Celtic are already embracing new style, says Nancy

Wilfried Nancy remained upbeat about his start to life as Celtic boss, suggesting that his new team are already embracing his tactical tweaks in the early stages of his tenure. 

Nancy was announced as Brendan Rodgers' successor earlier this month and took charge of his first game on Sunday, which ended in a 2-1 league defeat at home to Hearts. 

Now, the former Columbus Crew boss will take to the European stage, with Celtic welcoming Serie A giants Roma to Glasgow in their Europa League clash this Thursday. 

Although this is Celtic's 33rd major European meeting with Italian teams, it's their first ever against Roma, who are managed by Gian Piero Gasperini. 

They have won two of their last 16 against Italian opponents (D4 L10), both against Lazio in the 2019-20 Europa League, and Nancy will be hoping to add to that tally here. 

The Celtic boss insisted there were positive signs from their loss to Hearts, having registered an expected goals (xG) total of 1.86 from 15 shots to their opponents' 0.5 from their eight attempts, with Nancy particularly impressed by his team's application in training. 

"At the weekend, we had good moments with and without the ball, but after that, we could have been better," Nancy told reporters. 

"But I'm pleased, not with the result but with how we played, with the way each player wanted to connect. It was interesting for our first game.

"As a coach, my job is to find solutions and after that it’s to prioritise. Obviously, I cannot show everything since I've come here, but the idea is to prioritise.

"I'm pretty pleased with what I've seen so far. The training session that we had this morning. This is a session I have done with my previous teams.

"It was the first time that I've done it here and the quality was spot on. For me, this is a sign that my players are able to embrace what we want to do."

Another topic Nancy was keen to cover was surrounding the use of his tactics board during their defeat to Hearts, a result that left them three points adrift of the Scottish Premiership summit after 15 games of their campaign. 

Nancy was pictured showing his players his instructions mid-game and the image has been scrutinised online, something the Celtic boss was keen to ignore. 

“When I had the opportunity to become a coach, I was an assistant coach for seven years, so I worked with many coaches," Nancy added. 

"So I always told myself that when you become a coach, cut everything. So that is what I did.

"So, on Twitter, I cut everything, regarding my name, regarding the club, regarding what people say, because they have the right to say something.

"This is part of the job. That's why we study for that. And after that, I'm not here to comment on everything.

"We can go to a restaurant together and maybe you're going to say that you like the food and I'm going to say, I don't like it. You know what I mean?

"So, at the end of the day, this is part of the job, and me, I control what I can control, to be good with my players, with my club, with the people that I work with.

"And to maximise our chance to win games by having a good performance.

"I'm going to dress one way, maybe they are going to say that they don't like the way I dress, so I don't waste time on that.

"If I use it [the tactics board], it's because it's good for me. Simple as that and I'm not saying that I'm going to use it all the time."

Celtic are 21st in the 36-team Europa League standings with seven points from their first five games, and know a win against Roma will boost their hopes of a play-off finish.