Wilfried Nancy dismissed suggestions that his future could be defined by Saturday’s Old Firm game after Celtic lost for the fifth time in seven matches on his watch.
Tuesday night’s match at Fir Park was dubbed ‘El Passico’ because of the free-flowing style of both sides, but the Frenchman’s side were outplayed by Motherwell after going down to goals either side of the break through Ibrahim Said and Elliot Watt.
The 2-0 defeat – which was Celtic’s 17th of the calendar year – ensured Hearts remain three points clear at the top of the Premiership while Rangers are now only three points behind Nancy’s men after a 2-1 win over St Mirren.
At the final whistle, visiting supporters again chanted for the removal of the board – with sections also calling for the manager to be immediately removed from his position. Asked if he felt that his first derby was now make-or-break for him, Nancy said: ‘No, not at all. Each game for me is important and for the team is important.
‘I don’t think about my future, I think about what I do now and what I need to do to improve the team and what we need to do also to improve the team. And this is the way I think.’
Asked if he could understand why supporters would be deeply concerned at seeing a lack of progress across his tenure, Nancy was indignant.
It’s another disaster for Wilfried Nancy as he contemplates 2-0 defeat at Fir Park
Sheer delight for Elliot Watt, second from left, after he scored the decisive goal for Motherwell
Watt slots the ball home after a terrible mix-up between Schmeichel and Celtic defence
‘Progress? There is progress,’ he insisted. ‘But tonight, again, where we are and the opposition that we face was difficult.
‘I’m saying that this is a fact. And now what we need to do to improve that … this is something that we’re going to work on and we’ve been working on since the beginning. ‘Tonight was a tough one. This is the reality.’
Pressed on whether he was feeling the pressure after such a poor start in charge of the champions, Nancy added: ‘As a manager, personally, this is not something that I want. In terms of pressure, it doesn’t change the way I think about this because we know that we have to do well. But, for the moment, this is the reality and I knew that it could be like that. We had good games at certain moments. Tonight is a difficult one.’
On whether he was confident he could turn the situation around, Nancy said: ‘Yes, I’m confident. I had to make choices tonight regarding the team. I’m confident with what we want to do, where we want to go. This was a tough game, it was difficult for us, but I think that we’re going to get better.’
Victorious Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou praised his team for producing what he said was ‘probably’ their best performance of the season.
‘We knew that we were probably going to need our best and most solid and most all-round, in-and-out-of-possession performance that we could muster to win,’ he said. ‘Because the performances we have had have been really big and really good, but it hasn’t led to a win against Rangers or Celtic. So, that was what we got, and that was what we needed, and that was fantastic to see.’
