Whereas Wilfried Nancy at first would have been expecting to take charge of a Celtic team needing refreshed after Brendan Rodgers’ departure, the Frenchman’s mindset will now need to turn to carrying on the good work of interim manager Martin O’Neill in the five weeks since.
It was a 3-1 defeat by Sunday’s opponents, as Hearts enjoyed a sixth straight victory and inflicted a third loss in five for Celtic, that proved to be the final straw for Rodgers.
However, since his resignation the following day and the arrival of fellow Northern Irishman O’Neill as interim boss, there has been a steady change in fortunes.
The eight-point lead Hearts established that day to inspire hopes of a genuine title challenge from Edinburgh has been surrendered – and they risk ending the weekend three points behind champions who would also still have a game in hand.
O’Neill hands over a team who have lost once, away to Midtjylland in the Europa League, in eight outings since that ill-fated trip to the capital, winning their latest five.
Derek McInnes’ leaders, meanwhile, have since then won only once in six.
In Hearts’ defence, it should be pointed out that they have also only lost one of those.
However, a failure to score in their latest two away games shows where their recent problems lie as they head to Celtic Park, where they have also not found the net in three straight defeats since their last win there, by 2-0 in December 2023.
Five consecutive home wins since losing to Braga in the Europa League should give Nancy confidence that he can get his reign off to a table-topping high.
However, will he do so by continuing with O’Neill’s winning formula, or immediately adopt the 3-4-3 formation he favoured leading Columbus Crew to top three places in the Major League Soccer standings in 2023 and 2024 before slipping to 12th this year?
