Martin O’Neill ally answers Celtic return question as board told how to deal with Wilfried Nancy dilemma
The Irishman is in Scotland after a successful stint in interim charge of the Hoops with pressure rising on Nancy
Celtic Interim Manager Martin O’Neill (Image: SNS Group)
Simon Jordan reckons Martin O’Neill won’t make another return to Celtic amid rocketing pressure on Wilfried Nancy.
The Irishman brought his interim stint in the hot seat to and end last month with a record of seven wins from eight games. Nancy then arrived from Columbus Crew and has taken the club on a nightmare run of just two wins in eight games.
Defeat to Rangers at Celtic Park on Sunday was the breaking point for large sections of the support as they protested outside of the stadium against the board and the boss. That has led for calls for the axe to fall on Nancy and bring the Parkhead icon back to the club to see out the season.
The 73-year-old is in Scotland working at a series of speaking events, but Jordan – who regularly works alongside O’Neill and Jim White on talkSPORT – doesn’t expect it to be an extended stay north of the border. Asked if O’Neill could go back to Celtic for a second time this season, the former Crystal Palace owner told White on air: “No, I think they (the board) have got to hold their nerve.
“If they have done what they should have done, then this is a moment where they are going to have to bite down on the gum-shield and accept it hasn’t started the way they wanted it to, and give the man some more resources to do the job properly than he has got. If they haven’t really done their due diligence, if they haven’t really gone deep into the reasons they have appointed him, gone deep into the landscape of the man’s capabilities and superimposed what he did in the MLS to the Scottish Premiership, and believe that the appointment was right; if they did that they have got to give him some breathing space.”
Jordan then fielded calls from a Celtic diehard, who branded Nancy a “bluffer”.
Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy
That saw him put forward an alternative plan to the 48-year-old, that would have seen O’Neill hold the fort until the summer.
He said: “I don’t think he is bluffing at the level he has operated at. He has operated at a level in the MLS that has people looking at him as a coach that can make the next step. They have brought in a guy, and what I would assume they think is an educated punt, because it can’t be anything else than that.
“If someone shows you what they are, believe them. Martin O’Neill showed you with a group of players that I think people would accept are not where you want them to be, at an ideal operating level for Celtic, but they are a group good enough to get results in the Scottish Premiership; Martin showed you that can be done.
“I would have stayed with Martin and I would have given him the January transfer window, bought some sensible players, won the SPFL and used Martin to help me recruit his successor. That is what I would have done.”
