By the time we landed back in Dublin yesterday morning after watching Celtic beat Dundee at Paradise Martin O’Neill had left the Celtic Park building and a new era is now underway at Celtic as Wilfried Nancy is in Glasgow.
Celtic’s social media had the Frenchman on the official channels as he arrived at Lennoxtown and not Celtic Park where I would have expected him to meet the media and take the usual picture on the pitch. It was a very low key arrival.
He was greeted by under pressure Celtic board members Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay before doing a walk around and chatting to James Forest and Alistair Johnston.
He then sat down with Celtic TV for an interview. No press conference, no questions and no invite for members of MSM or Celtic Fan Media.
He will meet the media at the pre match press conference (scheduled for 13:30) for the first time but Fan Media will not be present. Fan media outlets have attended pre and post match press conferences since Ange Postecoglou was manager. Celtic are currently reviewing access arrangements for fan media.
There was not a lot to take from the interview but one quote that caught my ear was “I think the connection, with my background and the story of Celtic, fits perfectly with the person that I am and what I want to become.”
He also touched on the relationship with the players and the fans. He can rest assured the Celtic Fans will be 100% behind him and the Celtic players when the referee blows for the start of the game on Sunday. I am sure he has been briefed on the Celtic Fans Collective Protest March ahead of the Hearts game.
His second in command has an Irish contact. Getting off the plane yesterday a Dublin Celtic fan told me our New assistant manager of Patrick Kwame Ampadu was born in Bradford to Irish and Ghanaian parents. He was brought up in North Inner City Dublin. He went to O’Connell’s School
Martin O’Neill will be a hard act to follow but follow he must. Hopefully Wilfried Nancy can kick off life at Celtic with 3 points and top the table on day 1.
Andrew Milne is Editor of More than 90 Minutes & Host of the Celtic Soul Podcast
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