Nancy ‘grateful’ for Celtic backing amid losing start

Wilfried Nancy says “I don’t have to prove anything to anybody” amid criticism of his losing start as Celtic manager, is “grateful” for the continued support of the club hierarchy and is “really confident” of better times ahead.

The Frenchman had already become the first Celtic manager to lose his opening two matches in charge before suffering defeat by St Mirren in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final.

But Nancy claims the Scottish champions knew there could be initial hard times after he left Columbus Crew to take over from interim boss Martin O’Neill.

“I’m very grateful with the people that I work with,” the 48-year-old said. “They know why I am here, they protect me, they know what I want to do for the club.

“They know where we are at this moment and we knew this moment could happen.

Nancy tries to shield himself from the criticism but stressed he is “a human being” with “emotions” as he prepares his side to visit Dundee United on Wednesday.

“The only thing that I know is I receive a lot of messages from my family to ask me if I’m OK,” he said. “So it means that maybe I get killed, but it’s OK.

“Don’t forget I come from Europe, so I know the way it works and, to be fair, in the MLS it is the same – not with same intensity obviously.

“The fans, the media, you don’t have results, this is normal. You might think I am crazy, but I am embracing this adversity because I know I’m getting better.

“I don’t have to prove anything to anybody, simple as that. I just have to be coherent with my team and to do my job as best as I can and, after that, it will be more positive.”

Some have criticised Nancy’s decision to change to his preferred 3-4-3 system from the one adopted by O’Neill during the veteran’s seven wins in eight games in charge.

“It is nothing about the system,” he said. “It is not rocket science what I’m saying.

“I am the coach, I have ideas and they did it before. I am just asking them to play with a few nuances, but I don’t try to invent football.”

Nancy admitted “for the moment, I have nothing” to prove to fans or media that he has what it takes to change his team’s fortunes.

However, he pointed out that “it is 10 days that I am here” and he knew it could be a problem considering “the fact it is the first time for everyone to have a coach coming in in the middle of the season like this” but had no regrets about taking over when he did.

Nancy said his task was “to get this connection with the players” and “every day I see there is an improvement”.

“I am going beyond winning,” he added. “For me, it is about character, it is about personality, it is about coherence, it is about how we want to play defensively and offensively.”