Celtic: Wilfried Nancy feeling Old Firm heat before Rangers derby
Feeling the heat is natural for any Old Firm manager and Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy is experiencing a familiar cauldron of emotions as derby day approaches.
Just over four weeks since Nancy was announced as Brendan Rodgers’ permanent successor, Nancy has lost five of her seven games in charge.
As a result, Nancy is under a lot of pressure ahead of Saturday’s game against Rangers, especially from his own club’s fans.
After defeats to Hearts and Dundee United in the Scottish Premiership, Roma in the Europa League and St Mirren in the Premier Sports Cup final, back-to-back league wins against Aberdeen and Livingston appeared to steady the ship.
But Celtic fell behind and fell behind in the challenge as Motherwell cruised to a thoroughly deserved 2-0 win on Tuesday, and the fury of the away side at Fir Park was evident throughout.
Celtic are three points behind leaders Hearts, while Rangers will join Nancy on 38 points with a win at Parkhead.
In a remarkable media conference ahead of her first major derby, Nancy launched into a passionate defense of herself and her team on Friday.
He gave an extraordinary response to talk about his methods; The game itself, including a response that lasted seven minutes, was second to the Frenchman and his job security.
“I know your job is to attack me or ask a bunch of questions, that’s okay,” Nancy said. “My job is to coach, your job is to ask questions.
“If you want to judge me now, you can. I didn’t get the results we wanted; that’s a fact, I can’t deny that.”
He called for patience, but quickly acknowledged that this was a job where high stakes meant patience was in short supply.
“This is just the beginning. We usually have preseasons of four or five weeks. I didn’t have anything like that,” Nancy said.
“The truth is, before I came, I knew I would be in trouble if I didn’t win games. That’s part of my job. I’m happy to be here and I know where we are now.”
