Wilfried Nancy has engineered himself into an ‘unsackable’ position, aided by the Celtic board
New Celtic Manager, Wilfried Nancy, has shoe-horned himself into a strong position ahead of Christmas and, unwillingly, the chiefs at Celtic have enabled this pantomime to play out. The festive period is a time of fairytale and dreams. It is a time when realities hide and festive cheer dominate. But In the mahogany-lined walls of the Celtic-Park boardroom, this Christmas dream has quickly turned into an unfathomable nightmare. The once Scottish-football powerhouse has found itself embroiled in the script of something you’d see at the King’s Theatre and is now a shadow of the tight ship Dermot Desmond used to run and Celtic used to be. As every manager has passed, they’ve descended further into civil war between the supremos in the leather seats and the paying punters waking up hoarse on the Monday morning after a match weekend–with a brief ceasefire initiated by the talismanic Martin O’Neill. This club is in a mess and you don’t really need to look far to find out why or what their current predicament is. To anyone who has followed football, it is blatantly obvious that Wilfried Nancy is out his depth, but why is this a surprise? It shouldn’t be a surprise. As recently as six years ago Wilfried Nancy was managing an under 16’s women’s team, and whilst this isn’t a reflection of his managerial capability, it is a reflection of his managerial experience and his qualification to take on one of the most intense jobs in European football management. Judging a manager on three games is neither fair nor reasonable. Judging a boards decision on three games is fair and reasonable–especially given they handed Nancy the keys to Lennoxtown. Sacking Wilfried Nancy three games in, despite the gravity of those games, isn’t conceivable at this moment. Martin O’Neill himself said that he could’ve lost those games in a recent interview with TalkSport, “Could’ve” being the key quote there, ‘unlikely’ being far more probable. If the Celtic board were to act now and kick Nancy out of Celtic Park, this wouldn’t be seen as a failure on Nancy, it would be seen as a failure by the Celtic board. At the top of this article we said Nancy had “Engineered himself into an unsackable position”, and this point remains. Nancy cannot be sacked because it would trigger resignations and terminations of the decision makers at Celtic. If they were to fire the manager they have just appointed after three games, it is unfathomable to see how their own positions are tenable. Have they made such an ill-informed decision that they are now backtracking three games in, and at such huge cost to the club? If this was a game of chess at Celtic Park, the Celtic board have made a serious error in their most recent move. Nancy is one move away from a checkmate, and now the board must look at sacrificing their queen to stay in the game. All that is left to see now is how long the supremos can keep moving around the board delaying the inevitable.
Five Players Rangers Should Sign in January
As we continue to push forwards towards the January transfer window things have started to calm for Rangers after the calamitous start to the season under Russell Martin. Since Danny Rohl came in on the 22nd October, Rangers are unbeaten in the league under the German’s stewardship and are looking to close the points gap on Hearts and Celtic above them. It’s indicative that Rangers get their January transfer business right in order to give themselves the best opportunity to do that so recruitment of both quality and in the correct positions is paramount. Here are five players I feel should be on the Rangers shopping list in the most important winter window in many years for the club. Jordy Makengo The 6’3 French left back currently plays for Bundesliga side Freiburg, a market you’d think Rohl would know well being a German native. Left back is a position Rangers will be looking to strengthen considering the only natural left back currently in the first team is 19 year old Brentford loanee Jayden Meghoma. Makengo is 24 years old and has an estimated transfer value of around £4 million, he shows great pace and ball carrying skills but his real strengths are his natural defending abilities. Recovery runs, ball interceptions and aerial duels are what make this a shrewd signing for Rangers. A player that reminds me a lot of Calvin Bassey. If he was to sign for Rangers it would be expected of him to increase his attacking output having never registered a senior goal or assist, however with the general drop in quality of opposition between Germany and Scotland I feel he has the ability to do so. Amos Pieper Sticking in Germany, I have picked this 6’4 centre half currently playing for Werder Bremen as I really feel its a market Rohl should exploit. Centre half is another area Rangers desperately need to strengthen with John Souttar and Derek Cornelius out long term and Nasser Djiga going to AFCON very soon, the cover there is again short. Pieper is a classic ball winning centre half winning over 80% of his aerial duels and also excelling in interceptions, but what really makes him stand out is his use of the ball. Pieper enjoys playing long and progressive passes, something that Rohl asks his defenders to do a lot. Pieper plays an average of nine progressive passes per 90 minutes played. With an estimated transfer value of around £2.5 million plus a contract that expires in June 2026 this is a great option that I feel Rangers should be looking at if not in January then in the summer. Jamie Lawrence Moving over the border from Germany to Austria I’ve gone with a goliath 6’7 centre half to further strengthen the centre half options. This German national currently plies his trade for Austrian Bundesliga team WSG Tirol and his transfer value sitting at a steal at around £350,000. As you can imagine he wins a high amount of aerial duels winning just under three quarters of those per 90 minutes. He defends his area incredibly well, excelling in 1v1 situations very rarely being dribbled past and completing an average of six interceptions as well per 90 minutes. Another guy who’s contract is up in the coming summer. I feel he has all the right tools to be taken by Rangers in January but if not a great addition in the summer when his deal in Austria is up. Andy Irving Moving into central midfield I’m always wary of having a good core of Scottish players in my squad for European purposes because of UEFA’s homegrown rules for Euro squads. So I’ve picked out a Scottish player for this one and it’s 25 year old Andy Irving currently of West Ham. He’s had precious little game time at West Ham since moving there in 2023 but has had two spells at Austrian Bundesliga side Austria Klagenfurt which I feel he’s shown enough to prove he’s worth his shot at Rangers. He’s played 59 games in all for Klagenfurt and scored 14 goals and got nine assists, proving himself as a midfielder who is able to score goals and create for teammates at a decent level. He has played an average of eight passes into the opposition final third per 90 minutes played so he has that ability to find wingers or strikers in dangerous positions. Like Pieper and Lawrence his current contract is up in June 2026, his transfer value at around £3 million it is possible to pick him up at cut back price in the summer if not in January. Jonas Wind After the disastrous striker recruitment by Rangers with Chermiti and Miovski, despite Miovski having a recent upturn in form. This is someone who I really feel would do well in a Rangers shirt. The 6’3 Danish international currently at Vfl Wolfsburg has struggled for game time this season but got nine goals and three assists in 33 games last season for Wolfsburg, only 12 starts as well, which considering the level of opposition in Germany, that is a decent return. As you can imagine as a striker of considerable height his main strengths comes from dropping deep linking up play then making runs into the box to score headers or cut back shots. He wins an average of seven aerial duels per 90 minutes of game time and a goal to shot conversion rate of around 25%. However considering he’ll have many more chances and clear cut chances created for him at Rangers I feel this will be considerably higher in a blue jersey. At a transfer value of around £6 million this is a real push for Rangers but I believe if available it’s a no brainer.
Stuart Kettlewell Sacked By Kilmarnock
Stuart Kettlewell has been sacked as manager of Kilmarnock after only seven months in charge. The 41-year-old replaced Derek McInnes at Rugby Park after signing a two-year contract in May of this year, but a winless run of ten games, including a 2-1 defeat away to Aberdeen yesterday, has sealed his fate. Former assistant Stevie Frail also departs, with ex-Partick Thistle boss Kris Doolan taking interim charge before he assumes his new role as Head of Development and under 19s manager. A statement on the official club website from the Club’s Board of Directors reads: “This has been a difficult decision taken after careful consideration. We believe there is plenty of quality in the squad and had hoped that results would turn around. Unfortunately change is now required to best serve the interests of Kilmarnock FC. “Our focus is now on providing stability, supporting the squad, and supporting Kris, Craig and Paul as they lead the team forward while we progress with the next steps. “With an important run of festive fixtures about to get underway, starting this weekend at home to Falkirk, we hope all supporters can stick with us as we aim to get back to winning ways.” Kilmarnock currently sit 11th, just three points ahead of Livingston who have played one game less, and host Falkirk this Saturday.
