Wilfried Nancy rant: Celtic boss demands patience in extraordinary seven-minute speech ahead of Old Firm
Wilfried Nancy is under pressure at Celtic after losing five of his seven games in charge; Celtic manager launched passionate defence of his tenure ahead of Old Firm; watch Celtic vs Rangers on Saturday live on Sky Sports Main Event from 11.30am, kick-off 12.30pm
Friday 2 January 2026 16:10, UK
Wilfried Nancy has demanded he be given more time to make his mark at Celtic after an extraordinary seven-minute rant.
Nancy has won two of his seven matches in charge, losing the other five, with Celtic sitting second in the Scottish Premiership ahead of hosting rivals Rangers on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
Celtic confirmed their first January signing in Julian Araujo on loan from Bournemouth on Friday, and when Nancy was asked if he felt the club's board would support him to create the team he wants, the manager embarked on a passionate defence of his tenure so far.
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In full: Nancy's extraordinary rant
Nancy said: "Yes, step by step. I know that you do your job, I know that your job is to attack me, or to ask me a lot of questions. No problem with that. But this is only the beginning.
"Usually, we have four or five weeks of pre-season. I didn't have pre-season. I know why. I came, two days after I have a game. And the game that we should have won, by the way.
"So now, the reality is, before I came, I knew that if I don't win games, I'm going to be in trouble. Because this is part of the job.
"But I'm pleased to be here. I know where we are now. I'm not an underdog. I want my team to compete against any team. But with the context, I knew that this kind of situation happened. So now, as you know, I need time.
"I know that I don't have time, because this is the way it is in my job. But with the small amount of time that I had, I saw things that we did better when I had a team for four weeks in pre-season. So, yes, I want to ask you, give me time, and you see my team.
"You're going to see what I'm going to do. Because you can see already what I did before, because I didn't start yesterday. So, if you do your job, you're going to be able to see what I did in the past, the way I play, what I want to do, the way I want to defend, the way I want to attack.
"Obviously, people are not happy, fans and people, and me too, I'm not happy because I see only a few glimpses of what I do. But I'm pleased with that, because this is only after 12 or 13 sessions. This is the context.
"Like tomorrow, the context is a big game. But me, my context is, I have only 13 practices with my team. And usually, we have four weeks of pre-season.
"So, it's totally normal that you guys kill me. I'm fine with that. I'm totally fine with that. Because I know where I want to go. Judge me in a few weeks, month. But if you want to judge me now, you can do it.
"Because it's a fact that we didn't have the results that we wanted. It's a fact. I cannot deny that.
"But do your job before, and I know that you do it. Have a look at the way I am as a coach, the way I am as a manager, and what I want to bring to the team, and you will see that we are not there yet. New players, a bit of time.
"A few players have been here for five, six, seven years. They were doing certain things in a certain way. No kidding that it takes time.
"Guys, seriously. Seriously. I'm going to be a liar if I say, yeah, everything is happy, everything is good. No. It's not the case. But I knew that before. Because this is part of my job. So that's why I'm calm regarding all the questions that you ask me.
"I'm not pleased to hear that people don't like me and so on. What am I going to say? They have the right to say it because in terms of results, this is not what we want. But if you do your job, you can see what I do.
"And if you are a bit patient, I know that we cannot be patient in this job, but you're going to be able to see what I can do. For the moment, this is a tornado. I knew that. If it's easy to handle that, no. But I'm ready for that.
"So this is my message for everyone. Fans, you guys, all the people. This is the reality. And we knew that before with the board when I came.
"It's totally normal that my players need a bit of time. It's totally normal that my players could be confused at certain moments because it's a process.
"I don't like the word process because sometimes people think that I'm going to hide behind process. But it's true. Judge me. No problem. But have a look. Analyse all the games that we played. And analyse if we should have won the game or lost the game. Do it. Because this is your job. Do it.
"I don't like to make assumptions. I am a clear guy. For the moment, I cannot talk. I shut my mouth because the results are not good enough. I shut my mouth. And I take it. But I know where we are going.
"After that, if it's going to work or not, I don't know. But I know that we're going to do everything to do it. I'm here for that. And after that, yes, I want to win every game. Yes, I want to bring the title to Celtic. Yes, I want to create memories. I want to create a legacy here. Yes, I'm going to die for this club. For sure.
"But, context, and I suffer with that. Not with the criticism because this is part of my job. I suffer that I know that if he gets in this position, we're going to be able to outplay the opposition. But for the moment, it's not really to do it. For the moment, we play only with a back three offensively.
"But if you do your job, you're going to see that I'm not a back-three guy. I attack in different ways. But my players need time to understand what I want to do.
"This is my message. And after that, we'll see. But my job is... This is not normal, but expect the expected. You don't win, you get killed. You win, okay.
"People have the right to be not happy. So I understand that. In all the clubs that I went to, the connection with the fans was spoiled. Now I came in the middle of the season, they were winning, we lose. So I need time. And I understand the context.
"I understand that Celtic is Celtic. I understand that the culture here could be different and so on. I understand everything. But I don't like to promise things. I could have been the guy saying, I'm going to promise that we're going to get results. Come on. Come on.
"What I'm going to promise you is that I'm going to do everything to get back on track and to be consistent. Not go back on track because we've been on track because the season is like that. But again, I'm not a big guy and I realise why I am, because if I'm not mistaken, we are only second.
"We are able to control many things because the season is long. But because we lost a few games, it's like we are last. So I understand the context.
"I want to please my players, to please the club, to please the fans because this is why I do this job. But for the moment, yes. I understand the narrative. I'm not saying that I accept it but this is not a debate."
Do you think some of the criticism is unfair, then?
"No, I'm not here to talk about being unfair or fair. People can say, you are different from the guy next to you. You are different from the guy next to you. Maybe you're going to say something different. You don't have the same perspective. I don't know. I'm not here to judge or to say anything about that. It's a fact."
How long should fans expect to wait?
"I didn't say that second [place] was good. I didn't say that. Understand me well. I know that I am a French guy, but I never said that. I just gave the context of where we are now. So after that, you asked me about time. I'm not saying I'm trying to buy time. I cannot buy time in my job. The only moment to buy time is when we win games. I know that.
"I have to win games and we have to win games to buy time. This is the job. So that's why I don't have an answer for you. What I know is that every day we train. Every day we try to be better. Every time we try to improve. This is something that I can quantify.
"But after that, the time is subjective. The time is to win games. So that's why I cannot answer your question."
