CELTIC can say au revoir to any hopes of a fifth successive title unless drastic action is taken now.
Is there any possibility of a way back for Wilfried Nancy after suffering an embarrassing sixth defeat in only eight games as manager of the stricken champions after yesterday’s 3-1 home reverse against a bang-average Ibrox side?
It’s impossible to argue with the damning statistics as the thin ice creaks and groans under the Frenchman. It’s only a matter of time before it yields to the burden and gives way.
Twelve points have been discarded in six Premiership outings since the new man took his bow in a mystifyingly disorganised 2-1 loss to Hearts at Parkhead on December 7.
On that soaking Sunday afternoon in the east end of Glasgow, the Hoops had the opportunity to go three points clear of the Edinburgh club. Today, inside the space of a month, Celtic are six points adrift of Derek McInnes’ side.
FRENCH FARCE…Wilfried Nancy can’t bear to watch.
Throw into the mix a dismal 3-1 loss to St Mirren in the Premier Sports League Cup Final plus a 3-0 hiding at home to AS Roma in the Europa League and only the world’s greatest living optimist – or a complete fool – could find positivity amid the debris of unacceptable results.
I have never been a big fan of the knee-jerk reaction or an advocate of screaming for someone’s head at the first hint of adversity.
But I am finding it beyond my powers of comprehension to believe it is feasible to continue with Nancy in charge of Celtic.
The club are in freefall. A monumental error has been made, a spectacular act of misjudgement has manifested itself and I can see absolutely no worth in persevering with something that is clearly not working.
I am not being smart after the event, but I did say alarm bells were already ringing just one day after Nancy’s baptism at Parkhead and you can read that here.
The situation has now been allowed to develop into something way beyond my understanding. The former Columbus Crew head coach is not a good fit at Celtic. Surely, nobody can deny that?
He is asking for time. That’s a commodity that is not in superabundance around Parkhead. I cannot detect anything in Nancy’s CV to reinforce claims he has the quality to turn things around.
PAIN GAME…Wilfried Nancy after one of his eight games as Celtic manager.
If we had an anonymous straw poll among the Celtic players right now and asked them if they were happy at what they are being asked to do in Nancy’s system I wonder how many would answer in the affirmative. I reckon we would struggle for one.
That’s a hypothetical situation, of course. But the reality is there for all to witness on matchday. Celtic have conceded 18 goals in eight games under the new manager.
It took the same set of players 22 games to lose the same amount of goals before Nancy took over.
Puzzlingly, Celtic have scored only three goals in the second-half of matches with the Frenchman in charge.
What does that tell us? It might flag up questions concerning the stamina of the players. However, you can hit that notion on the head when you note that all three goals have come in the fading moments of encounters.
Kieran Tierney has claimed two of the strikes – one in stoppage-time in the loss to Hearts and another in the 88th minute in the 3-1 win over Aberdeen, the same fixture in which James Forrest netted in added-on time.
That being the case, you have to ask again why the paucity of goals after the interval from a team once famed for going all the way to the final whistle?
Could it be that rival managers are able to suss Nancy’s tactics in the first-half of games and alter their formation accordingly for the second period?
A bit like Danny Rohl yesterday. The Rangers boss saw his side dominated in the opening 45 minutes and fortunate only to be a goal adrift after being on the receiving end of a pummelling.
HEADING FOR THE EXIT…Wilfried Nancy after derby defeat.
He tweaked the formation during the interval and withdrew out-of-sorts striker Thelo Aasgaard and put on competitive midfielder Mo Diomande. It worked a treat.
Nancy was asked to think on his feet during that second-half. With the team trailing 2-1 by the 67th minute, he put on new Bhoy Julian Araujo, took off Luke McCowan and moved Yang Hyun-jun, the scorer of the goal, to the left wing after he had been having success on the right.
Four minutes later, the visitors notched a third and, for many of the departing home fans, that was game over. It’s a sad sight watching the stadium emptying with 20-odd minutes still to play.
There are no magic wands in football. It’s highly implausible Nancy can address the team’s spiral towards oblivion.
The possibility of celebrating the fourteen championship in 15 years is in danger of disappearing into a giant black hole.
Failure would also obliterate the opportunity of Celtic lifting a record 56th crown.
That’s as good a reason as any for someone to make what may be viewed as a brutal – but necessary – decision before it is too late.
ALEX GORDON
SHAMBOLIC CELTIC THROW IT AWAY
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