Other managers won more in Major League Soccer than Wilfried Nancy. Bruce Arena, say, certainly has a fuller trophy cabinet. Nancy, however, lifted more than just trophies. He lifted standards. At Columbus Crew, he set a benchmark for the rest, showing what was possible even with limited resources. Columbus didn’t have Lionel Messi or Son Heung-min, but they had Nancy as head coach, and that was often enough.
For the past three seasons, the Crew have been the most dynamic, boundary-pushing team in MLS. Nancy’s CF Montreal team weren’t bad either, establishing the style of play that would come to be known as Nancyball. He changed MLS’s managerial landscape for ever. It was only a matter of time until a call came from Europe.
After weeks of waiting owing to a drawn-out work permit process, Nancy will take charge of his first game as Celtic manager on Sunday. Some Crew fans will surely watch. Others may wish to ignore the loss of their manager. MLS will be worse off for Nancy’s exit, but the 48-year-old’s departure could cement his legacy further.
While MLS has become a credible talent pool for European clubs to dip into for players, few managers have made the same leap. Patrick Vieira did it, joining Nice from New York City FC, but he is Patrick Vieira. His status as a legend of the game might have bagged him a job in Europe’s “big five” leagues regardless of what he did in MLS.
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By contrast, Nancy’s name has counted for little over the course of his career. He never played at a high level. When Celtic were initially linked, headlines in Scotland focused on his time as Thierry Henry’s assistant to provide context. Even on his hire at Montreal, most fans hadn’t heard of him. Nancy instead stood out over time for his ability as a coach and leader, and other MLS coaches could stand out too now that European clubs are looking more closely.
Steve Cherundolo won’t return as Los Angeles FC head coach for 2026. While the former USA defender views the game very differently to Nancy, his success in MLS could make him an attractive candidate for a job in Europe. Cherundolo spent his professional career as a player in the Bundesliga. Could a German club come calling?
Under Mikey Varas’s stewardship, San Diego exceeded all expectations in their expansion season. Gregg Berhalter’s former USA assistant coached up a team from scratch to play a brand of modern, high-energy soccer that has surely attracted the attention of European observers. Could Nancy’s appointment at Celtic set a precedent for Varas to follow?
Could Nancy be to the MLS managerial pool what Miguel Almirón was to the league’s player pool? While European clubs now regularly buy from the league, it took the Paraguayan’s record-breaking move to Newcastle from Atlanta United in 2019 to reframe MLS as a springboard league – a statement about MLS’s rising quality.
That Celtic were the ones to recruit Nancy isn’t out of character for a club that hired Ange Postecoglou from the J-League and Ronny Deila from the Norwegian Eliteserien. They have looked to new markets for managers before and there is enough overlap between Angeball and Nancyball to make Celtic Park an ideal landing spot for the Frenchman.
Scottish clubs are increasingly looking to new markets for players and managers because they have no choice. They can’t compete against their financially bloated rivals from south of the border. While Nancy will coach in the Europa League, and possibly the Champions League, in seasons to come, the domestic level in Scotland is generally lower than in MLS. According to Opta, only Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Hibernian would infiltrate the 30 teams that make up the league Nancy has come from.
The reality, however, is Scottish football is a step or two closer to the Premier League and Europe’s other “big five” leagues than MLS. For Postecoglou, success at Celtic led him to Tottenham. Steven Gerrard was hired by Aston Villa on the back of winning the title at Rangers. There is an established pathway that doesn’t exist for MLS coaches.
MLS will miss Nancy. Not only do his teams play brilliant football, he is a strong personality and one of the league’s most outspoken figureheads. When Nancy talks, people listen. When he produces quotes such as his famous line that “impossible is an opinion” after leading Columbus Crew to the MLS Cup in 2023, people make viral raps out of them.
Nancy will encounter a lot of strong opinions in Scotland. Many Celtic supporters are sceptical. At a time when the club’s board is facing protests over a perceived lack of ambition and spending, Nancy is regarded by some as the cheap option. And it’s true he doesn’t have the resume or standing of Brendan Rodgers or Martin O’Neill, who has held the fort on an interim basis these past few weeks.
Similar was said when Nancy replaced Henry as CF Montreal head coach as an unknown and unheralded former academy coach. It didn’t take him long, however, to make a name for himself as MLS’s boldest and most progressive manager. European clubs may be quicker to act if another like him emerges again. – Guardian
