Celtic defender Tony Ralston insists there can be no excuse for the Parkhead side’s dismal run of form – with fans once again calling for boss Wilfried Nancy to be sacked.
A woeful 2-0 defeat at Motherwell on Tuesday night saw pressure intensify on the Frenchman, who has lost five of his seven matches since taking charge.
Ralston insists the squad are still fully supportive of the manager but stressed the desperate need to get their season back on track as quickly as possible.
Celtic host Rangers in the Old Firm derby on Saturday in a game which could now be make-or-break for the beleaguered former Columbus Crew boss.
‘At a club like Celtic, losing games is not something you ever accept,’ said Ralston. ‘We have got a massive game at the weekend and we need to get ready for it.
‘We’ve got the togetherness as a team. We’ve had a lot of changes, a group of players, staff included, all within a season. And in the middle of a very busy period.
Tony Ralston fails to get to grips with Ibrahim Said during 2-0 defeat to Motherwell
Ralston says Celtic players have to adapt more quickly to methods of Nancy, above
‘But that’s no excuse. We have got immense talent, we’ve got immense experience, and above all else our togetherness.
‘That’s never going to fade, that’s never going to go away. That’s what we feel as a group, every day in training and in games.
‘The results haven’t fallen for us, we take the onus on that. But it does need to turn around.
‘We need to stop conceding goals, we know that. Whether that’s down to change of shape or whatever, we need to sort that out.
‘As I said, there’s not an acceptance of losing games, especially at a club like Celtic. So that needs to change – and it needs to change quickly.’
After back-to-back wins over Aberdeen and Livingston either side of Christmas, Celtic are now firmly back to square one under Nancy.
After the defeat at Fir Park, he claimed there had still been signs of progress in his team’s performance.
But Celtic were taken apart all too easily by a rampant home side, and the champions have conceded 15 goals in seven matches under his watch.
The Celtic players look in a daze after being dominated by Motherwell at Fir Park on Tuesday
Frenchman Nancy has lost five of his seven matches as Celtic manager so far
The players once again looked confused and fundamentally unsuited to what was being asked of them in the manager’s 3-4-3 system.
Pressed on how much support there is within the dressing room for the manager, Ralston said: ‘As a footballer at any club, especially at the highest level, you need to adapt to a change of system.
‘Whether that’s personnel, system, whatever it may be, you need to adapt to that.
‘So you can’t put the reasons down to a change of system or give excuses for that. Because, at a top level, you need to be able to adapt as players, as a team and as a unit, both defensively and offensively. So, no, I don’t use that as an excuse.
‘Don’t get me wrong, it comes with its challenges, you need to adapt. Like I’m saying, it doesn’t happen overnight. We don’t have the normal time you maybe would have pre-season, etc.
‘But that’s football, changes happen and you need to adapt. We’re trying, you know, every day we get a chance on the training pitch to implement it, to practise it. Like I say, these things do take time.
‘And within games, that’s also a time when we’re trying to implement the style of play that the gaffer’s asking us to do. The games are every three days. That is difficult, we’re all aware of that.
Tony Ralston admits there were no excuses for the way Celtic were taken apart by Motherwell
‘There’s no excuses in football. Especially at the top level, especially at a club like Celtic. You need to be able to adapt.
‘All the boys are trying. And it’s about trying to make it work as quickly as possible. We know the type of game we’ve got at the weekend. But we’ll all be ready for it.
‘We understand the magnitude of the game. We have experienced players in the dressing room who know what the game’s all about.
‘First of all, we need to show the fight. And I feel that the fight has been there. We will be more than ready to take it on.’
