Former England striker Alan Shearer believes Wilfried Nancy’s position at Celtic is hanging by a thread, warning that another defeat could spell the end of his short reign…
The BBC Sport pundit also questioned the club’s decision to move on from Martin O’Neill, describing his departure as a costly error.
Nancy has yet to record a victory since arriving from MLS side Columbus Crew, with four successive defeats intensifying scrutiny as he attempts to implement a new system at the Hoops. His appointment followed the end of O’Neill’s time as interim manager, who had enjoyed an impressive return to the dugout by producing seven wins from eight matches after Brendan Rodgers’ shock resignation in late October.
Supporter unrest was clearly audible during the recent loss at Tannadice against Dundee United on Wednesday night, where chants calling for O’Neill’s return and voicing anger at Nancy echoed from the away end.
Shearer feels the pressure has now reached a critical point, suggesting Sunday’s meeting with Aberdeen has become a decisive fixture for the current Celtic boss.
Speaking ahead of the game, the Newcastle United legend said conversations with O’Neill had reinforced his view that Celtic should have shown greater faith to the experienced 73 year-old coach, insisting the club may now be paying the price for that call.
Speaking via Daily Record, Shearer said: “I’ve spoken to Martin O’Neill and worked with Martin and his simplicity is genius. He’s a great people person. He’s great at putting square pegs in square holes and keeping things very simple.
“But I think from looking in from the outside, what Nancy has done in going in there, he’s changed the system. It’s a similar situation to what is happening at Man United, I guess, that the manager has been stubborn and is not going to change after losing four out of four. He has put himself under huge pressure.”
“And it is more difficult because of what Martin did, trying to go in there on the back of what he’s done. But I think as a manager, you always want to go in and try and stamp your authority straight away. But there’s ways of doing that.”
Shearer continued: “Just ripping everything up that was relatively successful for seven or eight games for Martin, and then going in and completely changing the system, which he has done, was always going to be a big gamble.”
“Now he’s saying – I’ve read his quotes – saying ‘trust the process and we’ll get it right.’ But it’s an unforgiving place up there. And if you don’t get it right pretty soon, then you know what’s going to happen.”
“The noise is already loud. If you don’t get a win in the next one or two then you know what could happen. You can’t have five or six defeats on the spin up there. I don’t care whether you’re a new manager or an old, experienced manager. That’s just a no-no and it can’t happen. And you know what will happen if it does.”
Nancy has apparently been given two more games to save his job, with six points being required. These are two games – against Aberdeen and Livingston – that Celtic in normal circumstances would be likely to win but nothing can be taken for granted now given the Frenchman has lost all four of his matches in charge in what has been a shambolic period for our football club.
The reality though is that unless he wins against Aberdeen tomorrow the almost 60,000 Celtic supporters inside Celtic Park will have their chance to deliver a verdict on Nancy and that would be something that not even this Celtic Board could ignore.
Conor Spence
Conor Spence appeared on Sky Sports yesterday afternoon representing The Celtic Star. Here’s what was said…
🍀 “There’s visible confusion and frustration with key players on the pitch…”
Conor Spence from @CelticStarMag on Wilfried Nancy’s winless start at Celtic and if he can turn things around ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/bI4VRWYW6a
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 19, 2025
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