By the end of yet another wretched night, Celtic’s season of misery had sunk to a new low on Tayside.
Impressive for 45 minutes against Dundee United, the profligacy of Wilfred Nancy’s side was punished as they retreated into their shells after the interval.
It doesn’t take much to turn the screw on this Celtic team. Any opponent just has to stay in the game and exert some pressure.
As Hearts, Roma and St Mirren would also testify, chances and goals will invariably come your way. Once United scored one, the winner was always in the post.
The inquest has been brutal. It has largely centred on Nancy — his inflexible 3-4-3 system, his substitutions and his post-match comments. Much of this criticism has merit.
For Paulo Bernardo, though, this public flaying of a man who’s completely new to Scottish football does not sit well.
Celtic’s shellshocked players look bereft as they contemplate their fourth successive defeat
Paulo Bernardo looks around the Tannadice arena after Dundee United scored their second
Wilfried Nancy is now under unparalleled pressure just four games into his Celtic tenure
It wasn’t Nancy who repeatedly failed to score when it was harder to miss. The Frenchman also cannot be held entirely responsible for the collective performance nose-diving the minute the match restarted.
‘I think we should have won the game with a comfortable margin,’ said the Portuguese midfielder. ‘We should score. It’s football and we couldn’t score the opportunities that we had.
‘One hundred percent we need to take responsibility as well and try together to find a solution. It’s not all about the coach, it’s us as well.
‘We lost control of the game, then United came for us and we shook a little bit.
‘They are tall and strong and they came for the long balls and we weren’t quite ready at the beginning of the second half and it hurt us.’
At this moment, Celtic seem incapable of stemming any tide. When the momentum swings, they are unable to get it back. Bernardo concedes that there’s an issue with mental fragility in defining spells.
‘I think in these moments it is hard to get the ball and play forward, to try to do things because we know the crowd and the fans, they expect us to win all the games and we are not doing that at the moment,’ he admitted.
United players celebrate Zac Sapsford’s goal that completed their remarkable turnaround
‘We probably are more nervous than usual because of that. We try to do a lot of things when one thing is not good enough.
‘We probably get even more nervous in these type of games or after these four losses in a row. So, we need to calm down a little bit as well as a group and try to play as we do.
‘I think we are here to do the best as we can. Sometimes things don’t go like as we planned. We need to do the basic things again and try to win the games.
‘We stick together as a group. Everyone wants to do the best they can to try and help the team and the coach. We all want the coach to succeed here so we need to play our role as well.’
The lack of faith in the side among supporters has only grown as this dismal run has gone on.
In midweek, it manifest itself in audible groans as the lead was surrendered. It might add to the anxiety on the field, but Bernardo fully understands where it comes room.
‘I thought the fans in the first half were pushing us to the goal,’ he recalled. ‘I thought we could win the game comfortably, like three or four nil in the first half.
‘The second half, we listened a bit to the crowd, but we need to stay focused on the game and try to do the basics again.
Bernardo was handed a rare start in midweek and insists he’s a fan of Nancy’s 3-4-3 formation
‘I know if we score the crowd will go with us. But if we lose, and it’s a big mistake, they will say something probably on us as well.
‘That’s in every football club, but I think the special thing about Celtic is we have a lot of fans and they live for the club.
‘We know that if we lose, they probably have a bad day. We need to play with that too because they are very special. If we do the things right again and start winning games, they will back us and they will be with us.’
The visit of Aberdeen is likely to be a fraught affair. Nancy needs his team to start like a train. And this time, there can be no let up.
‘We are in a difficult moment,’ Bernardo reflected. ‘The fans know, we know, the coach knows and the Aberdeen players know that as well. So, they probably will play with that.
‘But, like I said, we are professional footballers and we need to be calm and play the football that we can.
‘We know that we are the best team here in the championship, we just need to start again and prove it.’
Bernardo is happy to scotch one rumour; That the players simply aren’t taking to the new manager’s system. From his own perspective, at least, there’s no issue with the fundamental change he’s instigated.
Nancy overlooks Celtic training but there are suggestions that the players aren’t taking to him
‘I personally feel comfortable,’ he said of the much debated 3-4-3. ‘I played a little bit with the back-three in Benfica as well. So, I get the thing and I’m comfortable with my position.’
Be that as it may, but four successive defeats have put Nancy in an extremely tight spot.
Celtic are not known as a club which routinely sacks managers and certainly not when he’s just unpacked his suitcase. But this is simply the brutal reality that he signed up for when he left the gentler environs of the MLS.
‘I think that’s the thing about the big clubs,’ said Bernardo. ‘I think if one coach in Barcelona doesn’t win four games, they probably have a speculation to sack him in the next game.
‘I don’t think it’s only about Scotland, but the big clubs. Like I said, we all want the coach to succeed and we want to succeed as well.
‘We are all as a team together and if we don’t win the games, this speculation begins to get some credibility.
‘We need to take responsibility for that. It’s not all about the coach, it’s us as well.’
