Nancy says he’s not listening to the outside nose and keeping his focus firmly on the football
Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy during a press conference at Celtic Park
Wilfried Nancy says he’s not going to ‘waste time’ addressing the negative reaction to his Celtic dugout debut – and will continue to use the tactics board if he thinks it helps.
The Nancy era kicked off in disastrous style over the weekend with a 2-1 defeat to Hearts and the new boss has since been in for an avalanche of criticism. He was ridiculed for his frequent use of a tactics board while giving instructions to the players, and a war of words has broke out between Record Sport columnists Ryan Stevenson and Chris Sutton – after the former ripped him to shreds and even criticised his trainers.
But Nancy says his only focus is on the football and he’s blocking out all the outside nose. Speaking ahead of his side’s Europa League clash with Roma, he said: “People have the right to talk. I am going to dress one way, maybe they’ll say they don’t like the way I dress.
“I don’t waste time on that. If I use it (the tactics board) it’s because it’s good for me. I’m not saying I’ll use it all the time.
“I will be honest. When I had the opportunity to become a coach, I always told myself to cut everything.
“This what I did. I cut everything on Twitter regarding my name, the club, what people can say.
“They have the right to say something. This is part of the job.
“After that I’m not here to comment on everything. We can go to the restaurant and you say you don’t like the food, but I like it.
“At the end of the day, this is part of the job and I control what I can control with the players I work with to maximise our chances to win games with good performances.
“Everyone talks about the system, but we played with a back four in the last game. Yes defensively you’d think it was a five but it was a four or sometimes a three.
“It’s not about the system, it’s about the concept, about how we want to play.
“How do we connect better? How can we attack the box and disrupt the lines? This is important.
“The system is not important. If I do something it’s because I believe it will be good for the team and if I have to adjust some things I will do it.
“The idea is to be current with the way I am as a coach and the way I see football, to give time to my players to process everything.
“I know I need to win to buy time, but it’s the same in the MLS, it was the same as a player. It’s the same for you in your job – you have to be good to stay. It doesn’t change.”
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