Celtic Diary Tuesday January 6 2026: And That Was That

Wilfried Nancy has had his contract terminated at Celtic Park.

But he’ll be pleased to know that he’s got his capital letters back.

The inevitable axe fell some time yesterday afternoon, and the board wasted no time in installing Martin O’Neill as interim manager again, this time until the end of the season, which now looks like it won’t be some time in February.

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Nancy ( you lying fat bastard-Ed ) , who had clearly fallen for the words of foootball quack Paul Tisdale,  who had assured him that anyone can manage Celtic and win trophies, because there’s only “rangers ” to beat.

Tisdale has been allowed to leave, which is probably the more significant outcome of yesterday’s reshuffle, as he brought with him that superiority complex  that festers in England, especially in her media, that Scottish football is a kind of English lower league, which probably goes some way to explaining some of the donkeys we’ve signed during his tenure.

In his place, we may have struck lucky with the appointment of James Bell Walker, a former Chelsea scout , who looks like he’ll be taking over that department. Interestingly, the club didn’t announce this, it was on his Linked In page, a sort of business networking site. Bell Walker said he was delighted to join a club with “huge ambitions ”

Imagine our surprise when we found out he meant Celtic.

Or maybe we have got huge ambitions.

Sorry, I kind of got carried away with the cpmbination of relief that he’s gone and the appointment of O’Neill, who last night was telling fans at a supporters function that he was “loving every minute of it”

And that’s what it’s all about. Man management, if the boss is enjoying his job, then the staff tend to as well. Enthusiasm is infectious.

Even Hector Bandido on our podcast last night almost burst into song. ( available on this site, and anywhere else that you get your podcasts from )

We couldn’t even find it in ourselves to criticise Michael Nicholson, although Monty Burns may have mentioned once or twice.

Supporters are looking forward to the football again. Players will be looking forward to playing again, and Kasper Schmeichel will be looking forward to salad for tea.

There are perhaps still one or things that could be done to further lighten the mood, however.

The players and support will quickly forget about Nancy and his brief tenure, and hopefully we can all move forward and make this not only a successful season, but a memorable one, and for all the right reasons.

The Green Brigade have, to an extent, brought a lot of their problems on themselves, but the board haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory with their handling of the situation. So, how about both sides wipe the slate clean and start over ?

Empires crumble from within, and they are made up of many constituent parts.

What’s done is done, but we don’t have to keep doing it.

Let them back in, and both sides need to agree to change their behaviour and stop annoying each other.

As the song says:

“To keep Celtic down you will have to deport

The whole fenian army that gives them support ”

There’s a few tough months ahead, and we all need to be on the same side.

All of the rumours of players being sold or bought can now be pretty much dismissed, as O’Neill will look to make his own decisions in that respect. There was, and will be further speculation around certain players, but fortunately, the manager, and coaching team, are aware of what they’ve got, what they need and where they can get it from.

The lack of incomings early in the window suggest the board had already decided to remove Nancy, and the introduction of Bell Walker adds to that suspicion.

If that’s the case we should see some movement fairly soon, especially if it is true that when O’Neill was asked last night if he was signing Ta Bi, his reply was ” the only thing we’re going Ta Bi is champions of Scotland ”

We all have our own ideas about where we need to supplement the squad, but the addition of Liam Scales to the back three, making it a back four, should at least cut down on the goals conceded.

Bringing in one or two ready made first team players will help as well, and who knows, maybe O’Neill can get Balikwisha and Tounetki up to the level we thought they were already at.

Like I said, enthusiasm is infectious, the sort of enthusiasm that rolls down a stand , onto the pitch and wins games.

And trophies.

A fifth consecutive title is now more likely than it was before. It’s by no means a done deal, but we’re back in the fight.

Credit has to go to the board for taking decisive action, and although they won’t admit their mistake publicly, at least they’ve rectified it.

And suddenly the Scottish Cup tie against Auchinleck Talbit looks a little less forbidding. I’m not kidding. Anyone who saw the hoops against Clyde when Roy Keane made his debut will know exactly how keen some of these lower league players can be.

Europe may not now be a complete loss. Bologna will probably be tough, but they will already be certain of a place in the knockout stages, more or less, and Utrecht, at Celtic Park, with the wind at our backs is now a different prospect from what it would have been without the changes.

The Ryder Cup, Wimbledon and the Boat Race may prove ti be a step too far, but we can work on that for next season.

Yesterday, we had this…

And thankfully, that should be the last word on the Nancy Nightmare.

Today…

By the way, when a “rangers ” player was arrested at the weekend, Desi Mond mentioned on the podcast that the arresting officer said :

“Oot the car, Stirling ”