'This is more about what we need to improve. And the season is so long,' Wilfried Nancy

Originally posted on The Celtic Star | By David Faulds | Last updated Dec 8, 2025 7:01 AM ET

It was certainly not the start that the new Celtic manager was hoping for but he started the way he means to go on and will have no regrets about imposing his own tactics from the very start of his time at Celtic, despite having just a few training sessions with his new group of players…

Firstly the new Celtic manager spoke to Celtic TV. Let’s look at that video before covering the post match media conference…

Q: Not the start you were looking for, Wilfried, can you sum up the day?

Wilfried Nancy: “Listen, I think that we had a really good first half, and we unbalanced them many times. But after that, the final pass or the execution, we rushed a bit. But I think that we saw really good things in terms of playing with rhythm, to be able to combine, how to unbalance also the man-to-man, and how also to unbalance a team with a lot of players behind the line. So I think that we had really good things regarding that.

“Obviously, we conceded the goal in the first half. I think that we could have done better to step up the line a little bit more, I think. After that, the second half, we kept going to attack. And when we conceded the second goal, we started to put in cross and cross and cross. And I think that we needed to combine a little bit more to attack the box with numbers. Because they are really good defensively with big guys, tall guys. So I think that we needed to play quick, but we needed also to have more runs, more numbers between the line and also inside the box.

“But again, the spirit has been really strong and I’m really pleased with the mindset of the guys. It’s not easy for them to adjust regarding what I wanted, but I saw many, many good things. So the idea is to re-watch the game, show them what we did well and what we need to improve.”

Q: One of the things perhaps you do need to improve is to carve out more clear-cut chances, which didn’t happen today?

Wilfried Nancy: “Exactly. And we know that most of the teams are going to do that, to defend inside the box and so on. So again, how can we balance the scoreboard, knowing that we need to come back. But also how we can be more precise at certain moments to have more numbers, but also to have the tap-in that we want. And I think that we had the possibility to do it in the first half. And in the second half, it was more crosses in the air and I think that we can adjust with that.”