What a ten days it’s been for Wilfried Nancy at Celtic.
The 48-year-old took the reins ahead of the club’s biggest week of the season, after the team had won seven out of eight matches under the interim charge of Martin O’Neill.
With little time on the training pitch, Nancy has tried to implement the same formation he did at Columbus Crew, and the results have taken a nosedive so far.
Defeat in all three of his Celtic matches has left him in desperate need of a win against Dundee United at Tannadice.
And speaking ahead of the match, Nancy had more interesting elaborations on why he remains confident of being successful in Glasgow.
Wilfried Nancy speaks ahead of Dundee United vs Celtic
Dealing with three straight defeats is difficult enough.
But Nancy’s decision to take to social media on Wednesday night certainly didn’t help matters, certainly not giving the impression of an unbothered manager.
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Wilfried Nancy posts diagram about control on X (formerly twitter)
And speaking to the written press earlier on Tuesday, Nancy further explained his style of leadership and communication.
He said: “It comes from the way I grew up.
“I also travelled a lot in my life. Until I was 14 years old, I was changing country every two years. I have friends who are the president of a country and I have friends who are in jail.
“Perspective is everything. That is what I take into my career from my background. I have learned that life is not always a straight line. It goes up and down. Otherwise, you are not true to yourself.
“I was grateful to be an assistant coach for six or seven years, working with different coaches with different personalities. They all wanted to win but they were all different.
“It was so powerful to see the way they reacted, which depended on their personality.
“Look at coaches like Carlo Ancelotti too. Look at Pep Guardiola. Carlo Ancelotti has been fired by many clubs, but he is one of the most successful coaches in the world.
“I come from France and Luis Enrique was being killed by the French press – and then after that he did something PSG had never done before.
“So, I try to understand things in context and the roles of different people. You are journalists and your job is to say certain things. There are fans who support the club, and this is a relationship like the one with our wives!
“I just try to step back. It’s not easy, understand me well. But my experience comes from being that way and that’s the way I try and educate my kids.
“This is not the strongest we’ll be. Right now, it’s about the people who can adapt to change.
“I am not a weak guy. I am able to understand people who are in jail, for example. Maybe it’s because of their background, what happened in their life wasn’t good enough or something happened and that’s why they reacted to that. But I don’t accept it.
“So that’s why I am able to understand the criticism and understand many things. I just try and be the best I can be every day.”
Sum up Wilfried Nancy’s media handling in one word…
Wilfried Nancy’s start to life at Celtic
It really doesn’t feel like Nancy could’ve gotten off to a worse start.
He has been ridiculed for using a tactics board in the dugout and saying that he is not ‘all about winning’ as a coach, as well as his poor results.
O’Neill’s confirmation that he would’ve said yes to the job if asked to stay only makes this a worse reflection on the Celtic board.
There is no denying the mitigating circumstances; Nancy has arrived at an extremely challenging time, and isn’t working with the strongest Celtic squad.
But a win at Tannadice is the least that he needs to stop his tenure going in such a worrying direction.
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