Cup final victory would ‘validate’ Celtic process for Nancy

Premier Sports Cup final: St Mirren v Celtic

Venue: Hampden Park, Glasgow Date: Sunday, 14 November Kick-off: 15:00 GMT

Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy says victory in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final against St Mirren would “validate” what he is trying to implement at his new club.

But he insists he will have “many other” chances to prove himself to their supporters.

Nancy became the first Celtic boss to lose his first two matches in charge as they were swatted aside by Roma in the Europa League on Thursday following last weekend’s Scottish Premiership defeat by Heart of Midlothian.

Many supporters had left by the time the full-time whistle blew and those that remained expressed their frustration at both the result and performance.

Given the importance of Nancy’s first three matches in charge, some fans were confused by the timing of his appointment.

The Frenchman understands what is at stake at Hampden but insists he is not thinking about the prospect of a third straight defeat.

“For me? No,” he said when asked about the importance of winning a trophy.

“For my players, yes. And for the fans, yes.

“Yes, I would like to win the trophy. I’m pretty sure that, if we don’t win it, it’s going to be difficult, because when we lose, this is painful.

“But, again, I am optimistic as a person. So hopefully we’re going to do it. And also if it’s going to validate what we are doing. But, if not, I don’t want to think about this because, for the moment, I want to stay positive and this is the way I think.

Nancy inherited a side that had won seven from eight matches under interim manager Martin O’Neill, but he stamped his own identity on the team from the start, switching to a back three against both Hearts and Roma.

With some players shoehorned into unfamiliar positions, Celtic have struggled to click in attack and were dismantled at the back by Roma on Thursday in a dominant first-half display.

Still, the former Columbus Crew head coach has seen enough to believe his system will come good.

“I watched the game and obviously we had a difficult moment, but we had also good moments,” he said

“This game for me was important because it gives me the possibility to set the standard regarding what we want to achieve and it was good to compare certain things [with Roma].

“After that, the standard, we have it already. The desire to compete, the desire to train well, the desire to improve, this is the standard.

“The desire also to do what it takes to have good performance, we have it. We have to be better in terms of execution, but we are on the right track.

“For one week, I can see good stuff. We need also to improve on certain things, but it will come.”

Given the two defeats leading into the cup final, Nancy admitted there will be a degree of doubt but dismissed the idea there was an added pressure on the game.

“It doesn’t change,” he added. “A final is a final, it’s not the same.

“Obviously the fact that we didn’t win the last two games, mentally we can have a bit of uncertainty.