Barry Ferguson horrified by Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic sin as Rangers truth bomb dropped on under fire boss
The former Ibrox interim gaffer is far from impressed by one choice made by the Frenchman
18:49, 15 Dec 2025
Barry Ferguson
Baffled Barry Ferguson can’t understand why Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy only held a 15 minute sit-down with interim gaffer Martin O’Neill after taking over.
The Irish icon revealed the pair had the briefest of handovers when the Frenchman succeeded the interim boss just shy of two weeks ago. The 73-year-old handed over the reins to the Frenchman following his last match at home to Dundee, having won seven out of the eight games he was brought back to Parkhead for following Brendan Rodgers’ surprise resignation.
Since then, Nancy has steered the club to three major defeats – to league leaders Hearts, Roma in the Europa League, and in the Premier Sports Cup final to St Mirren. The former Columbus Crew boss has faced stinging criticism for trying to put his own style of football in place, despite appearing to not have the players to put his brand into action on the park.
And the decision to have the briefest of chats with the Parkhead icon has left Ferguson stunned. He told the Go Radio Football Show: “I think it’s madness.
“Martin O’Neill is saying he met him there for 10 or 15 minutes – I would be sitting down with Martin O’Neill for 10 or 15 hours picking his brains, honestly. I would.
“Why would you not? You have to sit down with a guy who has took over when Celtic are struggling, Martin O’Neill, and got them back to winning. Why would you not sit down and find out every single thing that Martin O’Neill has been in charge?”
Wilfried Nancy at full-time at Hampden(Image: PA)
Ferguson faced off against Brendan Rodgers’ Hoops last season after stepping into the Rangers’ hot seat on an interim basis after Philippe Clement was axed in February.
He reckons that the drop off was noticeable during the Premier Sports Cup final slog against St Mirren from the side he faced off against last term.
Discussing the demands of playing for Rangers, Ferguson said: “It’s so demanding. It’s a tough place to play, I’ve seen so many top players come and struggle and that is the way it is looking for Celtic.
“It’s three games, but watching that game on the TV yesterday (vs St Mirren) that is not the Celtic team that I have come up against last season, and even that I came up against in that short period of time that Martin O’Neill was managing.”
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