Wilfried Nancy insisted he was determined to battle on as Celtic manager despite his reign going from bad to worse with a crushing defeat to Rangers.
Already under huge pressure after making the worst start in history of any Parkhead manager, the Frenchman lost for the sixth time in eight matches after going down at home to Celtic’s greatest rivals.
Celtic were leading at half-time through Yang Hyun-jun but capitulated in the second period as Youssef Chermiti claimed a double before Mikey Moore sealed the win for Danny Rohl’s side.
Fans who’d turned on the board inside the stadium at full-time gathered outside the front door at the final whistle calling for the board and the manager to go.
Insistent he was determined to turn the situation around by winning those fans over, Nancy said: ‘Yes, it’s the results. Results. So, this is the reality for the moment.
‘But when I say this is the reality, it doesn’t mean that I am a defeatist guy. No. What I mean is we are really close, really, really close to turn things around. Again, I repeat myself, but I can understand this situation.’
Nancy can’t look as his side go 3-1 down and defeat is all but sealed
The Frenchman was all smiles early on after watching Yang put Celtic 1-0 ahead
Asked if he now feared for his future after the latest failure, the former Columbus Crew manager replied: ‘I don’t think about it. I think about finding ways to help my team to be good on details.’
When pressed on what message he had for those supporters who’s evidently lost faith in him, Nancy added: ‘I can understand that. I think that they were behind us the first half, they pushed us in a good way.
‘And after that… I can understand why they’re disappointed regarding the fact that we had many possibilities to win the game.
‘I know that I repeat myself, but it happened in the past also regarding many games. I think that they really enjoyed the first half.
‘They saw a team, players that were giving everything with the ball and without the ball. So, they see the direction that we want to go but in a consistent way, you know, for 95 minutes.
‘What I can tell them is what we did during the first half and also at certain moments second half, this is what we want to do.
‘But, at the same time, we know that we can’t accept (the situation), we cannot accept to concede goals like this. We know that. And this is something that we’re going to work on.’
Asked what gave him confidence that he could turn the situation around, Nancy said: ‘Because I saw many, many good things that we did, like today again. But now it’s about consistency.
‘My narrative would not be the same if it was not the case. But this is the case for the moment. So, that’s why I am a big believer that we’re going to be able to turn things around.’
Celtic dominated the first half but, in keeping with so many displays under the Frenchman, they failed to land a blow on their opponent in the second period.
‘This is something that we are working on,’ Nancy insisted. ‘There is a bit of everything. It could be the consistency to keep the intensity.
Victorious Rangers boss Danny Rohl hugs Nancy at full-time
‘I think the intensity was there, but this is more about details. You know, small details.
‘Today was the case with the goal that we conceded. Again, I can talk about focus, I can talk about many things, but yeah, we have to be better on this one.’
Asked if the players were simply not grasping his message, Nancy stressed: ‘It’s not that they are not getting it. I am with my players. I’m not here to pinpoint who missed the chances, because everybody missed.
‘But again, the execution, I think that should be better. And they work every day to do it.
‘I am with my players, I want to protect my player. I know that they do the maximum that they can do. After that, there are moments like today where we have to be better in these details. But this is what I feel.’
Rangers were left to celebrate after Chermiti (No9) put them 2-1 ahead with a double
Celtic’s form under Nancy is in sharp contrast to the seven victories that O’Neill — assisted by Shaun Maloney — chalked up in their eight matches in interim charge,
‘I cannot deny that they had the results,’ he reflected. ‘They struggled also at certain moments, but they found a way to win. I cannot deny that.
‘So now, I think it’s a small margin because again, the first game against Hearts, if we win the game, if we score the goals, I think that it could be different.
‘This is the situation, but I know that my players are stronger and able to bounce back.’
Celtic next face Dundee United at home next Saturday with Nancy acknowledging that their confidence is now at rock bottom.
‘When someone loses, the confidence is going to be low. It’s clear,’ he said. ‘But we have also many things that I can show, and we’re going to discuss with the players, that the confidence could be high.
‘And now it’s all about finding the balance with the details. This game today was about details. The goals that we conceded, we know that we can do better. So, that’s why for me, we are there but not there yet.
‘Yes, we lost again and nobody’s pleased with that because we deserve better. But at the end of the day, details, and we lost the game.’
