Wilfried Nancy dismisses claim tactical change cost Celtic Premier Sports Cup

Wilfried Nancy dismissed suggestions his tactical transformation had cost Celtic the Premier Sports Cup after his disastrous start to life in Glasgow continued with a 3-1 defeat by St Mirren.

Nancy became the first Celtic manager to lose his opening two games on Thursday and there was worse to come at Hampden.

Celtic fell behind to Marcus Fraser’s header after 90 seconds before Reo Hatate levelled midway through the first half. But St Mirren were worthy winners through their second-half performance as Jonah Ayunga’s double took the trophy to Paisley.

Nancy took over a team that had won seven out of eight games under interim manager Martin O’Neill but opted to change Celtic’s long-standing 4-3-3 formation and start with three centre-backs, wing-backs, a box midfield and a lone striker.

Celtic have suffered three consecutive defeats for only the third time in 30 years.

When asked if his formation change had backfired, the former Columbus Crew head coach said: “Not at all because we had a really good performance in the first half against Hearts, second half against Roma, and first half today.

“I’m questioning everything. This is my job, to find solutions. But I don’t see it like that. The structure that we had was really interesting, we were able to go wide, we were able to go through the middle, and we were able to attack the box.”

Nancy felt the first half went to plan after the early goal but added: “When we started the second half, the first five minutes we didn’t control the ball, we started to play long balls.

“So that’s why I was a bit frustrated because I wanted them to keep doing what they did in the first half. After conceding the second goal, we did a kind of ping-pong game. We had the ball, we lost the ball. I want my players to have more belief in themselves.”

Nancy added: “I know that I came in and it was not easy for them to adapt to certain things. And they are really engaged.

“But now this is more about what I ask individually – recognise when we have time on the ball to attack the box. And instead of playing the long ball, can we play (short)? Instead of playing back, can we play forward?”

Nancy can understand the scepticism around him.

“You don’t know me, you’re going to think that I’m all over the place,” the 48-year-old said. “No, I know exactly what we need to do to help the players. We had many, many situations where we did exactly what I’m looking for.

“This is obviously not the result we wanted. But in terms of the way we want to do it, I’m really confident with that.

“But I have to also be humble. The reality is the last three games in terms of results, this is not enough.

“I can understand why the fans can doubt. I can see an evolution all the time, I can see something good, but this is not enough, we are not able to be consistent.

“So obviously, I understand the fans. Yes, I can ask them to believe in me but this is not my job to do that. I have to act instead of talking.”