Graham Spiers raging at ‘brain-dead’ Hearts reaction to Wilfried Nancy debut at Celtic
Wilfried Nancy’s first game in charge of Celtic did not go to plan following his official arrival from Columbus Crew.
Celtic chased Nancy‘s services for weeks after identifying him as their first-choice replacement for Brendan Rodgers.
Nancy officially became Celtic boss on 3 December, taking over from club legend Martin O’Neill, who had done a stellar job with seven wins from eight games as interim manager.
He took charge of his first game in the Parkhead dugout against league leaders Hearts on Sunday (7 December), getting off to a poor start with a 2-1 loss.
Nancy has been criticised already for his naivety and apparent unpreparedness for the role, but many fans and pundits have also rushed to defend him, considering how quickly he has to get used to being Celtic manager.
Spiers hits out at Ryan Stevenson’s ‘raging’ criticism of Nancy after Celtic loss
Former Hearts star Ryan Stevenson was critical of a number of aspects of Nancy’s first game as Celtic boss in his Daily Record column on 9 December following the two sides’ clash at Parkhead.
He said: “There’s a certain DNA to clubs like Celtic. So when a new manager arrives and starts pulling out tactics boards and green trainers you have to ask yourself, ‘What are we actually dealing with here?’
“I’m not even a Celtic fan but I’m absolutely raging about what I’ve seen from Nancy in his first day in the job.
“If he doesn’t learn quickly and stop making the same mistakes then I’m afraid this job is going to eat him up and spit him back out before he even knows it. The vibe I’m getting is that this simply is not going to work.”
They were certainly harsh words considering it was only his first game as Hoops manager, and Scottish football journalist Graham Spiers took to X to fire back at the hit-piece, saying: “Brain-dead stuff. The sheer dregs of attitude from 20/30 years ago. Borderline moronic.”
Nancy has been warned about his January business after Celtic arrival
Celtic’s strong form under O’Neill has pushed them back up the Premiership table to challenge Hearts, yet their loss to the league leaders brought them crashing back down to earth with Nancy now clear of the big task at hand.
Football Insider have revealed that Celtic want to back Nancy in January with numerous new signings to help them leapfrog the Jambos and win yet another league title.
Nancy has been warned ahead of next month by Keith Wyness though, with the ex-Aberdeen chief executive telling Football Insider that he must properly assess his squad and not rush into new signings before he fully gets to grips with Scottish football.
They are only three points behind Hearts, with a game in hand, but the baptism of fire continues for the Frenchman as they face Roma next up and then St Mirren in the Scottish Cup final on 14 December.