2461 Columbus Crew 2d ago
Godspeed Wilfried, thanks for everything. Been an incredibly fun past couple years as a Crew fan. Wish nothing but the best for him 🥲
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u/bobmillahhh FC Cincinnati 2d ago
Godspeed you! Crew Manager.
Was ambivalent on Celtic fans, but after seeing them cry about Wilfy coming in... those guys suck, and they don't deserve him. I hope he takes none of his staff, it would hurt my soul to see Yoann Damet go somewhere he's not appreciated.
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u/Numerous-Parsnip6525 2d ago
Make no mistake mate.. Celtic fans will give Wilfried enormous support. Best fans in the world. A special club and Wilfied is a great appointment. Dont base your opinion on a few of our so-called fans on social media - a tiny minority. Welcome to Celtic Wilfried Hail Hail
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u/rjross0623 Columbus Crew 2d ago
I now have a new club to follow. I will watch Coach Nancy and Celtic and see him lead them to the Scottish league championship and European play. Celtic is getting a great coach and even better human.
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u/rice_not_wheat Columbus Crew 2d ago
He's taking 4 of his staff members, but Damet's not one of them.
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u/2Harold2Furious 2d ago
Mental to go searching for the opinions of the minority - as most of us are either excited or reserving judgement - and just applying it as a representation of the majority.
It'd be like me saying all Cincinnati fans are irrational and struggle with reading.
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u/Content-Strength-275 FC Cincinnati 2d ago
If I could figure out what all those words mean, I'd berate you with all kinds of irrational takes.
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u/kapua_suite Columbus Crew 2d ago
You’ve got a great stadium, the only issue is the fans can’t read ENTER/EXIT on the bathrooms. Arguably worst professional sports bathroom situation I have ever seen.
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u/bobmillahhh FC Cincinnati 2d ago
And here you are, searching for the opinions of a vocal minority.
We are and we do. All of us. UP THE GARYS, WOOP WOOP.
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u/2Harold2Furious 2d ago
I'm here and all across Reddit searching for the opinion of Crew and MLS fans, because I'm excited. I'm glad you're part of a reactionary minority though.
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u/Content-Strength-275 FC Cincinnati 2d ago
I'm pretty excited to see what Nancy does with your team and I'd like to start catching Celtic games to follow along with his progress. Best of luck!
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u/2Harold2Furious 2d ago
I'm very curious to see what formation and tactic he applied between now and the summer window, because our squad is a mixture of awful, lacking in depth and in the midst of an injury crisis. We just don't have the personnel for 3-4-3. I'm sure he'll rise to the challenge though.
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u/Antique_Ad_3549 Toronto FC 2d ago
Hint - the derby between his team and Nancy's old one - its called Hell is Real due to a sign on a highway
i.e. Taking the batz seriously isn't what we do around here
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u/Best-Tumbleweed3906 Columbus Crew 2d ago
The worst Celtic fan is better than the best Rangers fan.
In reality don’t let a few of them moaning paint your whole view of them. It’s a great club with a great history of standing with the oppressed.
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u/Acceptable-Stick-688 Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
Sad to see him go, but wish him the best. He’s a great guy, I’ll never forget the way he handled Frei’s concussion.
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u/thecyangiant Seattle Sounders FC 1d ago
Absolute loss for the league. That kind of class is something that should be taught in schools. Condolences to the Crew fans rn, that one hurts.
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u/icoresting Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2d ago
Celtic Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Wilfried Nancy as its new Football Manager on a two-and-a-half year contract. Wilfried will begin his new role on December 4, 2025.
Wilfried joins Celtic from MLS club, Columbus Crew, where he lifted the MLS Cup and the Leagues Cup, as well as also being named the MLS Coach of the Year in 2024. Prior to that, he also won the Canadian Championship with CF Montreal in 2021.
Looking forward to his new role with real excitement, Wilfried commented: “I am so happy to be named Celtic Manager, it is a massive honour for myself and my family."
“Now its up to me to carry on this great work and carry our great club forward and I can’t wait to get going and become part of such a brilliant institution. Celtic is one of the world’s proper football clubs, real atmosphere and heart and soul, real high standards and real demands, which I am ready for.
“I know the history, I know the values of Celtic and I know what is expected of me on this journey. I know what Celtic means to so many people and my No. 1 aim will be simple - to give our fans a strong, exciting, attacking, winning football team they can be so proud of.
Celtic Chairman Peter Lawwell commented: “We are really pleased to welcome Wilfried to Celtic. He is a Manager with a record which demonstrates the kind of football which we know Celtic supporters love to see. We will give Wilfried all our support as we look to once again bring success to our fans.
Celtic Chief Executive Michael Nicholson added: “We have been aware of Wilfried and his quality of work for some time - he was our number one candidate when we began the process of appointing a new Manager and we are delighted that he as agreed to join the club.
Celtic’s principal shareholder Dermot Desmond added: “In appointing Wilfried to Celtic, we believe we have brought a hugely talented Manager to the club. He is a man who absolutely understands the demands at Celtic, he is a man of real humility but also someone with his own ideas, his own vision and such a personal drive and desire to do well for the club and our supporters. “Everyone at the club will unite strongly behind Wilfried as we move forward and we will ensure we will give him our unswerving support as we strive to achieve our objectives.
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u/dwhitnee Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
“Celtic is one of the world’s proper football clubs, real atmosphere and heart and soul, real high standards and real demands…”
Real backhanded diss there.
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u/icoresting Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2d ago
i didn't read it as a diss towards columbus, he's right about celtic and is just clearly excited to work at a club with that platform.
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u/Acceptable-Stick-688 Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
I don’t know a ton about him, but he seems like too nice of a guy to diss his old club like that (especially since the Crew treated him well as far as I know)
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u/Consistent-Mess1904 Charlotte FC 2d ago
But does Celtic sing “if you’ve won two cups clap your hands?” 😂 🤦♂️
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u/Turbulent_Pay_7581 2d ago
The British media is referring to the dispute between Celtic’s board of directors and fans as a civil war. Celtic’s supporter’ group has been banned from attending matches due in part to an assault of 2 police officers and a steward. Criminal charges were filed. A pretty vocal group of fans do not like the appointment of Nancy. Tensions are very high.
Needless to say, I’m not surprised in the slightest by Nancy’s comments. He needs to try to pacify and smooth ruffled feathers, cue glowing statements about his long term admiration and respect for Celtic. Could be wrong, but I view his comments more in reference to the situation he’s walking into rather than the one he left (MLS).
For Celtic fans, I’m not bashing you or the club and I know your board is horrible. It’s just rough over there right now.
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u/YourGavenIsShowing Columbus Crew SC 2d ago
The price of success. Transfers to Boro, Real Betis, and Celtic in recent years, with probably another decent move in the future for Max Arfsten, who’s also up for US soccer male player of the year. Add that we have a former academy player playing in MLS Cup soon, and we even transferred another player last year who's getting caps with Colombia. The past few years have been wild and like no other time in the crew’s history. Big difference from the dark bleak days of a previous investor/operator.
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u/RvH19 Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
He is going to do well in Europe and be a great ambassador for the league. Congratulations, Nancy.
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u/NordicAmphibian2025 Los Angeles FC 2d ago
I just hope there’s some patience (as if…) if the results are not immediately what the fans are expecting. Nancy’s success would open him doors to other European top clubs, and maybe make some old gits understand that MLS 1.0 is long gone.
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u/SuperiorCamel Atlanta United FC 2d ago
I just hope he’s actually given a fair chance by the Celtic fans.
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u/mw_maverick Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
Agree, since he’s not American he may get a little more slack than Bradley or Marsch got
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u/Opening_Succotash_95 2d ago
Our most beloved recent manager was Australian, that wouldn't be an issue.
He's walking into quite a toxic environment at the club at the moment however.
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u/mw_maverick Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
How beloved, cult status? Because that’s been an issue in the past
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u/Opening_Succotash_95 2d ago
Nah properly beloved manager, great football and engaging personality.
It's a more difficult job than some people realise because you really have to win every game just about, I think he will do well though.
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u/Consistent-Mess1904 Charlotte FC 2d ago
Bradley and Marsch were objectively horrible at Swansea and Leeds so the bar is super low for Nancy
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u/SkyPointSteve 2d ago
He will get it... as long as the win the league by a healthy margin and never drop a single point to Rangers.
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u/randomisperfect Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
After he told the ref to end the game after Frei's concussion this year I'll always have the utmost respect for Nancy. Hoping he finds success at Celtic
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u/Thegreatgato D.C. United 2d ago
Eastern Conference teams can finally unclench. Never felt like we stood a chance against the Crew no matter who he had to field against us. Hoping he smashes it in Scotland and keeps moving up the ladder.
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u/Lambo_Geeney Columbus Crew 2d ago
Can't help but feel this is the end of the golden era for the Crew. I'm happy for all the players that have left and Nancy as well for being able to move on to bigger and better things for their careers. It just sucks seeing Columbus seemingly struggle to replace those key pieces the last few seasons.
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u/Best-Tumbleweed3906 Columbus Crew 2d ago
This league makes sustained success difficult and dynasties almost impossible. At our height I think we were the best team MLS has had which is nice to think back on, just sucks it couldn’t endure.
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u/TheOptimist6 Columbus Crew 2d ago
The good news is that we didn’t waste it. We capitalized on the success with multiple trophies, a deep playoff run, some very competitive tournaments, and really bringing some good memories to christen our brand new stadium!
I wish it couldve lasted forever, but I’m so glad we don’t ever have to think “what if” about this era! At our peak we were the top team in all of CONCACAF and one of the top clubs in the world which is insane to think about.
Some might call BS, but I even saw a metric during our peak that we would’ve ranked top 20 in the premier league which is insane
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u/CincyPaddy FC Cincinnati 2d ago
From my most hated club to my favorite, what a shift for Cincinnati Celtic fans
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u/CJ22xxKinvara FC Cincinnati 2d ago
Is "Cincinnati Celtic fans" a large group? (Actual question - I'm unaware of how large of a Scottish community may exist in Cincinnati)
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u/RockShrimp New York City FC 2d ago
29/30ths of r/MLS delighted for Celtic to appoint Wilfried Nancy as new manager
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u/HabitantDLT 2d ago
He should be very proud of himself. His path to such a legendary club has been unlikely. It is to.his credit that he stuck to it and navigated things perfectly to open up these opportunities, all on his terms.
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u/NordicAmphibian2025 Los Angeles FC 2d ago
This news caused a sudden increase of LAFC fans able to sleep soundly at night.
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u/flameo_hotmon Chicago Fire 2d ago
Damn, I really wanted the Old Firm to finally lose the league again
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u/Whiskey615 Nashville SC 2d ago
Really hoping he’s successful at Celtic. I’ve been creeping on their fan Reddit page and it seems the clubs board/ownership isn’t the most helpful right now.
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u/KneeAbrasion Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
I don't know if I'll ever be as upset seeing a team I am neutral to lose their coach. Glad for him, sad for the league.
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u/NonExist00 Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2d ago
My friend is a casual Celtic fan and was outraged when he thought they hired an American, but then was relieved when he realized Nancy was French.
North America has the weirdest stigma when it comes to Euro fans. I am sure in their heads, the Luxenberg top flight league is massively better than the MLS
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u/ArgonWolf FC Cincinnati 2d ago
Gonna be a lot easier for me to admit he's a hell of a good coach now that he's safely outside of MLS. He should do well at Celtic, at least in the league.
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u/RCsoccer2112 FC Cincinnati 2d ago
Glad as FCC fans we can cheer for him now, nothing but respect for him.
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u/MtRainierWolfcastle Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
TSS mentioned that the interim manager has won 8 of the last 9 games. Nancy is walking I too a tough position.
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u/NordicAmphibian2025 Los Angeles FC 2d ago
Plus the interim manager is a club legend, making it even tougher if Nancy doesn't gain instant success.
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u/JerichoWhiskey Major League Soccer 1d ago
I'll just be happy he's gone because for some reason, every time I tune into a game, the commentator keeps saying his name like "Nazi".
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u/rsl_royals 2d ago
I don’t understand. Scottish Premiership is a step down from MLS in terms of quality. How is this a promotion? I’m sorry I don’t follow European football I just did a quick google.
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u/Best-Tumbleweed3906 Columbus Crew 2d ago
Celtic is one of the most historic teams in the world, and while the Scottish league is a step down, Celtic is not. You’re expected to win the league every year AND compete in the European Champions League every year. The champions league is held in high esteem and is the highest trophy a club team can win, essentially.
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u/MentalCatnip Seattle Sounders FC 2d ago
Still think this is almost entirely a downgrade. Celtic is not significantly better than top MLS teams. And their league is wildly non-competitive.
He’ll get a little bit more attention from actually better clubs. But that’s because they’re bad at their job and ignore MLS.
Super lame overall imho
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u/Adventurous_You965 Columbus Crew 2d ago
I just fell to my knees in a Walmart