Celtic star James Forrest insists Aberdeen victory could be a turning point for under-pressure boss Wilfried Nancy
James Forrest believes Celtic’s dramatic win over Aberdeen on Sunday can be a turning point for under-fire boss Wilfried Nancy.
Celtic scored twice in the last five minutes at Parkhead to win 3-1 against a Dons team who had played the second half with 10 men.
It looked like Kenan Bilalovic had snatched a point for the visitors to prolong the misery after Nancy had lost all four of his games in charge.
But Kieran Tierney fired Celtic ahead with only a couple of minutes to play, with Forrest then wrapping up the win by adding a third.
It eases some of the pressure on Nancy, who now faces games against Livingston, Motherwell and Rangers over the festive period.
‘Off the back of four defeats, then being ahead only for Aberdeen to equalise, I think it showed a lot of character from the boys,’ said Forrest.
James Forrest celebrates after grabbing Celtic’s third goal against Aberdeen at Parkhead
The win over Aberdeen was Wilfried Nancy’s first since becoming Celtic manager
‘I think you’ve seen that at the end, we scored two in the last five minutes and we looked strong.
‘I think that showed a big bit of character, especially off the back of the four defeats. The fans were behind us as well.
‘It definitely could be [a turning point]. I think just for everyone, even the fans in the last ten minutes, they did get behind us.
‘They knew that we were creating loads of chances and I think that’s what we need to do. We need to give the fans something to cheer about and get behind us.
‘I think with the performance, I think we can all come together and, as I said, just keep picking up more games and more performances like this.
‘We don’t want to get carried away. It’s still so early in the season. It’s still really early for the manager as well.
‘But I think it just shows that we are together and I just look forward to Saturday now [against Livingston].’
On the importance of keeping pace with Hearts in the title race, Forrest continued: ‘Every game is massive.
‘I think the pressure from the fans, the press, the players and the manager, there’s always pressure here.
‘So I think obviously now you see that the league is tight up there but we have been there before.
‘We just need to go about our business and just focus on ourselves and hopefully just keep picking up victories.’
Forrest is the most experienced and decorated player in Celtic’s squad, but he admitted he has never known a period quite as challenging as this.
Nancy was facing calls to be sacked after a 2-1 loss at Dundee United last week made it four defeats from four.
The fans continue to revolt against the club’s board and the air of mutiny will not shift on the basis of one scrappy win.
Asked how the last couple of weeks have been, Forrest said: ‘It’s not happened to a lot of us before so it’s a new experience.
Celtic had been a goal up – but 10-men Aberdeen equalised to give Nancy cause for concern before the home side finally grabbed the victory
‘I can only talk about the changing room and what we’re like at Lennoxtown, the players, everyone’s together and I think you’ve seen that on Sunday.
‘We could have easily drawn that game but I think we showed that we’re all together and that’s the main thing.
‘This is a start to hopefully we can push on and keep picking up more victories.
‘It’s difficult. I think I’ve been here for so long, I’ve had so much success, so many good moments.
‘I would say the kind of ten-in-a-row season [was tough] but then obviously that was Covid and the fans weren’t in so there was something different about that one.
‘I would say maybe nothing [I have experienced] really kind of like the last couple of weeks.
‘Obviously, we’ve had a couple of different managers and stuff as well, but I think that just shows that we all need to make sure we stay together.
‘That’s what we have done the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, we can just go game at a time, build back up the confidence.’
