Next Cetic Manager Odds: Wilfried Nancy on the Hot Seat - Who Will Replace Him?

Wilfried Nancy has had a rough time since taking over as the Celtic Head Coach, and he's almost certainly going to be fired soon. It has never looked like panning out for Nancy, who has only won 2 of his 7 games in charge of Celtic so far, an abysmal record for someone in charge of Celtic.

Normally, Celtic are expected to run away with the Scottish Premiership and to put in a positive showing in the Champions League, but they failed to qualify for the latter this year, losing in the qualifying rounds. That was already a bad start to the season, but things continue to get worse.

Before Nancy took over, former Head Coach Martin O'Neill steered Celtic to 7 wins from 8, including a perfect record in the league. He won 5/5 games in the league, conceding just one goal, led them to the Scottish Cup Final, and beat Feyenoord away in the UEFA Europa League. He is one of the favorites to take the position again, but will the club legend return, given that he is 73 years old?

Latest Next Celtic Manager Odds - Former Player, Shaun Maloney, Current Favorite Ahead of O'Neill

Martin O'Neill was the interim manager before Nancy took charge, and things were going swimmingly, but apparently, there was always an agreement that he would step aside so Nancy could take over.

Two Former Celtic Managers and One Former Player Among the Leading Options for Next Celtic Manager

Shaun Maloney (+200)

Shaun Maloney won the Scottish Premier League five times as a player at Celtic, won the Scottish League Cup three times, and also finished runner-up in the UEFA Cup, now known as the Europa League.

As a player, his credentials are solid, but as a coach, he has limited experience, first as the Head Coach of Hibernian, where he won just 6 of his 19 games in charge, and then at another of his former teams, Wigan Athletic, in the English League One. He was slightly better there, winning 42 games and losing 40, with 33 ties. That's a 36.5% win rate.

Maloney was recently the assistant manager to Martin O'Neill when the latter was in charge on an interim basis. He might be viewed as the long-term option, while O'Neill would be a short-term fix.

Martin O'Neill (+333)

Martin O'Neill has held the highest-ever win rate as a Celtic Manager in the history of the club, so while recent Head Coach, Brendan Rodgers, won more, O'Neill is largely considered the best manager of the club in the modern era.

Reaching the final of the UEFA Cup went a long way to helping his reputation, and the Celtic fans were desperate for him to stay after recently guiding the team to 7 wins from 8 and a memorable away win in Europe in his short spell.

He looks the steadiest set of hands on the list, so it just depends on whether the board wants a long-term solution now or if they are happy to give O'Neill the role until he inevitably retires.

Gary O'Neil (+500)

Gary O'Neil is looking for his next role after losing his Premier League job, where he was the head coach of Wolverhampton Wanderers. He has been linked to a number of roles since, but continues to turn them down, looking for the perfect role.

Celtic would give him a chance to manage in Europe and is often considered one of the most attractive roles outside of the top 4 teams in the Premier League, due to the size of the club and their obvious chance of winning domestic trophies.

O'Neil has no ties to Celtic, and that might work against him, as the club looks for a more familiar face, but he's perhaps one of the coaches with the highest upside, and a strong Premier League pedigree under his belt.

Ange Postecoglou (+1000)

The second former Celtic Head Coach on the list and third name with ties to the club, Ange Postecoglou, is seen as a very viable option, following his dismissal from Nottingham Forest.

A Europa League win with Tottenham Hotspur last season was not enough to save his job after terrible form in the league, but he left Celtic in a good place, and with plenty of silverware, so he will be fondly remembered there.

From June 2021 to June 2023, Postecoglou won the Scottish Premier League twice, the Scottish League Cup twice, and the Scottish Cup once as well. All in all, he left with a 73.45% win rate, and that is among the best in the history of Celtic Football Club.

Postecoglou never won a UEFA Champions League game with Celtic, which may be the only black mark against his name, in an otherwise attractive resumé.

Who Will Be Celtic's Next Manager?

This one is up in the air at the moment. Shaun Maloney and Martin O'Neill are obvious candidates given their recent success when in charge on an interim basis, but the likes of Gary O'Neill, Ange Postecoglou, and Kjetil Knutsen have to be strongly considered.

Maloney is being given a 33.3% chance of becoming the next head coach, so at the moment, he is the frontrunner. He and O'Neill will be considered the favorites until we hear anything otherwise, but don't rule out an emotional return for Postecoglou either.