Michael Gannon says the new Hoops boss is under severe pressure after a nightmare start but the problems run deep at Parkhead
There was a moment in pre-season that came to mind on Sunday afternoon at Hampden.
It might have been at the start seeing Anthony Ralston as an attacking left centre back. It could have been when Liam Scales was left winger, or when Daizen Maeda was playing as a No.10 playmaker.
But, while the wind and rain whipped around the National Stadium, thoughts went back to the heady summer days of July.
Celtic had just thumped Newcastle United 4-0 in pre-season and while there were grumbles about the delay in new signings coming in, there was still a sense everything would be all right on the night.
Brendan Rodgers was all smiles afterwards, as you’d expect after tonking an English big gun on home soil.
But when he walked out of his post-match press conference past a couple of journos in the stands he joked, ‘don’t go overboard boys, we still need bodies…’
He was half laughing as he said it, but this wasn’t the beginning of the end for this Celtic era. It was already well underway.
Rodgers is preparing for his next challenge as he gets set to take charge of ambitious Al-Qadsiah in the Saudi Pro League.
They are owned by Aramco, the national oil company, who might have a bob or two to throw around, so it’s unlikely he’ll be practically begging in public for his bosses to back his vision, with talk already of Mo Salah being lined up.
Rodgers has stuck oil – meanwhile his old club have had such a major spillage they’ll need to call in Greenpeace to help wipe down the penguins.
What a mess Celtic have got themselves in.
Back in June Dermot Desmond met Rodgers to talk about a new contract. Six months later he’s been chased out the door and Celtic have gone from a serial trophy winner to a rookie gaffer from the MLS who as lost his first three games in charge and looks so lost on the touchline he might need a gps tracker attached to his trainers.
In between times they also had a club legend at the helm – with nearly 1000 games to his name – who didn’t lose domestically, beat Feyenoord in Holland and was also allowed to saunter off into the sunset.
Individuals and companies can make mistakes. It’s about recognising them and rectifying them.
Celtic have got into the damaging habit of compounding them.
Wilfried Nancy is just in the door and he hasn’t even got his jacket off yet, let alone put it on a shoogly nail.
He can’t be held responsible for allowing this Hoops squad to go to pot and the woeful recruitment from the last few Paul Tisdale led windows.
But the Frenchman can’t escape criticism either. Celtic approached him the week Rodgers ran for the hills.
He had a month to assess this squad from afar, speak to people inside and around the building and realise Martin O’Neill didn’t want to play that certain way – he had to.
O’Neill knew this side wasn’t up to much so he tried to reduce the number of square pegs in round holes.
Nancy has decided to create even more round holes while trying to hammer triangles, pentagons and parallelograms into them.
It’s either naivety or arrogance – either way it was disastrous.
The new gaffer has every right to implement his own style – over time. But you have to recognise what is in the cupboard.
You might have a penchant for wearing high heels, but there’s no use trying to squeeze a pair of size 11 trotters in to size 4 strappy sandals.
You’d deck it for a start. Which is what’s happened here.
Nancy has gone full Graeme Murty handstand into a roly-poly and it’s hard to see how he can’t back on his feet.
The danger for the new man is not just that he’s already lost the faith of the supporters – it’s that he might have failed to gain it from his squad.
The confusion on the pitch in the last three games has been shocking. Roma’s Evan Ferguson said it was like some Celtic players didn’t know what they were doing and while the comment caused a minor stooshy, it was stating the bleeding obvious.
At times at Hampden on Sunday Celts looked like a works team. Sure, when they flooded forward they had extra bodies and with the right personnel signed it will cause teams problems.
But it’s also too easy to play against. Stephen Robinson is an expert at finding weakness – he picked apart Philip Clement’s Rangers last term – and he was rubbing his hands together on the touchline while Nancy was windmilling next to him.
The new gaffer does need time and desperately needs a window or two.
But he also has to quickly learn the environment. There is no trust the process in these parts. Nancy has Dundee United up next, Aberdeen and Motherwell on the horizon and Rangers coming up soon. If he doesn’t get to grips with it sharpish he’ll be exiting the window before it even opens.
Nancy has been dealt a snide hand, of course. Rodgers knew what was coming down the pipeline, as did O’Neill.
The current man in the dugout has been left holding the baby and its nappy needs changed.
But it’s going to take a heck of a lot more than a wet wipe to clean up this mess. Desmond infamously said there was nothing wrong with the club’s structure or model, but down to one man’s desire for self-preservation.
Yet that structure and model is now crumbling around them, with the board and executive at odds with the support and a squad in dire need of a rebuild under a boss who had no one from the club sitting beside him when he was unveiled and who already looks isolated.
Nancy will need backing from strong leadership above but green peace looks a long way off.
