Wilfried Nancy Media Conference ahead of Celtic trip to Tannadice

Q: You said that you knew there could be adversity when you came in. Did you envisage that it could be this tough?

Wilfried Nancy: “Yes, because I am a pragmatic guy. My background has been like that in terms of facing adversity. Also, I’ve learned to be confident but also humble. That’s why I knew that this possibility could happen. Again, I’m not the first guy. It happens to many coaches and so on, and also the best coach. This is part of the job. That’s why we study for that. That’s why I try to detach myself from that. Yes, that’s it.”

Q: You talked after the game on Sunday about some self-doubt that your players have. Have you spoken to them about that and what needs to change to give them less self-doubt?

Wilfried Nancy: “Self-doubt for me is normal as a human being when you want to succeed. If you don’t have self-doubt, it’s because you are not true to yourself. So, after that, the idea is to compete with the self-doubt. For me, this is the message that I had with them because I know that they can do really well. The first half was really interesting. I think that we should have scored more goals. After that, the second half was not bad, but we didn’t execute the same way we did in the first half because of us. I think that we could have done something better. At the same time, I understand them. New coach, new way of doing things, new staff. Not a lot of time. But again, I’m really, really positive because they understand the situation. Obviously, we’re not happy to lose games. But again, the most important thing is to work every day and to be better.”

Q: You said that you don’t have anything to prove to anybody. Some might suggest after three straight defeats, you do have stuff to prove. Why do you feel you don’t have anything to prove?

Wilfried Nancy: “Understand me well. As a coach, your job is to win games. So, I know that. So, myself already, the pressure that I put on myself to help my players to be good, nobody else can put more pressure on me. Now, the fans, the people, you guys, media, I don’t have results. So, this is normal that you’re going to doubt on me. But this, I can’t do anything because I try to do my best and after that, it’s about time.

“So, what I say, I don’t have to prove anything to anybody is because the only thing that I have to prove is to be good with my players on the pitch, to help them to have good performance and to win games. This is the most important. And after that, if we’re able to do that, naturally, the doubt that people have on me, it’s going to be different. But this, I cannot do anything with that. And obviously, I will not tell you that I’m happy for that. I am a human being. So, obviously, I would like that everything goes well. I would like that everybody likes me. I would like that.

“But this, I cannot control it. So, the most important, like I told my players, yes, we want to win games, but give your best. And by giving your best, you’re going to be able to maybe to maximise your chance to win. This is something that applies for me too. So, that’s why. I understand your question. I’m not saying that I don’t care what people say. I’m saying that I need to be good with myself first and to be coherent with my players. And after that, we’ll see.”

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