“It was a beautiful experience. I do my job with passion and I look for players with passion and this club the fans and the city we feel it, it’s been amazing for that. Obviously, things could have been better, but life is about moments.”

During his wretched spell in charge, his only wins came against bottom-six sides Aberdeen and Livingston.

Defeats included that League Cup final against St Mirren and Scottish Premiership games with Hearts, Dundee United, Motherwell and Rangers. Celtic also lost at home to Roma in the Europa League during his tenure.

Nancy was sacked in the aftermath of a 3-1 home defeat by Rangers and replaced with the interim manager he had taken over from – O’Neill.

Since then, the veteran has taken Celtic to the verge of another Premiership title and a Scottish Cup final. However, Nancy believes he could have been a success had he been given more time.

“That’s why they hired me,” he said. “I’m not a conservative coach. We had a plan because I also did my due diligence. My idea was not to change everything but step by step to bring something new.

“The support I had from the club and the chairman was huge. We were on the same page but with results, the perspective changes. I have no problem with that.

“Football is irrational sometimes and it’s a no-brainer that I didn’t have enough time.”