Wilfried Nancy’s start to life at Celtic put him on the back foot immediately.
Celtic fans were calling for his sacking after the 2-1 defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice, and many saw Sunday’s clash with Aberdeen as his last chance.
Thankfully, he guided Celtic to a deserved win, putting an end to his ludicrous 100% record of defeats from his first four games.
The jury is still out, though, after his decision to instantly change the team’s system and personnel after Martin O’Neill’s excellent spell backfired spectacularly.
Nancy is clearly a coach with a steadfast style of playing football. We have seen glimpses of it so far, and it’s fair to say that it’s splitting opinion.
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Si Ferry and Andy Halliday on Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy
The contrast between Nancy and O’Neill has not reflected well on the Frenchman in terms of results.
But O’Neill’s mantra of ‘you have to win’ was also slightly more popular than Nancy’s of ‘not only [being] about winning.’
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And it’s fair to say that Si Ferry and Andy Halliday don’t quite share the same perspectives on Nancy so far.
On Open Goal, they were discussing Danny Rohl’s constant changes to his formations at Rangers, and Si Ferry interjected.
He said: “Is that not where Nancy deserves a bit of credit?
“Because he’s probably thought the exact same and went ‘nah, none of that. I’m playing my own way now’.
“Andy, within four games, you can now see what he’s trying to do.”
Halliday replied: “I think you can’t be like that. You can’t. You can’t be a dead good team by losing four games in a row.
“They still look so open defensively.”
Ferry said: “In between those games, he’s had days on training pitches. To play that style of football, you need to coach it.
“Not [crediting him for defeats], but saying that he’s stuck to his guns with the way that he wants to play.
“Is that a strength or a weakness? If they go and start winning games of football in a convincing manner, then it’s a strength.”
Halliday said: “But you still need to be adaptable.”
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Facts about Wilfried Nancy’s Celtic team selections
Nancy has himself admitted that he needs to see different players in different positions before fully formulating his long-term plan for the squad.
Five players have started all of Nancy’s game so far: Callum McGregor, Kasper Schmeichel, Kieran Tierney, Auston Trusty and Daizen Maeda.
Sebastian Tounekti and Yang Hyun-Jun have been used in unfamiliar wing-back roles, whilst Anthony Ralston and Colby Donovan have been used in the back three.
Liam Scales had started every league game until being dropped for the last two.
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