Wilfried Nancy is under fire at Celtic and it seems the media are smelling blood when it comes to the Hoops manager.
Nancy‘s first game in charge didn’t go to plan as Celtic lost to Hearts at the weekend and now, it appears that it’s open season on the Frenchman.
The disgraceful comments about Nancy using a tactics board have been well over the top and it seems now that the Celtic manager is fair game in the media.
Let us know what you think of Ryan Stevenson’s astonishing attack on Wilfried Nancy in the comments.
After Celtic hero Pat Bonner forced him into an embarrassing climbdown, former Hearts player Ryan Stevenson has launched a staggering, and personal, onslaught on Nancy that went unchallenged in the Daily Record.
Ryan Stevenson gets personal about Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy
Immediately after Hearts beat Celtic, Stevenson could not wait to pounce on Nancy after he lambasted the Celtic boss’ post-match interview.
After Pat Bonner clamped him, the former Tynecastle player was allowed to spew more nonsense in an article that the Daily Record proudly labelled an ‘exclusive’ but, in truth, was a complete hatchet-job on the Frenchman.
Stevenson told the Daily Record, “There’s a certain DNA to clubs like Celtic. So when a new manager arrives and starts pulling out tactics boards and green trainers you have to ask yourself, ‘What are we actually dealing with here?’.
“No disrespect to the MLS as it’s good league and a decent standard. I get all that.
“But this is Celtic Football Club we’re talking about. It’s a worldwide institution.
“I’m not even a Celtic fan but I’m absolutely raging about what I’ve seen from Nancy in his first day in the job.
“If he doesn’t learn quickly and stop making the same mistakes then I’m afraid this job is going to eat him up and spit him back out before he even knows it. The vibe I’m getting is that this simply is not going to work.”
But Stevenson, who won nothing as a manager or as a player at the 12 clubs he bounced about in during his time on the pitch, was not finished there as this shameful rant was allowed to continue.
Stevenson hammers Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic ‘patter’ and pitchside ‘gimmicks’
It seems Stevenson had some pent-up rage after he folded like a pack of cards under Bonner’s professionalism on the BBC as he continued his astonishing tirade.
Stevenson continued, “There’s a photograph doing the rounds from the second half which sums it up perfectly.
“Nancy is standing with his little tactics board, trying to explain something to Callum McGregor. Derek is in the background with a look on his face which almost screams, ‘What the hell is this guy all about?’.
“I’m sorry but Nancy simply won’t get away with gimmicks like that at Celtic Park. If you’re going to be the manager of Celtic you shouldn’t be standing at the side of a pitch trying to figure things out on a tactics board. The ideas should be in your head already.
“You have to, at the very least, give off the impression that you are in control and that you know how to solve problems. Yeah, but he’s a student of the game? Please, give me a break with that patter. I cannot stand it. Just make a decision.”
Criticism of a Celtic manager is fine as long as it is balanced and offers fair context. What Stevenson has done here offers nothing but the look of a man with a personal vendetta against Nancy.
Whether he genuinely believes what he says or is just trying to make a name for himself as a pundit, Stevenson has lost any credibility he may have had with Celtic supporters with this interview and what the Daily Record have published makes Celtic’s banning of fan media from press duties look absolutely farcical.
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