Martin O’Neill, Shaun Maloney and Ange Postecoglou are the three favourites for the Celtic job after Wilfried Nancy was sacked on Monday.
The Scottish champions lost the Old Firm derby 3-1 to their arch rivals Rangers at home on Saturday in a fresh blow to their 2025-26 title hopes.
Celtic announced Nancy as their manager on a two-and-a-half year deal just over a month ago on December 3 – but it turned out to be a disaster.
The Glasgow club lost six of their eight games under the Frenchman, winning just two matches, leading to fierce criticism and lots of ridicule.
In his first game as Celtic boss, Nancy’s side were beaten at home by surprise league leaders and title rivals Hearts 2-1 in a massive blow.
Celtic then suffered a 3-0 defeat to Roma in the Europa League, with Nancy becoming the club’s first-ever manager to lose his opening two matches.
The Hoops went on to suffer four consecutive defeats for the first time since 1978, when Jock Stein was manager of the club.
Who will become Celtic's new permanent manager?
According to Betfair…
- Martin O’Neill – 13/8
- Shaun Maloney – 2/1
- Ange Postecoglou – 4/1
- Kjetil Knutsen – 15/2
- Kieran McKenna – 17/2
- Brian Barry-Murphy – 17/2
On Monday, Celtic announced they had sacked Nancy as he became the shortest serving manager in the club’s history with a tenure of 33 days.
‘Celtic Football Club today announces that it has decided to terminate the contract of manager Wilfried Nancy, with immediate effect,’ Celtic, currently second in the Scottish top-flight and six points behind leaders Hearts, said in a statement.
‘The Club thanks Wilfried for his efforts and wishes him and his family well for the future.
‘Wilfried’s assistants, Kwame Ampadu, Jules Gueguen, and Maxime Chalier, will also be leaving the club and they take with them our good wishes.
‘The Club can also confirm that Paul Tisdale has left his position as Head of Football Operations. We thank Paul for the contribution he has made in that role.
‘A further update will be provided to supporters as soon as is practical.’
Bookmakers are already speculating as to who may replace Nancy and become Celtic’s next manager.
O’Neill, who had a successful spell as interim boss earlier this season before Nancy’s appointment, is the current favourite with odds of 13/8.
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That’s according to Betfair but the 73-year-old, who also managed Celtic from 2000 to 2005 and is currently out of work, is not the only name being linked with the job.
Former Hibernian and Wigan boss Maloney is currently viewed as the second favourite with odds of 2/1.
The third favourite is Postecoglou, who managed Celtic from 2021 to 2023 before roles in the Premier League with Tottenham and Nottingham Forest. The Australian, who won the Europa League with Spurs and has been out of work since Forest sacked him in October, is seen as a 4/1 shot.
