Big Sam has taken a blind swipe at the recruitment process as he accuses board of not looking ‘further than the laptop’
Sam Allardyce has questioned whether the Celtic board looked “further than the laptop” as he savaged the “stupid” appointment of Wilfried Nancy after branding the frenchman a schoolteacher.
Nancy started his Parkhead tenure with a 2-1 home defeat to Premiership leaders Hearts, and has faced ridicule from some quarters over his repeated use of a tactics board on the touchline. The former Columbus Crew boss arrived in Glasgow three days before the top of the table showdown with the Jambos.
Despite a lack of training ground time, Nancy changed things up after taking over from interim predecessor Martin O’Neill but the champions looked ill at ease with the new system.
Nancy said after the match that he “wasn’t about winning or losing,” which has set alarm bells ringing given the expectations now on his shoulders as Celtic manager.
And former England boss Allardyce has ripped into the Celtic board for replacing O’Neill with Nancy and taken a blind swipe at the recruitment process that saw the 48-year-old appointed.
“Oh God no, sounds like a school teacher. Probably is a school teacher somewhere, you know what I mean,” he told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.
“My God. What have they done Celtic there? Well, I suppose only time will tell. Martin (O’Neill) is a man-manager. Martin looks at the whole situation, and he manages on and off the field. He’s not really interested in coaching. He will get somebody else in to do that.
“But he knows what he can do. He knows how he can get into people’s psyche. He’s a Brian Clough.
“There is hardly any room for them when they talk about ‘the sophisticated coaching.’ Is coaching sophisticated? It’s not really, is it?!
“On what criteria (did they appoint) Wilfried Nancy?” How many interviews have they done with him? Or is he one of these new boys who come with a great big glowing presentation?
“If the owners of the football club don’t look further than the laptop. They are so out of order. I was going to say something stronger than that, but I won’t. Because it’s stupid. There, I have said it.
“If you don’t look beyond a laptop. It’s stupid picking a manager.”