Defiant Wilfried Nancy shows no fear of the sack but supporters display anger following derby defeat.
The Celtic boss insisted he did not fear the sack, asserting, “The team is very near to changing our fortunes,” in the wake of moving dangerously close to the chopping block with a convincing loss to their arch-rivals.
A Second-Half Capitulation Leads to Derby Loss
The Hoops had led their oldest rivals at the interval but a second-half capitulation enabled Rangers to draw level on points with the defending Scottish Premiership champions. The French coach, who was hired from Columbus Crew, has now been in charge for six setbacks in his last eight games.
“There is unity with the board,” said Nancy.
Questioned about the speculation, Nancy replied: “That’s not my focus. I think about working out methods to get the team to excel on details.
Fan Fury On Display
The fans voiced their fury – towards the board and manager – by protesting outside the stadium. The hierarchy are reportedly likely to return to the interim manager, who had a fruitful interim spell previously, should a change be made.
“Wins and losses [that leads to pressure]. So this is the situation for the moment. Yet in stating this is the reality, I am not saying that I am a defeatist guy. No. What I mean we are really close, really, really close to reverse our form.”
“Really, Really Close”
Nancy highlights the fact his team show good levels for 45 minutes at a time. Indeed, if not for missed chances they would have been better than 1-0 up. “I saw enough aside from the fact that we didn't take our chances,” he said. “I accept that we lost, but it's important to stay fair.
“The performance we had at times was exceptionally high. That is a fact. I wouldn't talk like that if it was different. That is the reason, in terms of results, I mentioned it's a repeating pattern. That’s why I believe we are nearly there to things turning around. Right now: the fine margins.”
“We produced a lot of encouraging signs that we did, like today again. However comes down to sustaining it. My outlook would change if it was not the case. This is why I am convinced the team can to fix this.”
Opposition Reaction Outlook
The victorious boss refused to contemplate a serious challenge even after what appeared to be a huge result. “We take it game by game, and we can gradually build momentum,” he said. “The faith in the group is outstanding.”
