Celtic's failed Nancy experiment
BBC Sport Scotland reporter Kheredine Idessane has been answering some of your questions on Celtic. Kevin asked: Did the Wilfred Nancy experiment cost Celtic the title this season? Celtic may yet win the league which would keep them champions despite the calamity of the club's shortest ever managerial reign.
[BBC] BBC Sport Scotland reporter Kheredine Idessane has been answering some of your questions on Celtic. Kevin asked: Did the Wilfred Nancy experiment cost Celtic the title this season? Kheredine answered: Yes it potentially did, Kevin.
Oh, you want me to expand on that? Well, before some of your fellow supporters splutter over their tea let's get the obvious caveat out of the way. Celtic may yet win the league which would keep them champions despite the calamity of the club's shortest ever managerial reign.
Let's assume for the purposes of argument, however, that either Hearts or Rangers win the title. The question would then be: how much damage was done to Celtic's title defence by Nancy's decision to rip things up and start again straight away rather than to try to manage gradual culture change? The answer to that is plenty.
I remember the Frenchman's first match in charge. Hearts were wobbling at the time, having only won one of their previous six matches by the time they pitched up to Glasgow's east end for their second match with Celtic. They had already dismantled Brendan Rodgers' side at Tynecastle at the end of October in what turned out to be the Northern Irishman's final match in charge.