One former Hoops gaffer has rallied to the Frenchman’s side after his reign started with a 2-1 defeat to Hearts

20:38, 09 Dec 2025Updated 20:41, 09 Dec 2025

Wilfried Nancy(Image: Getty Images)

Wilfried Nancy has came under fire after his radical change to a 3-4-3 formation saw him making a losing start as Celtic boss.

But ex Parkhead and Scotland gaffer Gordon Strachan believes it is easy to criticise the Frenchman after the fact, arguing that ‘human errors’ cost Celtic dearly against Hearts and the champions could have been out of sight by half-time.

Daizen Maeda was guilty of squandering two huge chances early on and they were made to pay when Claudio Braga pounced on some idle defending and Oisin McEntee bulleted a header home from a corner to put Derek McInnes‘ men 2-0 up, with Kieran Tierney’s injury time strike nothing more than a mere consolation.

And Strachan points out that it’s hard to judge the former Columbus Crew head coach’s new way of playing when the team are making individual or collective mistakes. Speaking on Open Goal, he said: “There is no system that guarantees you a win, it’s down to good players. If Celtic had finished those chances in the first couple of minutes, then the game is different.

“What was the difference? You wouldn’t have said at the beginning that the system was wrong. It was good in the first half when they were moving the ball around. So what happened there? It’s human error. The first goal is human error.”

There has also been a suggestion in some quarters that Nancy should have waited until after the Premier Sports Cup final against St Mirren on Sunday to take up the reins from interim boss Martin O’Neill. But Strachan is adamant the time is ‘never perfect’ for the new man in Glasgow’s East End to assume control.

Aberdeen and Manchester United legend Strachan added: “What I would have probably wanted to do was when I was getting announced as the Celtic manager, get in at that point. But there is a great time to take over by the way, there is never the perfect time.

“You are always going to be under pressure. When Celtic weren’t playing well, it was a challenge for Martin coming in, but he played with common sense and got players feeling good about themselves again.

Celtic’s Daizen Maeda takes a shot but it goes wide of the target

“He (Nancy) probably didn’t expect the change and more positivity about Celtic when he came in, but you have to deal with that. But if you score the goals, the game is finished.

Meanwhile, Record Sport columnist Tam McManus reckons Nancy will be given a war chest of £20million in January to ensure the Hoops finish on top of the pile.

He told the PLZ Football Show: ” I think Celtic will spend big. I think Celtic will spend big money in January, I do. Ten, fifteen, twenty million. I think they’ll spend big in money in January because they have to.

“They’ve been absolutely slaughtered from pillar to post for the summer window. Dermot Desmond’s came out with that statement, saying that Brendan Rodgers has been backed with every penny that we’ve brought in. We’ve spent.

“And a lot of that was ridiculed. So I think they’ll spend big money, because they have to. Because it’s no guarantee that they’ll go and win the league with this squad.”