Chris Sutton sympathises with Nancy after defeat while slamming two stars that aren't 'good enough' for Celtic
The new Celtic boss is the first manager to lose four games on the trot since 1978.
Chris Sutton said he sympathises with Wilfried Nancy as the pressure builds on the new Hoops boss just a fortnight into his tenure.
Celtic’s 2-1 defeat to Dundee United at Tannadice was their fourth loss on the spin, however, unlike their last few matches, they actually showed signs of attacking promise in Tayside. The whole first half The Hoops were on the front foot and after Daizen Maeda opened the scoring everything looked to be going swimmingly, but some missed chances from Johnny Kenny proved costly as the hosts regained the lead in the second 45 through Krisztian Keresztes and Zac Sapsford.
As Celtic piled on the pressure for a late equaliser, substitute Shin Yamada and Maeda himself both missed glorious opportunities to escape the City of Discovery with a point. But in the end it was to no avail, as chants begun in the away end calling for Nancy to be sacked already. Former Hoops striker Sutton believes the Frenchman has been thrust into a difficult environment and has a degree of sympathy towards him in his new role. He also pinpointed two Celtic attackers he deems not ‘good enough’ to be at the club.
‘I really sympathise with him’
Following the match, the Sky Sports pundit said: “He [Nancy} needs to win games and perform well. I mean, Wilfried Nancy said it was a good performance. It was in the first half, but there are two halves to the game, Wilfried. And Celtic weren't good enough in the second half.
“I've got massive sympathy for him. Unfortunately, Celtic aren't in pre-season, and if Wilfred Nancy had a whole pre-season you could maybe see things panning out and the club moving in the right direction. But he hasn't got that. So it's going to be incredibly difficult for him to really get this side going.
“I mean, what's happened since Martyn O'Neill has left? The confidence levels of certain players has dropped. (Reo) Hatate looked like he was coming on to a game under Martin O'Neill. So did (Arne) Engels. But the bottom line was Celtic have some bang average players. They have second-rate strikers, and that's the issue. They've missed unbelievable chances tonight.”
Kenny and Yamada not ‘good enough’
He continued: “I have sympathy for him because I think he has qualities as a coach and you can see some of the rotations and his ideas. But I agree with what you guys said about it being dangerous playing one centre half. I mean, if you're playing against Celtic, you think corners, throw-ins, get balls into the box, bully Celtic. You can do that.
“But people can't tell me that Johnny Kenny is good enough to lead the line for Celtic. He is not. Shin Yamada isn't good enough to lead the line for Celtic. He is not. That's an issue. Even Yang [Hyun-jun] has become a key component. I mean, Celtic were trying to flog Yang for three million pounds in the summer! That's where the major fault lies.”