Wilfried Nancy’s catchphrases, such as “Impossible is an opinion,” “We play the same way that we live,” “I want to create art,” and “There is only one virtue in life: courage,” have already made waves online.

At first glance, these phrases might suggest that Celtic have taken a risk in considering Nancy, potentially seeing him as a French counterpart to Russell Martin for their next head coach role.

Previously, Celtic placed their trust in Brendan Rodgers, a seasoned figure in football. However, according to major shareholder Dermot Desmond, Rodgers’ tenure eventually became untenable due to being perceived as divisive, misleading, and self-serving.

One major uncertainty remains: how will Nancy handle the distinctive pressures of being part of Glasgow’s Old Firm? Those who view his potential appointment as a risky move aren’t wrong.

With less than six years of experience as a manager, Nancy’s potential leap from his current position to leading Celtic at Parkhead is akin to transitioning from a mild challenge to the intense demands of a high-stakes environment.

Celtic have been given permission to speak to Columbus Crew boss Wilfried Nancy

Martin O’Neill has steadied the ship at Celtic as interim manager

Yet, isn’t someone like Nancy precisely what Celtic should be seeking? In the broader European football landscape, they aren’t major players and won’t easily attract top-tier, established coaches. Nancy represents a prospect rather than a gamble.

They ought to be looking at someone up-and-coming, with a growing reputation, fresh ideas and a new outlook.

Someone, in other words, capable of sending a rocket up a stale, foosty, divided outfit guilty of going round in circles with the same old names and the same old faces.

Rodgers was a lazy, unimaginative appointment by Desmond when he returned for a second whirl on the merry-go-round in the summer of 2023. Sure, he’d been there before. He knew the routine. 

For many of us, though, it was impossible to figure out why he ever agreed to go back and why he was regarded as some kind of way forward – as the highest-paid coach in the club’s history – following the success of Ange Postecoglou.

He was never going to get unlimited cash to spend. His star was no longer on the ascendant. 

Celtic powerbroker Dermot Desmond looks set to appoint Wilfried Nancy as new boss

The friction between him and those in the powerbase was always likely to become fraught again. And it did. Far more fraught than it ever was before he walked out for Leicester at the end of his first stint.

Rodgers’ Second Coming was a failure in the end. He just wasn’t a good fit for where Celtic are. In the end, amid all the namecalling and accusations, the football just wasn’t up to scratch.

Much of the focus on Nancy so far has been on what he can deliver on that front. In general, it checks out. He has a defined strategy based on possession with purpose, to use the phrase du jour, winning back the ball quickly and attacking with width.

It has brought success too. He won the MLS Cup in 2023, his debut season at the Crew, lifted the MLS Leagues Cup last year and also won the Manager of the Year award.

What appeals about him, where he differs from a Rodgers or even a Martin, an unqualified disaster at Rangers, is that he is naturally flexible. Where those guys would often talk about everything being dependant on how their own teams performed rather than being sidelined by the opposition, Nancy is open about the fact the 11 men on the other side of the halfway line will always dictate how his own guys do their thing.

He is adaptable. His set-up can change from game to game and in-game. He can easily be painted as another idealogue, but, from this admittedly distant vantage point, appears a little more than that.

He talks about wacky stuff, too, related to rotating positions on the field when his teams are attacking and having different guys swapping different roles. It would be fascinating to see that in a different environment.

Wilfried Nancy helped Columbus Crew to victory in the MLS Cup

Brendan Rodgers resigned after a tumultuous spell at Celtic

‘Creativity within the structure’, he calls it. ‘If you don’t express yourself, you cannot play for me,’ he says. ‘If you are audacious in life, you are going to get the rewards.’

From a journalist’s perspective, Nancy certainly has the raw materials to be a dream addition to the scene here. 

He is charismatic, talks fantastically well, and, yet, possesses a kind of Everyman quality thanks to the fact he boasts no playing career of any note and started as a coach at amateur level after moving to Quebec back in the day.

He is hugely popular in Columbus. His time in Major League Soccer suggests he is the kind of guy who can take people with him – players, boardrooms and supporters alike – and, good grief, isn’t that what Celtic need in these troubled, fractured times.

Rodgers’ treatment of some of the playing staff during his second spell was a real headscratcher. In his first summer, almost a new team was recruited and, yet, he barely gave any of them a sustained run in the starting line-up.

When he left, it looked like much the same thing was happening again. For all the board’s failings, his time was definitely up.

Nancy has the tools to repair much of the damage, just as Postecoglou did when stepping into the rubble left by the failed 10-In-A-Row season. Postecoglou also had an all-action way of playing, but much of his spell was definied by his personality and leadership too.

He was a real figurehead. Nancy fulfils that role at Columbus Crew as well, although his personality is different. Where Big Ange could be gruff, this bloke is almost impossible not to like.

He talks about promoting unity, creating positive energy and managing players based on how they are as human beings.

Celtic head of football operations Paul Tisdale is thought to be pushing Nancy’s case

How does this all play at a club in danger of coming apart at the seams in a city hardly known for its soft skills? It’s a fair question. Yet, leftfield options such as Nancy and Postecoglou normally only get their chance when something totally different is needed and there’s no question Celtic are at that point.

From a brand and backstory perspective, he brings plenty to the table too. Son of a West African mother and a father from Guadeloupe, whose life in the French Navy led to a young life of travel and experience, he is the first black manager to lift a trophy in the States.

He wears the responsibility of inspiring others well. However, if he is to come to Glasgow and succeed, it is absolutely true that he will need to be placed into a more defined structure with greater help around him.

If Paul Tisdale, head of football operations, is, indeed, pushing his credentials, perhaps this is the ideal juncture for him to come out of the shadows as well and show what he’s about after more than a year in the building.

Celtic need a real change of direction. Nancy can be a catalyst for that, all right. Let’s forgive him the soundbites and see how he goes.

Just one thing, folks. If he does pitch up here, can we all agree not to do what the Americans have done and brand his way of playing ‘Nancyball’? Vive La Difference and whatnot, but that’s just a step too far.