As speculation mounts over Celtic’s next permanent manager, one name that stands out is Columbus Crew’s Wilfried Nancy.
So how did the relatively young and relatively little-known Frenchman come to such prominence in the conversation about who will ultimately replace Brendan Rodgers?
BBC Scotland has been taking a look, with the help of former US striker Hérculez Gómez, who has followed Nancy’s rise for broadcaster ESPN in its Major League Soccer coverage.
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‘Meteoric rise’ for first black coach to win MLS title
One of the first things that impresses viewers, besides Nancy’s style of football, is the speed of her rise to prominence.
The 48-year-old landed his first managerial role in 2021, replacing his friend and former boss Thierry Henry at CF Montreal. Not bad for a man who, just a few years earlier, was training girls under 14 years old.
It seems Nancy is no stranger to a steep learning curve, as Gómez explains. "He has an idea of ​​how he wants to play, he is very brave, he has many nuances." said the American.
"It’s very New Age, modern football, if you will, but in a crazy, crazy scientific sense. This has been the case since day one and everything has gone really well. I say meteoric rise because in 2021 is when he obtained his first professional stage as a coach and, since then, he has accumulated some titles. Canadian Championship, MLS Leagues Cup, MLS Cup."
Born in Le Havre in 1977, to a Guadeloupean father and a West African mother, Nancy is already something of a pioneer.
"He was the first black coach in Major League Soccer history to win a title." Gomez explained.
"They’ve never had a black coach lift the MLS Cup, and he did it with a certain kind of brand, and I think the best way to describe it is that he’s brave in his football.
"Talk to their players and they will tell you that the result is secondary. Secondary because you want to implement the brand first and the rest later."
“No wonder” he is on Celtic’s radar
Three things will have sparked Celtic’s interest. Nancy is a proven winner, her teams play fast and attacking football and she already has a loose connection with the club since her assistant at Columbus Crew, Kwame Ampadu, worked with the Parkhead club’s director of football operations, Paul Tisdale, at Exeter City.
Nancy could also be available immediately, as the Crew’s season is over and Gomez is not the least bit surprised to see him linked to a big European club.
"He has had a few suitors chasing him over the years, in the English gambling pyramid and in France." said. "Celtic are a huge club, a huge brand. Nowhere he’s been, Montreal or Columbus, has he had the wallet he would have at Celtic.
"So choosing the elements you want may be beneficial for you, it may fit your brand, but it’s a culture shock. It’s definitely a surprise the way he wants to play.
"The first time I saw his team I was a little amused. The goalkeeper has to play high off his line, be good with his feet. The center backs have to be very good with the ball and are often in advanced positions.
The full-backs are very similar to those we saw in the Xabi Alonso Leverkusen years, where they will be excellent attackers, and perhaps scorers and facilitators.
"There is a lot of creativity, free flow. I’m not surprised that a team like Celtic pay attention to him. If it’s not Celtic, it will be another team, that’s for sure."
Comparisons with the Champions League winner
After mentioning the name of Real Madrid coach Alonso, whose magnificent Bayer Leverkusen became the first team to win the Bundesliga unbeaten, Gómez is not afraid to compare Nancy with another great of the current European coaching fraternity, the head coach of Champions League winners Paris St-Germain, Luis Enrique.
"Everyone is looking for the next big thing." he explained.
"If I could get anywhere close to his brand, it would be Luis Enrique’s PSG. Enrique bases his philosophy on the interpretation of space, time and movement. There are no fixed positions.
"’Relationism’, they say in Spanish. It’s how you relate to a certain sector on the field and how you can advance and really consume your opponent in numbers. That’s Wilfred Nancy.
"And there’s a reason it’s attracting attention. It’s because their brand is very easy on the eyes. It’s catchy. It can also be a dead end from time to time, because you are playing on the edge. It’s a double-edged sword, but he’s certainly been on the better side of that sword.
"I see a lot of traits that could make him successful on a bigger stage, with more money, with more attention. He was MLS coach of the year last year, but he didn’t need the title to be considered one of the best. He is immensely respected.
"Certainly the philosophy of ‘this is who we are, this is how we are going to play and we are not going to deviate from it’ is very Luis Enrique."
Instant impact
One thing that could be music to the ears of Celtic’s board and fans is that Nancy, in Gomez’s opinion, is comfortable with the expectations of quick success. In other words, Nancy is no slouch when it comes to cultural changes.
"Makes things work relatively quickly," Gomez said. "That’s worth mentioning. It often takes some time for coaches to implement an identity, a style.
"He has hit the ground running in two different places, either in Montreal, a team with fewer resources, or in the Columbus Crew, a team that has been known to occasionally loosen its purse strings and bring in good talent.
"He’s done well in different environments, so it’s worth noting that when you have Wilfried Nancy, you get someone who is used to making things happen fairly quickly."
What could Celtic fans expect?
If Nancy gets the job in Glasgow, Gómez has a simple message for the Celtic diaspora: "Fasten seat belts."
"You will get a coach who has an identity and a way of playing that the fans identify with, that they are proud of." he added.
"You get a coach who knows what he’s doing, you get a coach who wants to express himself on the field and you get a winner.
"That is what Wilfried Nancy has been in his very brief and meteoric rise. It’s a winner."