Hard to defend the indefensible. Wilfried Nancy is a busted flush

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The Celtic Star

·31 December 2025

Hard to defend the indefensible. Wilfried Nancy is a busted flush

Well all I can say after that debacle was that I tried to keep the faith, I tried my best to remain upbeat and I tried to highlight the few positives we have seen under Wilfried Nancy…

Despondent Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy . Motherwell v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. 30 December 2025 Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Unfortunately I’ve got to the point where I’m finding it hard to defend the indefensible. Wilfried Nancy is a busted flush. It would take a monumental swing in fortune to recover from this in the eyes of the Celtic fans. Lose on Saturday and he’s done. That’s a fact, there can be no doubting it. If Nancy loses against a bang average theRangers side then he will never recover.

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Motherwell played Celtic off the park

That was an absolute horror show last night. Motherwell played us off the park. They played the type of system that Wilfried Nancy aspires to play. Our players cost serious money. They are paid handsomely. Tonight they looked like a Celtic reserve team and that’s being kind. International players who looked like they would struggle to get a game with their local Sunday league team. It felt like we were playing a top European team not Motherwell.

Celtic despair. Motherwell v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. 30 December 2025 Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Fair play to Motherwell by the way who have improved massively under their new manager but for Celtic to get dominated in such fashion is nothing short of an embarrassment.

That performance was genuinely up there with one of the worst I’ve ever had the displeasure of witnessing. From the start it felt almost like we were playing with a few men short. We were constantly caught short of numbers at the back when Motherwell attacked. We also had no one up front when we moved forward. It was hard to work out where our players actually were. International players, men who have won multiple trophies at Celtic, could hardly string two passes together.

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Despondent Celts. Motherwell v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. 30 December 2025 Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Wilfried Nancy has lost the vast majority of Celtic fans for good

Kenny was dropped after a few abject displays and we were all happy to see Maeda lead the line again when the team was announced. The Japanese star was absolutely anonymous and was hooked at half time to be replaced by countryman Shin Yamada who had 45 minutes to impress. He was hopeless. Our current strike force is a perfect example of how badly things have regressed within our club this past year.

After that Wilfried Nancy has lost the vast majority of Celtic fans for good. Lose on Saturday and not even the most optimistic of Celtic fans will be able to back him. I have said in previous articles that he won’t change his style. This will ultimately be his downfall. I brought up the example of Ruben Amorim in my last article who finally changed his system due to multiple absentees and grinded out a win against Newcastle a few days ago.

Celtic despair. Motherwell v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. 30 December 2025 Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

If Nancy wants to save his skin he might be best to try the same. We currently don’t have the players to play his system. They are clearly struggling to adapt. Let them go out and play something they a familiar with if you want to win on Saturday.

The ‘World Class’ Celtic Board hate to admit they got it wrong

I don’t believe he will change however. I’ve stated this before. The question will be what will the board do if we lose on Saturday? If that happens the fans will turn on Nancy. So what then? Will it be like the Covid season? A campaign where the fans knew Lennon’s time was up months before the board finally admitted it? They hate to admit they got it wrong.

Celtic despair. Motherwell v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. 30 December 2025 Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

So in my mind how this season turns out will come down to one thing. Whether the board have the guts and the humility to admit their mistake and try to rectify it or whatever they will do what they did with Lennon. Dig their heels in and refuse to bow to fan pressure.

Act now and the season is salvageable

With the way the last few weeks have gone it’s almost unbelievable to think that we are still well in charge of our own destiny in terms of the title race. We have been abysmal lately but both Hearts and theRangers have had their struggles too. The title race is still wide open. Act now and the season is salvageable. Procrastinate and we can kiss goodbye to being champions of Scotland. It’s up to the board and their fate, as well as the fate of this Celtic team, rests upon that decision.

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Celtic despair. Motherwell v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. 30 December 2025 Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

There is one upside in the board refusing to act and this season going up in smoke. It will make their position absolutely untenable. They will be forced out with their heads hung in shame. I know there are many in our support who would happily sacrifice this season for that outcome but personally I would rather Celtic win the league, whether it saves these charlatans their jobs or not. They need to go, but I don’t want to see Celtic implode for it to happen.

A game of absolute monumental proportions

So Saturday now becomes a game of absolute monumental proportions. It’s season defining. Nancy is in the last chance saloon. So are a lot of the players. A win could propel us to potential glory. A loss will almost certainly see us implode. I can’t remember a game which holds so much significance.

Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay, Motherwell v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. 30 December 2025 Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

I wish I was looking forward to it.

Conall McGinty

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