CELTIC'S season continues in free-fall as Saturday's home league defeat to Rangers left manager Wilfried Nancy with just two wins from eight games since his appointment last month.
After being schooled at home to Roma in a 3-0 Europa League defeat, Celtic lost 3-1 to St Mirren in the League Cup Final.
However, yesterday's defeat — a fourth league loss in six under the former Columbus Crew manager — will hit hard, coming as it did at home against Celtic's fiercest rivals.
"I think my players deserved better for sure because regarding what they did first half and also the way that they started the second half but then details killed us today," said Nancy.
Game of two halves
Celtic were indeed rampant in the first half, arguably the best 45 minutes of Nancy's reign, but you only get what you deserve if you put the ball in the net.
Auston Trusty sent a header wide and Johnny Kenny fired a great chance straight at Jack Butland before Hyunjun Yang gave Celtic a deserved lead with a powerful finish after a great solo run.
Kenny then drew a low diving save from Butland before the keeper had to parry Yang's near post header away.
Butland also denied Luke McCowan before Youssef Chermiti had an injury-time effort ruled out for Rangers for offside.
Hyunjun Yang fires Celtic in front (Image: Ian MacNicol / Getty Images)However, all Celtic's good work was undone in a mediocre second half in which Celtic had no response to Rangers' pressure.
Just minutes after the break, Chermiti get in front of Trusty to turn home Nicolas Raskin's low, drilled ball across the goal line.
Chermiti then put Rangers ahead, winning possession from a Celtic throw-in near the halfway line and being allowed to race into the box unchallenged before stroking home despite Kasper Schmeichel getting a hand to his effort.
Daizen Maeda had a couple of chances for Celtic but saw one saved by Butland while he steered the other around the far post.
However, Rangers sealed the three points, Mikey Moore's drilled effort again coming after Celtic lost possession from their own throw-in.
Celtic stay second, however, Rangers are now level on points with the Hoops while Hearts' home victory over Livingston means they are six points clear at the top.
Worse than Barnes?
The shift in performance from the first half to the second was Jekyll and Hyde stuff but there is a worrying consistency when it comes to Celtic's results.
Nancy has now lost six of his eight games in charge and there are few who would argue they haven't gotten what they deserved.
His two wins were a late victory at home against a 10-man Aberdeen side that has failed to win any of their three subsequent league games and a 4-2 win away at bottom club Livingston.
Celtic conceded twice in the opening eight minutes of that latter match, which effectively has the atmosphere of a home game with the Hoops having three stands in the ground when they visit.
For comparison, John Barnes, arguably Celtic's worst manager, was sacked after losing eight games out of 29 in all competitions in the 1999/00 season — Nancy has already lost six in eight.
Barnes' sacking came after a 3-1 Scottish Cup third round defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle and having lost five of his 20 league games.
Nancy has also overseen a 3-1 domestic cup exit and already has four league defeats — just one fewer than did for Barnes but from 14 fewer games.
Barnes, for all his faults, never lost consecutive league games and only twice lost two games in a row, the second time being enough to precipitate his sacking.
Nancy began his reign with four defeats in a row in all competitions and has now lost his last two in charge, both in the league.
Maelstrom of the club's own making
Nancy does appear out of his depth but it's hard to blame an inexperienced yet ambitious manager for taking a job with a big European club when it is offered to him.
Questions then need to be asked of the higher-ups as to why a man who has only been a manager for less than five years and only in the MLS was handed such a high-profile, intense job.
All the more frustrating is that Celtic's current woes are born from a position of strength and are a maelstrom of the club's own making.
Nancy would perhaps have been given more time had Celtic been toiling before his arrival, just as Ange Postecoglou was given time to implement his ideas after taking over following a disastrous campaign under Neil Lennon that saw them finish 25 points behind Rangers.
However, Nancy inherited a side level on points at the top of the table with a game in hand following Martin O'Neill's successful interim reign.
Even during Brendan Rodgers' stuttering start to the season before O'Neill's cameo, Celtic only lost two of their nine league games.
Currently, they are 10th in the form table from the last six league games, above only Kilmarnock and Livingston.
Heading into this season, Celtic had won nine of the last 12 domestic trophies up for grabs in Scotland.
Last season's double-winners were also moments away from taking Bayern Munich to extra time in their playoff for a place in the last-16 of the Champions League.
However, rather than build on that, striker Adam Idah and key player Nicholas Kuhn were sold in the summer, with free agent Greg Taylor following them out the door.
According to Transfermarkt, around half of the reported €30m made in the summer was reinvested in the squad but only €1.5m signing Benjamin Nygren and free agent Kieran Tierney have shown any consistent return on investment.
Fans protest against the board after the Rangers defeat (Image: Craig Williamson / SNS Group via Getty Images)With Celtic spurning several chances yesterday, you also have to ask why a quality striker wasn't bought to replace Idah and indeed Kyogo Furuhashi, who departed a year ago.
The forwards signed in the summer comprise free agent Kelechi Iheanacho, who has spent more time out injured than on the pitch, youngster Callum Osmand, for whom Celtic paid a development fee before his long-term injury and Shin Yamada, who has yet to score in 10 appearances following a reported €1.75m move from the J-League.
Certainly, some of the fans appear to think the bulk of the blame lies at the board's door, with a couple of hundred angry supporters gathering outside the stadium after Saturday's loss.
Conversely, without the singing from the indefinitely banned Green Brigade to drown them out, Rangers fans could be heard chanting 'Keep the board', such is their delight with how things are being run at Celtic.
Nancy may be the surface of the current malaise but the rot appears to go a lot deeper.
The longer the current situation goes on, the more damage it will do to a crumbling relationship between the fans and those in charge.
Speaking after the game, Nancy said he understood the fans' frustration but said the first-half performance showed fans the way he wants his side to progress.
"We are really, really close to turning things around," he said after the game.
Yes, there were some positives but Nancy's refrain that he saw 'many, many good things' has once again come after another humbling defeat.
It's unclear how long Nancy will get to reverse Celtic's fortunes but if the board are determined to stick with their man and his methods, they surely need to back him to see his ideas come to fruition.
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