Jim Goodwin has backed Wilfried Nancy to “turn things around” at Celtic after his Dundee United side heaped more misery on the under-fire Frenchman.
Two goals in three minutes from Krisztian Keresztes and Zac Sapsford gave United a first win in eight Premiership games on Wednesday night as they inflicted new Celtic boss Nancy’s fourth defeat from four.
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Ahead of United’s home match against Hibs on Saturday, Goodwin said: “I’ve always got sympathy for any manager that’s going through these challenging moments.
“I’ve been there myself in the past, and I think every manager out there at every level, will experience it at one point or another.
“It’s difficult to explain to people outwith football who have got normal jobs, and maybe don’t have the pressures of an entire football club on your shoulders, but we do the job because we love it.
“There’s challenging moments in every aspect of life, and you’ve got to be a strong character, and I’m fairly sure Wilfried Nancy wouldn’t have got to be a manager of a club like Celtic if he wasn’t that type of character.
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“So I’m sure he’ll turn things around. He’s only been in the door a couple of weeks. But obviously, sympathise with the guy and wish him well.”
Goodwin insists eighth-place United were “deserved” winners against Celtic and wants to end the week on a high with victory over Hibs.
He said: “I thought we thoroughly deserved it. When you look at the stats, I know Celtic had some big chances in the opening 45 minutes, but never capitalised on those.
“And in the second half, we certainly were the better team, and we had more shots on target than Celtic. I can’t remember the last time managing a team that did that to Celtic.
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“We’ve had more touches in their penalty area than they’ve had in ours, and Kasper Schmeichel’s had to make more saves than Dave Richards.
“So that would tell you that would be deserved to be the winners on the night.
“And we have to take the confidence from that. We’ve played well in the last couple of games, two top teams in Motherwell and Celtic, who are above us in the league table at the moment and we’ve got to do that again tomorrow against Hibs.”
[BBC]