The Celtic figure who ‘drove sacking’ of Wilfried Nancy – Dermot Desmond directly told ‘this can’t go on’

Under-fire Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson was the “driving force” behind bringing Wilfried Nancy’s ill-fated reign a shuddering halt on Monday – it has been claimed.

The Parkhead supremo has been under-fire from a vocal section of the fanbase and publicly backed the ill-fated Frenchman hours before a disastrous defeat to Dundee United on December 16 – his fourth on the bounce on a night punters first told Nancy to sling his hook.

Recruitment guru Paul Tisdale – the architect of the move for the former Columbus Crew boss – was binned to make way for the return of Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney.

Journalist Mark Guidi, speaking on Go Radio, said: “I believe that Michael Nicholson – the Celtic chief executive who’s had a lot of criticism, a lot of abuse – I believe that Michael was the driving force for change in the past 48 hours in terms of going to Dermot Desmond and saying, ‘We need to do something. This cannot go on’. So Michael Nicholson, I think, deserves credit where it’s due for putting that on.”

O’Neill has been appointed until the end of the season and has intimated that this will allow Celtic decision makers to identify a long-term appointment.