Wilfried Nancy’s could finally breathe a sigh of relief on Sunday.
Celtic made it much harder for themselves with poor finishing, but still secured Nancy’s first win with a 3-1 defeat of Aberdeen.
It came after Nancy lost all of his first four matches in charge, in a start unprecedented in the club’s history.
Celtic fans called for Nancy to be sacked after the 2-1 loss to Dundee United at Tannadice, clearly unconvinced by what they’d seen in his first fortnight.
But as debate persists over Nancy’s start, his upcoming opponent in the dugout was keen to set the record straight.
Would you be in favour of Celtic reuniting Wilfried Nancy with Wessam Abou Ali in January?
David Martindale on Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy
David Martindale knows a thing or two about struggling for wins as a manager; he hasn’t led Livingston to victory since August.
Regardless, they remain within three and four points of Kilmarnock and Dundee respectively, holding a game in hand on the former.
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For Martindale, the results haven’t reflected the performances under Nancy.
He said: “I think there has been massive improvement in Celtic since he came in.
“In the cup final, St Mirren were the better team on the day. But he had to take over when he did, Martin O’Neill had done a brilliant job but that also put him under a bit of pressure.
“But you’re a manager coming in with your ideals. If he’d gone in, changed it and won the cup final, then won the next couple of games nobody would be saying anything.
“Everyone would be talking about how brave he is. It’s all hindsight, everyone is an expert after the fact.
“For me, I think the reaction to him has been disappointing and unfair. We are highly critical in this country and I think it’s a modern trend that it’s getting worse. And it’s probably part of the job being at Celtic or Rangers.
“But anyone who watched the Dundee United game – and Jim Goodwin said himself they were lucky to not be 3 down at half-time – will know what I’m talking about here.
“I watched it, they should have been out of sight in the first half. Then on Sunday, the Aberdeen game, yeah, it was against ten men for a while but I thought they looked like the Celtic of old.
“They look as if every session they’re getting under the new manager, every game they’re playing, is getting them to show signs of progression.”
“It’s still Celtic football club, they still have magnificent players.
“Brendan Rodgers talked about Ferraris and Honda Civics and I get what he was saying. I actually agreed with it a bit – but if they have Hondas then what do the rest of us have!
“They’re still top players playing for a massive club, an institution.
“I’d rather be in their position than my position – if they’re going through such a hard time I’m quite happy to swap the points!”
What would your message be to Wilfried Nancy after that huge win?
Celtic’s clash with Livingston
Martindale was speaking ahead of his side hosting Celtic on the 27th of December, the Hoops’ first trip to Almondvale since March 2024.
It’s a notoriously difficult place for Celtic to go – Brendan Rodgers, Ange Postecoglou and Neil Lennon have all had their struggles there.
But Rodgers deemed Livingston such an easy opponent in the reverse fixture at Celtic Park that he brought Hayato Inamura into the starting line-up, days after not even registering him for the Europa League.
And with Martindale’s side on such a barren run, they are an ideal opponent as Nancy looks to finally build some momentum.
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