Wilfried Nancy will be his own man, he’ll have his own ideas about how he’ll want to play but there’s one thing he should knowWilfried Nancy during his first press conference as Celtic

Wilfried Nancy is finally in the building – and he’s already made one great decision already.

The Frenchman revealed he’s spoken to Martin O’Neill and that is a decent first step for me.

I said in these pages last week it would be foolish to not speak to the outgoing interim manager.

Instead he’s opted for the smart move.

Nancy will be his own man, he’ll have his own ideas about how he’ll want to play. This move has been a month in the making so he’ll also have had the chance to analyse everything about the squad, what it can and can’t do.

But there’s still nothing that can prepare you for life in Glasgow. I thought I had a good knowledge of British football when I arrived in this city.

Yet I couldn’t believe just how crazy it was.

That’s what is awaiting Nancy but there’s no better way to get a feel for his new surroundings than to talk to the man who’s been in there for the last five or six weeks.

And, knowing Martin, there won’t have been any sugar coating either.

You don’t need to have been a fly on the wall to guess what the outgoing boss told the incoming one – win no matter what.

That’s been O’Neill’s mantra throughout and it’s the one thing Nancy will need to do as well – despite some of his claims yesterday.

And it’s not going to be easy. In fact, in some ways it’s an impossible task.

This is a Celtic squad that was already lacking after the summer but it’s not being stretched to the limit.

Martin has had to rely on a core group to get the job done in recent weeks but it’s already taking its toll.

He’s discovered who he can and can’t trust and it will be over to the new man to do the same.

Martin O’Neill

I was delighted O’Neill got the send off he deserved and walked away with his standing among supporters actually enhanced,

But in some way he has actually inadvertently cranked up the pressure on his successor by being so successful.

Nancy is stepping in ahead of a huge week and a brutal run of fixtures. He’s got seven games until the big derby at New Year – and it’s going to be about just getting by.

He’s not going to be a coach in this first month in the job – he needs to be a manager.

There’s not going to be a week on the training ground until into January so there is no way he can implement all his own ideas.

It’ll have to be a gradual process. And it might not be straight forward.

Celtic WILL drop points over the next few weeks. But that would be the case no matter who was in charge.

It’s a tough enough period when you’ve build up a head of steam from the summer.

Even more so now for a Celtic side that’s struggling badly with injuries and gaps in the squad.

O’Neill recognised it as well. The results were brilliant under his short reign, but the performances were secondary.

It took a large goal at St Mirren, a Kasper Schmeichel save at Hibs, even at the end against Dundee it got a bit nervy.

It’s not been perfect but winning was the be all and end all.

The same applies to Nancy. There will be a huge contradiction at play here.

He’ll have to hit the ground running to win over the support but at the same time he’ll need time and patience.

Those are commodities in short supply in these parts but there has to be a realisation about how difficult a task he has in hand.

Nancy might be seen as a coaching whiz – but he’s not Harry Potter.

He can’t wave a wand and fill those gaping holes in the side.

It’s a real baptism of fire and it will be interesting to see what he does with the spaces he has in the coaching department as well.

Nancy has brought over some of his own men – which is a positive for me – but there is some room to add a couple more.

There’s been talk about keeping the likes of Shaun Maloney and Mark Fotheringham around, and that might not be a bad idea. Especially in the short term.

(Image: SNS Group)

By all accounts the pair of them have made a real positive impact on the squad with Martin at the helm, and it could help the new team adapt to life in Scottish football.

Those guys have a knowledge of the game in this country and now have a handle on the players.

I’m sure Nancy will have his own ideas and he might want to go in a different direction, it’ll be entirely up to him.

It’s a good option to have though if they are willing to stick around. At the same time, Maloney and Fotheringham have both been managers in their own right, they might fancy different challenges and some managers coming might not be comfortable with that situation over their shoulders.

It remains to be seen, but in the meantime Nancy will need to try to soldier on until January and hope the recruitment department are doing plenty of work in the background to bring in reinforcements.

He also has to get through this first week – and I don’t envy him.

There is every chance Celtic could drop points to Hearts but it wouldn’t be on Nancy.

It might be in the eyes of the fans but that would be unfair. Roma is a different animal but the League Cup Final is a massive one.

St Mirren have been awkward for Celtic at times but it’s not one Nancy can afford to lose.

He’ll need to forget any ideas of playing fancy football right now. Ask Celtic fans if they’d take three scrappy 1-0 wins over the next seven days.

Because it goes back to O’Neill’s main words of advice – just win.