Alistair Johnston knew Wilfried Nancy more than most when the Frenchman arrived on these shores from North American football and reckons that his former coach’s ill-fated spell does not mean that he is by any stretch of the imagination a poor manager…
Michael Nicholson and the Celtic Board went all in on their man
Nancy answered the call when Celtic were searching for a Brendan Rodgers replacement, following a near-perfect Martin O’Neill interim spell in late autumn. Michael Nicholson and the Celtic Board went all in on their man and brought the relatively unknown coach to these shores after coughing up significant compensation to his club Columbus Crew.
Johnston played under Nancy at CF Montreal a few seasons ago and is of the mind that it was a case of the wrong time for Wilfried at Celtic Park.
“Look, I think he’s a great manager. His football does work”
The Canadian international witnessed his talents first-hand and is certain things would have been different had he joined in the close season. Speaking on the whole Nancy debacle, AJ said: “Look, I think he’s a great manager. His football does work.
“Whatever the case was, it obviously wasn’t the right time. But that’s not to say he can’t go to another European club or wherever and make it work,” as reported by Daily Record.
Johnston revealed that perhaps a full pre-season to get his ideas across would be more appropriate, and may have allowed the coach to get his ideas on the game across more clearly.
“Would a pre-season probably have helped? I do think so”
“Would a pre-season probably have helped? I do think so,” he said. “Whenever you’re trying to do a completely different style of football and introduce some really new ideas, it definitely helps to have friendly matches to really work on things.”
The Celtic full-back admitted though that that’s the business they’re in and that big clubs demand success instantly.
He continued: “But that’s also the challenge of working at a club like this – you don’t necessarily get time. Especially when you come in mid-season, you need to hit the ground running, and I think that’s something he was acutely aware of. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, but I’ve got no doubt in mind that he’s going to go somewhere else and be a huge success.”
“Yeah, it was tough, just because I couldn’t be out on the grass”
To make matters worse, Johnston was out with a recurring hamstring injury, which meant he had to look on in agony as his old boss was battered from pillar to post during his stint in the Parkhead dugout.
“Yeah, it was tough, just because I couldn’t be out on the grass. I knew what he wanted to implement and how different it would be compared to what we’re used to here. It was just tough being injured and not being able to get out on the grass and help things, and help guys understand exactly what he was trying to look for.”
Lost in translation
He added: “Again, French is his first language – there are a couple of things that can get lost in translation a little bit. I was just trying my best, especially off the pitch, just to help guys out. But it’s never the same when you’re off the pitch, trying to talk guys through it versus being out there and helping them through. It was a really sticky period. We dropped quite a few points there. It was quite a low in my time at the club. We never had results like that in such a prolonged period. It was difficult.”
Aye, it sure was Alistair.
Paul Gillespie
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