Warning signs there from day onepublished at 17:49 GMT 5 January
17:49 GMT 5 January
Kheredine Idessane
BBC Sport Scotland
The signs were there right from the first team-sheet that things could go spectacularly wrong for Wilfried Nancy.
I remember scratching my head at his decision to field just three defenders for the visit of league-leaders Hearts.
Not just three defenders, either. An back three comprised entirely of left-footed players, one of whom – Kieran Tierney – is a more natural wing-back.
As for the wing-backs that day? Two forwards whose defensive attributes are not their best qualities: Yang Hyun-Yun and Sebastian Tounekti.
All subsequent selections looked a variation on a theme: players not deployed in their natural, favoured positions in a system the side didn’t look like it fully understood.
Celtic were unable to stop conceding goals, which came as no great surprise given the roles players were being asked to fulfil. Luke McCowan as a wing-back. Anthony Ralston as a centre-back.
Wilfried Nancy was apparently not one for round pegs in round holes and it has cost him his job in just over a month.
In fairness to the Frenchman, not having a reliable striker also doomed his system to failure. The amount of glaring chances created but missed was another feature of his short spell in charge.