It’s not often that a manager comes in and loses his first four games.
But for Wilfried Nancy at Celtic, this is exactly what has happened, in a completely unprecedented start for a Hoops boss.
Hearts, Roma, St Mirren and Dundee United have all beaten his new-look Celtic side, in an extremely rough transition to a three-at-the-back system.
Martin O’Neill’s success as interim boss, which saw him win seven out of eight, has only made Nancy’s early position more bleak.
And for Tim Sherwood, Nancy’s decision to move away from his system has been fatal.
How many more games are you going to give Wilfried Nancy?
Tim Sherwood on Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy
Nancy has said that Celtic are ‘on the right track’, despite their awful run of results.
But regardless of what he says, it’s currently difficult to know just how much longer it can stay going in this direction.
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And for Sherwood, Nancy is making a mistake in trying to ‘reinvent the wheel’ with little training time with his players.
He said on Sky Sports FC: “It’s about concentrating on what your job is, in terms of getting the best out of a group of players on the pitch.
“And he’s not doing that at the moment. What’s happened is that negotiations started before Martin O’Neill went in, it took a long time to leave MLS to come to Celtic.
“And in the meantime, Martin O’Neill came in and won six out of seven. Wilfried Nancy must’ve gone in thinking, ‘what have I gone into here, because I have some act to follow here!’
“It looks like he’s trying to reinvent the wheel, trying to change something that wasn’t broken.
“Martin kept it simple, got the best out of the group. There are different ways to win football matches, it doesn’t have to be sophisticated.
“Why would you touch it if it’s not broken? That’s what it wasn’t they looked like they were charging back towards the title race, they’re still in it, but he’s made the wrong calls, changed too much too early and it was totally unnecessary.”
Celtic fans were calling for Nancy to leave after the Dundee United game, making their thoughts on his start absolutely clear.
It will be fascinating to see the reception he gets at Celtic Park on Sunday.
Even US pundits are realising that the Celtic job is too big for Nancy? Is he right?
What else is being said about Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy?
Craig Burley knows football in the USA very well, and will have been familiar with Nancy – but even he had a joke about Nancy getting the sack.
Stan Collymore also wants Nancy bagged already, putting his appointment down as yet another error by the Parkhead hierarchy.
Chris Sutton has been more balanced, insisting that Nancy needs time and is working with a substandard group of players.
But the ex-Hoops striker is in the minority – Nancy is getting slaughtered in the media currently, and this will continue until he starts winning.
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