Wilfried Nancy has described his philosophy when it comes to winning in a reflection on his spell at Celtic.
In his disastrous 33-day spell in Glasgow, Nancy became embroiled in a war of words with the fans and media as the club went on a historic run of four consecutive defeats.
He described his approach as “going beyond winning” in the press, playing down his negative start. This was a jarring change from Martin O’Neill, who had won seven in eight with a more simplistic style of football and communication.
Reflecting on his time in Glasgow, he has blasted the “I’m gonna win” mentality as ‘bulls–t’.
Sum up Wilfried Nancy’s 33 days at Celtic in one word…
Ex-Celtic boss Wilfried Nancy: it’s easy to say you want to win
Nancy told the Training Ground Guru Podcast: “It’s easy to say ‘I want to win,’ but I can tell you many examples that people say they want to win, but they didn’t do certain things.
“So I’m sorry, you don’t want to win? So this is the nuance.
READ MORE: Paul Lambert fires ‘don’t worry about Celtic’ response to Derek McInnes penalty shout
“That’s why, for me, understand me well, when I don’t win, as a person, as a coach… nobody likes to lose. I’m sorry, but nobody likes to lose.
“Because when you lose, there is a lot of emotion that comes. You can talk bad to yourself, you can put yourself down, you can be less confident, and so on, and so on. No problem with that.
“But also, you can balance with the way that you’re gonna be as a person.
“It’s not because I’m going to say, ‘I’m going to win’ every day that I’m gonna win. Sorry [for] my language, but this is bulls–t.
“So this is about: what do you do to do it it? And this, I am extremely, extremely demanding with that. With the attitude. With the behaviour. Especially on the pitch.
“Because there [are] many players in my job, that they like to say they want to win, but when this is difficult on the pitch, they don’t show. They don’t ask [for] the ball. They don’t want to make a mistake.
Agree or disagree?
“Because if I make a mistake, it’s gonna be on me. But we don’t do an individual sport. We do a professional sport. But for me, I see a good team when they act when [it] is difficult. You know that better than me. Everybody knows that.
“But for me, when you are in the arena? Show me that you’re gonna win. Easy to talk to the media, easy to practice well and so on.
“But now with the pressure? Show!”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
