Wilfried Nancy named an unchanged starting lineup as Celtic fell to a dismal defeat to Roma. The players never really found their rhythm and paid a hefty price having gone 3-0 down in the first half. Pat Bonner has had his say on Nancy, the players and the system overall.
Many would’ve expected some tweaks to the team after Sunday’s home defeat to Hearts, but Nancy persisted with the same side and, ultimately, witnessed the same outcome.
The Frenchman did highlight that he wanted the team to have some familiarity given the quick turnaround in games and how little time he’d have to prepare.
The Hoops face a busy schedule, as is always the case at this time of year, with six games in the next 22 days; the small matter of a League Cup final coming up on Sunday.
Former goalkeeper Pat Bonner has given his thoughts on the squad under Nancy as he believes the players looked puzzled.
Speaking on BBC Sportsound after the Roma defeat, he said:
“I just think you’ve got to get a manager in and get him going. I’ve no issue with that but the big mistake is that he’s [Nancy] come in and he’s made all those changes and the players are totally confused.
“I’m looking at him and I’m saying, ‘where’s the rhythm?’ The one thing under Ange [Postecoglou], under Brendan Rodgers and even Martin O’Neill is they had a certain way of playing that suited them. This system at this moment in time doesn’t suit this group of players. It’s plain to be seen and that’s where I think the mistake has been made.”
“The other thing that has changed is he’s taken all of the backroom team apart, except for Gavin Strachan. He’s the only one still there. Now has he got an influence on the manager? I’m not 100% sure. It was Sunday they played against Hearts and you’re looking at it and you’re saying to yourself, well, okay, that’s a learning process for him.
“Then he goes with the same team again with the same system and it was wide open for that to fail! So for me, that’s the biggest mistake at this moment in time. He has to learn very, very quickly from this because these players cannot play that system. There’s far too many changes.”
You would imagine there will now be changes in personnel for the league cup final showdown with St Mirren. The question is, who comes in?
The players are still learning the new system, and Nancy is still learning about his players. Sunday’s opponents will pose similar physical traits to Hearts and will be thinking this Celtic side are well and truly there for the taking.
Unlike Roma, though, there can be no excuses for losing out on the first piece of silverware up for grabs this season.
Yes Nancy having a rough ride by our media hearts coild have win roma no spl team would have coped thats what our media and Celtic supporters dont relise we are in a league thats getting worse its clubs and tactics of coaching Celtic play the same team every week only a differnt strip brexit vote has killed our league with young football stars leaving before professional contract