Celtic Faces Aberdeen Amidst Managerial Challenges
Scottish Premiership: Celtic v Aberdeen
Venue: Celtic Park, Glasgow Date: Sunday, 21 December Time: 15:00 GMT
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland & Sounds, live text commentary available on the BBC Sport website & app.
Wilfried Nancy, the new manager of Celtic, has expressed that the team's poor start under his leadership is "difficult to accept personally." Since his appointment earlier this month, Nancy has experienced four consecutive losses, including defeats in the Scottish Premiership against Hearts and Dundee United, a home loss to Roma in the Europa League, and an exit from the Premier Sports Cup after St Mirren's victory at Hampden.
"For sure, it’s difficult, because I know what we can do," Nancy stated. "I know what I can do also. But I know that, as a coach, we are judged on results. That’s why this is difficult to accept personally, because I know that we are on the right track. And it’s difficult for me. But, again, I’m going to take it."
Nancy has assured his players, "I’m going to be in front of you because I have to do it." Ahead of Sunday’s Premiership clash with Aberdeen, he acknowledged the fans' dissatisfaction, saying, "The fans are not happy, I’m going to take that. But I believe also that we can do better. I think on Wednesday [against Dundee United] we were close to having a really good performance, but we didn’t capitalize at the key moments."
He emphasized the need for continuous improvement, stating, "If you watch all the games that we play, I have adjusted something every time. On Wednesday, what we did was interesting in terms of our attacking strategy, and we created many opportunities. The idea is not to remain stagnant; we must keep adding improvements all the time."
Nancy concluded, "I have to change certain things to see players but also to figure out how I can adjust a few players and mix them together. I believe that with each game, I have done that. My job is to continue doing this for the next game, and again, and again, and again. So that doesn’t change."