Luke McCowan on Wilfried Nancy’s ‘risk and reward’ system

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The Celtic Star

·29 de diciembre de 2025

Luke McCowan on Wilfried Nancy’s ‘risk and reward’ system

Luke McCowan has opened up about Wilfried Nancy’s ‘risk and reward’ system following Celtic’s 4-2 victory over Livingston in West Lothian at the weekend…

Luke McCowan of Celtic vies with Lewis Smith of Livingston Livingston v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, The Home of the Set Fare Arena, Livingston, 27 December 2025. Photo Bruce White IMAGO/Shutterstock

Uncertainty continues to surround Celtic as their attacking quality once again came hand-in-hand with worrying vulnerability at the back, a recurring theme during the early weeks of Nancy’s tenure.

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The Scottish champions were rocked early on as Livingston twice went in front within the first ten minutes through a brace from Cristian Montano, forcing Celtic into an immediate test to recover control of the contest.

Goals from Benjamin Nygren, Yang Hyun-Jun and a penalty converted by Arne Engels eventually swung the match in the Hoops’ favour, but not before the hosts had exposed familiar defensive faults.

Luke McCowan of Celtic having a shot at goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Livingston and Celtic at Set Fare Arena on December 27, 2025. (Photo by WM Sport Media/Getty Images)

McCowan made little attempt to sugar-coat the performance afterwards, acknowledging that the result masked issues that continue to undermine the side.

Rather than deflecting attention onto the comeback itself, McCowan conceded there were lessons still to be learned, accepting that Celtic’s margin for error remains uncomfortably thin despite their chance creation at the top end of the pitch.

Speaking via Daily Record, the Celtic midfielder said: “It was a game between two teams who were pretty open, if I’m being honest. That wasn’t the start of the game that we wanted. We want to try to dominate as much as we can, and we didn’t do that.”

“However, it shows the spirit of the players that we fought back. We have the quality in the team. Benji showed that throughout the game, but we have that all over the pitch. We need to believe in that more. We were just happy that we were able to start the second half on top and manage to maintain it.”

Arne Engels consoles Luke McCowan. Dundee Utd v Celtic, Scottish Premiership. Tannadice, 17 December 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“Playing at Celtic is always a risk and reward. We play like no other team in the league. We invite teams on and play a passing game. The percentages are higher on our side than they are on other teams.”

McCowan added: “That’s the risk and reward of it. If we lose the ball in areas of the pitch, the other team can be in our final third. We know that’s the style, but it’s about being solid when we have the ball offensively and make sure teams can’t counter.”

“We aren’t really doing anything different. We just need to make sure that any ideas he [Nancy] has, the players are working so hard to get them across on the pitch. That’s the kind of message we have as players. You need to have that belief, regardless of what the score is. We’ve shown that in previous games and at previous times.”

“We need to have that belief and be calm,” McCowan continued. “Even if there is noise outside, we need to stay focused on ourselves.”

Luke McCowan of Celtic and Simon Murray of Dundee, Celtic v Dundee, Scottish Premiership, Celtic Park, 03 Dec 2025 Photo Mark Runnacles IMAGO Shutterstock

“We managed to do that and win the game by the end of the first half, almost, and then keep on top of that. “That’s what we need to keep doing.”

Conor Spence

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