Gordon Strachan will know exactly how Wilfried Nancy is feeling right now.
Losing your first game in charge as Celtic manager is difficult to take, but luckily for Nancy, the man who took charge in 2005 was in a much worse situation.
Everyone will remember Celtic’s infamous 5-0 defeat to Artmedia Bratislava in Strachan’s first game; it’s nowhere near as bad as the Hoops losing to Hearts on Sunday.
But it’s the way of modern media to pile on, as Strachan has shut down all the negative noise around Nancy with some common sense.
- READ MORE: Ex-Hearts man launches an astonishing attack on Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy after Pat Bonner clamped him
The media appear to be generating a lot of negativity around Celtic this week, how can fans and the club combat this?
Gordon Strachan on Wilfried Nancy losing his first Celtic game against Hearts
From the tactics board, to Nancy’s formation and even his footwear. Everything and anything the media can verbally batter the former MLS coach with, they are doing or have done.
Speaking on Open Goal, Strachan stated that ‘there is no system that guarantees you a win’, as he tried to cool down the hysteria over the new coach changing formation.
Strachan also wanted to point to Celtic’s first half, how Daizen Maeda missed two big chances, and the manner in which the team conceded the first goal, which is all ‘human error’ rather than talk about a system.
“There is no system that guarantees you a win,” said Strachan. “It’s like defending set-plays. Man-marking. Zonal. It doesn’t guarantee you. Again, it’s down to good players.
“If Celtic had finished their chances in the first couple of minutes, then the game would have been different.
“So, what was the difference? You wouldn’t have said at the beginning, ‘that system was all wrong.’ It was good in the first half. You are moving the ball. The chances. So, what happened there?
“It’s human error. The first goal is human error.”
‘Never a great time’ to become Celtic manager
There is always immense pressure on the Celtic job, whether you are trying to win a title or, in current times, helping the Bhoys maintain their dominance.
That’s why Strachan wanted to play down the noise around the timing of Nancy’s arrival, especially given that Martin O’Neill had done a brilliant job whilst in interim charge.
“There is never a great time to take over,” added Strachan. “There is never the perfect time to take over as a manager. You are always going to be put under pressure.
“Martin going in, just common sense and all the rest of it – he probably didn’t expect the change and the more positivity about Celtic, the new manager. But you have to deal with that.
“And you go back to what you were saying. Score the first two goals, and the game is finished.”
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