Celtic have sacked manager Wilfried Nancy after just 33 days and eight matches, the shortest managerial reign in the club's history. The 48-year-old Frenchman was dismissed on Monday following a 3-1 home defeat by Rangers on Saturday, which saw Celtic throw away a 1-0 half-time lead. Nancy was appointed on 4 December on a two-and-a-half-year contract from Columbus Crew but leaves the Scottish champions sixth in the league, six points behind leaders Hearts.
Martin O'Neill, the 73-year-old former Celtic manager who had been serving as interim boss before Nancy's arrival, has returned to the role until the end of the season. O'Neill, who replaced Brendan Rodgers in October, previously led the team to seven wins in eight matches. His assistant Shaun Maloney also returns. O'Neill said in a statement: 'I know we would all have hoped for things to have worked out differently under Wilfried... For me, I've been asked to take this great job on again and my focus will be to try and get us back to winning ways.'
Nancy's tenure was disastrous: he lost his first two matches, suffered a Scottish League Cup final defeat to St Mirren, and became the first Celtic manager to lose four consecutive games since 1978. His side conceded 18 goals in eight matches, more than in the previous 24 games, and kept no clean sheets. He won only two matches, against 10-man Aberdeen and bottom club Livingston.
Celtic also confirmed the departures of Nancy's assistants Kwame Ampadu, Jules Gueguen and Maxime Chalier, along with head of football operations Paul Tisdale. Tisdale, a former Exeter City manager, had been criticised for poor player recruitment during his 15 months in the role. The club has now parted company with two permanent managers this season, Rodgers and Nancy, while chairman Peter Lawwell stepped down earlier amid fan criticism.
