“You don’t always have to look very far to find quality.”
Montreal CF manager Olivier Renard took just ten days to compensate for the departure of Thierry Henry. He said in a videoconference on Monday with the media that he would do so in his backyard, despite many of them knocking on the door.
However, no more than five of them were “potential candidates”.
Wilfred [Nancy] It was there from the start. Did he have the best paperwork to be a coach? No. Because everyone knows he has no experience being a head coach, but that might be the only small downside. “The luck we have in making this choice is that he is a kid in the club and we know exactly his qualities,” said Renard.
The two have known each other since last year. Over the course of the discussions, they realized that they were on the same wavelength in many ways.
“I think I ticked several boxes, so it just happened naturally,” Nancy said.
Renard stressed the importance of continuity in the selection of Henry’s successor. In this sense, Nancy’s appointment makes sense.
And Olivier Renard emphasized, especially since one of the latter’s greatest qualities is his communication with young people. We know that the club’s workforce has significantly regained its youth in recent months.
It wasn’t circumstances that led us to choose Will. We are sure. We feel mature.
Olivier Renard, Sports Director of CF Montreal
Unsurprisingly, Renard did not want to name other potential candidates. He explained that some of them currently belong to a club.
He pointed out, however, that “there are important names they could have signed here.” But we didn’t ask ourselves the question internally if we needed someone with the same philosophy, but also with a big name. ”
Some of the candidates came from Europe, others from North America. But at the end of the day, Nancy was always top of the list.
“In building the house, the first bricks were laid and he was one of the people who started building this wall,” said Renard. So, we want to continue with him. ”
The knife is not in my throat
The new coach made no secret that he would have been disappointed if he had not been selected, but he would not have left.
“It’s football. Today it is me, and tomorrow it will be someone else.” He said, “If it weren’t for me, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.”
At the age of 43, Nancy takes over the reins as he begins his sixth season with the club. However, Renard said he would do so with a one-year contract with options.
“Why? It’s a new thing for him, and for us as well to see him in a different position. But what you need to know, and that’s important, is that he never has a knife in his throat to get results right away,” the sports director emphasized. There is a deadline or duty to do the qualifiers. Obviously we want to do it, he wants to do it too, but there is no pressure. ”
Of course there were negotiations. But after reflection, I put myself in the club’s shoes and see why I could give it a year. It is not a problem for me.
Wilfred Nancy
The native Frenchwoman wants to continue the work in progress. Building a dynamic and proactive team. Work on youth development, which he has done a lot in the past, for he who considers himself a “coach and trainer”.
He is also pleased that there is a young workforce that will give him “more flexibility”.
As for the make-up of his team, he is comfortable at the moment, but he does not rule out the possibility of adding after the analysis.
He pointed out that “the main advantage of the assistant is the ability to face the coach with respect so that the latter can make the best possible decision.”
Coaches Kwame Ampadu and Laurent Seaman, as well as goalkeeper coach Remy Verkotri and physical coach Jules Jegen, make up his staff at this time.
Hired by Leduc
As a player, Nancy didn’t know about Thierry Henry’s career. Which made him clear about what to do next for him.
“Because I didn’t have such a profession, I was able to realize that training would be my future. I’m ready and very happy.”
After her career as a player, from 1995 to 2005, Nancy went to the sidelines. For two years at AAA level, then in 2008, he was hired by Patrick Leduc – now director of CF Academy Montreal – for his support in the South Shore Regional Football Association, of which he was its technical director at the time.
“I met him when I hired him,” says Leduc. It happened very quickly. I needed someone and immediately got something really good Feeling in the conversations we’ve had. We spoke the same language, and we matched well with the model of the game we wanted to develop. ”
Nancy will be interested first in sports studies and the regional team, before becoming deputy coach shortly after.
In 2011, he joined Impact Academy, then joined Grand Club as assistant coach in 2016.
Up to five years from Training Before joining the Impact organization, he follows five at the Academy, then five others as an assistant at the MLS. From one five-year tournament to the next, Wilfred Nancy now leads the first club.