How incoming Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy stacked up against soon-to-be colleagues in cult game

Wilfried Nancy is reportedly set to take the reigns at Celtic Park any day now - and here we take a look at how he compared to his soon-to-be colleagues in a classic computer game.

Championship Manager 01/02 is one of the most popular games in history, with Facebook groups dedicated to that single season release alone having nearly 100,000 members.

Thousands across the globe still play the game - which features the likes of football legends Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Hristo Stoichkov and Paul Gascoigne - on a daily basis.

Martin O'Neill was the Celtic manager at the time and Shaun Maloney, Mark Fotheringham and Stephen McManus were fresh-faced youngsters at the club.

They are all currently part of O'Neill's backroom team and it's rumoured they will stay on at the club when Nancy takes over.

The Frenchman had a 10-year playing career in his homeland between 1995 and 2005, turning out for teams such as Toulon, Ivry and Noisy-le-Sec.

The defender was with Noisy in the 2001-2002 season but, according to Champ Man, would have been the worst player in the Celtic team if he'd made the move to Parkhead.

Players in the game have a current and potential ability out of 200, with Zidane, Christian Vieri, Roque Santa Cruz and Juan Sebastian Veron having a potential of 198.

But Columbus Crew boss Nancy only had a current ability of 60 and a potential of 70, some 30 points worse than the worst player at Celtic at the time.

Four young Hoops stars had only 100 as their potential - current coach McManus, David Van Zanten and Marc Cocozza, and now-Dundee United Manager Jim Goodwin.

But Fotheringham and Maloney had the potential to be among some of the best in the world in the game, with Fotheringham's potential being 160.

Maloney, who was born in Malaysia, had a potential of 165, equal with Celtic cult hero and flamboyant playmaker Lubomir Moravcik.

Eagle-eyed fans may notice Nancy's date of birth is wrong in the game, which was a common error for many players, with stats and positions also often randomised.

Nancy has been lined up for the Celtic job following his tenure in the United States, which saw him lifting two trophies and crowned 2024 MLS Coach of the Year.

He took the helm at Columbus Crew in 2022, having previously been manager of MLS side CF Montreal.

He took over the Canadian team following the departure of Thierry Henry, who worked alongside Maloney with the Belgium national team.

And during his time with Montreal, Nancy was in charge of former Celtic midfielder Victor Wanyama, now playing for ex-Hoops boss Neil Lennon at Dunfermline Athletic.