Wilfried Nancy wants more 'nuanced' displays from Celtic as results improve

Celtic face Motherwell on Tuesday

STE-BY-STEP: Celtic won their second game under Wilfried Nancy with a 4-2 victory over Livingston. Pic: Steve Welsh/PA Wire.

Celtic manager Wilfried Nancy claims it is just “nuances” that will stop his team’s games being “chaotic”.

Nancy secured a second win in charge as Celtic beat Livingston 4-2 on Saturday but the Scottish Premiership bottom club took the lead twice in the opening eight minutes.

Celtic have now conceded 13 goals in six games under Nancy, the first four of them defeats, and the Frenchman admitted they contributed to a “chaotic” second half by not managing possession better.

After the frantic first 10 minutes, when Benjamin Nygren and Yang Hyun-jun both equalised for the champions, Celtic had a decent level of control for the middle period of the first half. The Swede put Celtic ahead just after the half-hour mark and Arne Engels netted a disputed penalty.

But Livi put Celtic under pressure from set-pieces just before the break and caused problems for long spells in the second half as well.

Livi, now without a win in 17 games, recorded 13 shots at goal and 26 touches in the Celtic box. They had only managed four shots and 10 touches in the St Mirren box in their previous match.

Nancy, whose side travel to Motherwell on Tuesday, said: “It’s only been two weeks that we are together, but I think that step by step they understand what I want. And they do it on the pitch, and they enjoy it.

“So now this is more about, do we play fast to attack the box? Or do we keep the ball? This is all this kind of nuance that I think that we could be better. How we can get more close together, how we can play the diagonal pass at the right moment. How we can get more connection between the players.

“This is something that we did well at certain moments but something that we can do better for the future.

“But also sometimes, it’s not about tactics. It’s about fight. And this is something that I like to see.” 

Livingston manager David Martindale took encouragement from his side’s attacking play but their predicament intensified. They fell four points behind 11th-placed Kilmarnock and seven adrift of Dundee.

“I’m saying the same thing most games now,” said Martindale, whose team host Dundee United on Tuesday. “I think there’s a lot of positives within the game. But the main problems are the goals against column and the points on the table. So when do I stop saying that?

“But was I pretty happy with a lot of the performance? Yeah, I was, I’ll be honest.

“Am I disappointed with the manner of goals we lost? Yes, I am. But I thought the boys tried to build the game and they did build the game. They created chances and I felt their press was much, much better in the second half than the first.”