The reverberations of Celtic’s Premier Sports Cup final defeat to St Mirren are still being felt a full 48 hours on from the fateful Hampden date.
Wilfried Nancy’s start at Celtic has not gone the way he and the supporters would have liked as he presided over the club’s third defeat in a row.
Celtic’s defeat to St Mirren appears to have stretched the patience of a lot of the Hoops fanbase as the Bhoys struggle to get a result in Nancy’s early tenure.
Does Wilfried Nancy have the belief of the Celtic players?
But as the debate rages over why Nancy can’t get a tune out of the Celtic players that Martin O’Neill took to Feyenoord to win, Darren Bent has a different perspective on who is to blame for the Bhoys’ recent run of poor results.
Darren Bent says Celtic players must shoulder some weight from Wilfried Nancy
So far, in Nancy’s tenure, Celtic have managed to score just one goal whilst conceding eight. It’s a shocking start to the Frenchman’s tenure and Bent reckons it’s not all his fault.
Bent said on talkSPORT, “My counter-argument to that was the manager before Martin O’Neill wasn’t getting it done.
“Martin O’Neill comes in, gets it done.”
Goldstein: “Yes, that proves it’s the manager.”
Bent: “My point is players just turn it on and off when they feel like it. That’s my point.”
Goldstein: “So Martin O’Neill obviously got the best out of them. So far, Wilfried Nancy has got the worst out of them.”
Bent: “But this is my point about players. Players might like O’Neill and say, ‘Yeah, I like what he’s doing’. And then all of a sudden this Nancy comes in it’s like, ‘Oh no, I don’t like it’.
“Because if you watch Celtic, I watched a little bit of Celtic against Roma in the Europa League.
“If they can’t pass the ball from A to B, that’s not the manager’s fault. There’s a reason why. So currently, as it stands right now, I know they’re six points behind Hearts, but that happened way before this manager.”
Darren Bent says Celtic’s players not Nancy are mainly at fault for results
The conversation then took a twist as Goldstein then put Bent on the spot and asked him who should take the most blame for the recent run of results. The Celtic players or Nancy?
And Bent’s answer left the talkSPORT host gobsmacked.
Goldstein: “Let me ask this, right? The three performances, Hearts, the one in Europe and the cup final, right? What percentage of blame is players and what is the manager?”
Bent: “Well, the new manager’s just got there, and I know Martin was getting a tune out of the team, but I would say probably right now it’s 60/40 on the players. He’s just there! He’s been there, like two weeks.”
Goldstein: “Really? 60/40 on the players? I’m stunned you say that.”
Bent: “I’m not going to sit here and act like I watched SPFL every week, because I don’t. But my point is, players, at some point have to take responsibility.”
Goldstein: “That’s insane.”
Who is to blame for Celtic’s results? The players or Wilfried Nancy? Let us know in the comments below.
Watch Darren Bent's argument for who is responsible for Celtic's three defeats under Nancy.
Bent: “If they can’t pass the ball from A to B, and they’re making mistakes. I know the manager has got to, of course, get the team in a position to win games.
“But if I was a new manager, going to a club and I’ve got the chance to beat the team that’s currently top, that’s a nice little starter.
“European game. I understand could be difficult. And then you go nick a trophy in your third game. I’m thinking, ‘Boy, what a start’.”
Whoever is to blame, it’s Nancy’s job to sort out the rot that has crept in over the last three games.
Granted, Celtic’s performances have not been great, even before Nancy came in, but the results were happening.
And starting tomorrow night at Dundee United, Celtic must bring three points back to Glasgow if Nancy wants to take the heat off his back.
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