There will be ample time to assess adequately whether or not Wilfried Nancy can succeed as the manager of Celtic. In the meantime, it is worth pondering how on earth the club got into this pickle.
By the time Kieran Tierney cracked home a stoppage-time goal against Hearts, ordinarily the trigger for a cavalry charge by those in green and white, the stadium was all but empty. Hope had been abandoned by a supporter base who seem – rightly – to flick between mutiny and bewilderment.
Those watching at home caught a glimpse of Paul Tisdale, Celtic’s head of football operations, appearing to nod off during the second half. Had Tisdale paid attention, he would have witnessed Celtic’s latest failure to deal with a team who sat deep and displayed excellent defensive discipline. “We were in between playing through the middle or going wide,” Nancy said. This was accurate. His analysis of a “really good first half” was more questionable. Goodness knows what Nancy would regard as a cause for concern.
Tisdale was not in attendance as Nancy addressed the media on Friday, in what was the most underwhelming arrival of a Celtic manager in living memory. No other senior club official flanked the Frenchman, either. There was no opportunity to press the Celtic hierarchy on precisely why Brendan Rodgers resigned – immediately after their last defeat against Hearts – or why it felt wise to coax Nancy from Columbus Crew, who finished seventh in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer in the US. This process took more than a month.
Bojan Miovski scored twice as Rangers moved to within six points of the leaders with a 3-0 win at Kilmarnock. Danny Rohl’s side hit the front in the 33rd minute with a drive from the North Macedonia striker, who added his second nine minutes after the break with a fine finish from inside the box. The travelling fans celebrated further when the Spurs loanee Mikey Moore came off the bench to add a third in the 81st minute before having a second disallowed. The Kilmarnock manager, Stuart Kettlewell, was sent off by the referee, Kevin Clancy, in the 72nd minute as Rangers moved up to fourth.
A first-half Adil Aouchiche double helped Aberdeen beat Dundee 3-1 and extend their unbeaten run to six. Aouchiche got the opener on 16 minutes and then got his second soon after, putting his side in command at the break. Dundee pulled one back through Ryan Astley on 63 minutes but it was not enough as just before the end Kevin Nisbet got Aberdeen’s third to seal the win.
Hibernian got back to winning ways, ending Falkirk’s five-game unbeaten streak in a 3-0 victory. The Australian forward, Martin Boyle, scored the first after making no mistake from the penalty spot. Just before half-time, Hibernian’s lead was doubled through a Kieron Bowie finish from outside the box. Ethan Ross thought he had got Falkirk back in it, however, after a lengthy VAR review it was deemed to be offside, before Bowie got his second to wrap things up.
Motherwell also came out on top as 3-0 winners against the bottom side Livingston, extending their unbeaten run to eight league games. After a strong start, Motherwell went ahead in the 18th minute courtesy of a curling 20-yard strike from midfielder Elliot Watt. On the hour mark, that lead was doubled as Apostolos Stamatelopoulos converted from the spot and Emmanuel Longelo made it three with two minutes to go.
St Mirren got their first victory in eight league games in a 2-0 win against Dundee United at the SMISA stadium. A first of the season for Conor McMenamin put St Mirren in the lead after 16 minutes when he headed home at the far post. Keanu Baccus got St Mirren’s second with his first goal since returning to Saints to round things off. PA Media
Nancy may well be a terrific coach. He might be the man to rejuvenate Celtic. It is never wise for anybody associated with Scottish football to adopt a sniffy attitude towards incomers. It is just so difficult to fathom how Celtic, who jousted with the best in the Champions League last season, find themselves at this low ebb. Nancy is incomparable in respect of status and experience to Rodgers. The scale of necessary Celtic rebuild is huge. They are trusting a coach who has never managed anywhere remotely resembling this environment to oversee it.
Celtic’s showing against Hearts was abject, typified by misplaced passes and a lack of imagination within 30 yards of goal. Cláudio Braga and Oisin McEntee have been fine signings for Hearts. Yet here were players signed from the Norwegian second tier and on a free transfer from Walsall punishing a team who went toe‑to‑toe with Bayern Munich this year. Tomas Bent Magnusson, who excelled in the visiting midfield, was a £35,000 signing from Icelandic football.
Those in the stands continue to vent frustration towards Celtic’s directors. This is a club at odds with itself, a scenario not at all masked by the 73-year-old Martin O’Neill churning out some reasonable results between Rodgers exiting and Nancy arriving. There will be no cause for wild celebration, either, if Celtic win their League Cup final against St Mirren next weekend.
It would be unfair to disregard the significance of this result for Hearts. They arrived in Glasgow having not won in four matches and with scepticism surrounding their capability of challenging for the title. Hearts headed back along the M8 with their three-point lead at the top restored.
Derek McInnes, the Hearts manager, had predicted Nancy would immediately deploy the 3-4-3 formation he favoured in the US. It is worth noting Hearts have lost just one fixture over 90 minutes since April. “The players shouldn’t doubt themselves, shouldn’t doubt what we are,” McInnes said. This proved his latest tactical triumph.
Daizen Maeda should have put Celtic in front inside 10 minutes, but prodded wide. Hearts grew in belief during a scrappy first half, albeit the opening goal arrived in strange circumstance. Celtic’s defence stopped inexplicably in the incorrect belief that Braga was offside during the build-up. Hearts played on, the Portuguese striker latching on to Harry Milne’s mis-hit shot to turn the ball beyond Kasper Schmeichel.
Braga’s strike visibly boosted the Hearts mood. They started the second period in confident fashion, albeit without seriously troubling Schmeichel. The Denmark goalkeeper turned a Lawrence Shankland shot round a post, triggering a corner from which Milne found McEntee’s head. Schmeichel was duly beaten as Hearts reached an unassailable position.
Tierney lashed home with little over a minute of stoppage time left. Arne Engels had forced a terrific save from Alexander Schwolow and Reo Hatate hit the bar but it would be inaccurate to suggest that Celtic approached bombardment of the Hearts goal. “The season is long,” Nancy said; which may be just as well.
