Nancy’s nightmare as Hearts refuse to relinquish top spot

No dream debut, title race very much on, unbeaten runs, teams revitalised while others battle for survival – just another week in the Scottish Premiership!

Wilfried Nancy had the chance to take Celtic to the top of the table, but instead he learned the challenge ahead as Hearts refused to give up their title chase.

While Rangers remain unbeaten in the Premiership under Danny Röhl, they are still trailing a Motherwell side reborn under Jens Berthel Askou.

Aberdeen appear to be finding their groove after a struggling start, but Livingston are winless since August with St Mirren and Kilmarnock not fairing much better.

Hearts hand Nancy nightmare debut

The script was ripped up at Celtic Park on a dismal Sunday afternoon as Hearts refused to give Wilfried Nancy his dream debut as the new Hoops boss.

He said he saw “really good moments” from his players but instead of reclaiming top spot, they slumped to 2-1 defeat as the Jambos extended their lead.

With no clear right-back available following Marcelo Saracchi’s midweek head knock, the Frenchman started with Kieran Tierney, with Sebastian Tounekti and Yang Hyun-jun playing at wing-backs and a four-man “box midfield”.

Celtic have generally played some form of a 4-3-3 in recent years, but Nancy claimed the connection between players was key rather than the formation.

“To be honest, in the first-half we changed the system,” he said. “I would say in the second-half it was the same system. After that, when we wanted to push, it was not the system that we started with.

“So for me this is more about how we can deal when teams are really low.

“So the centre-backs for example, when they had the ball, recognise the moment to play a little bit quicker, recognised the moment to play in between. The intention was here. These are now the nuances that we need to improve.”

If there were points for possession then Celtic would have taken all three, but Hearts stuck to their tactics to beat the current champions for the second time this season.

Derek McInnes told Sky Sports post match: “Our fight is with ourselves, it’s not with Celtic.”

It was a win that ended a run of four consecutive games without a victory as Sky Sports’ Kris Boyd tipped them to take the title race “all the way”.

He said: “No disrespect to Rangers and Celtic, anybody up there will be looking at the two of them and thinking there’s an opportunity. Hearts have been to Glasgow twice and beaten Celtic, beaten Rangers and beaten Celtic at Tynecastle as well.

“They have to have belief they can go the distance. Otherwise, they’re in the wrong movie. There’s a long way to go, but you look at that Hearts squad.

“They will see there’s an opportunity to go all the way. If they keep their key players fit, they have a real opportunity of going the course and taking this all the way.”

Rangers remain unbeaten under Röhl to add to Killie’s woes

“It is a long way but it’s not impossible.”

That was Danny Röhl’s assessment of Rangers’ title hopes before Saturday’s 3-0 win at Kilmarnock.

After a dismal start to the season they are unbeaten under the new head coach but sit nine points behind Hearts, albeit with a game in hand.

Bojan Miovski scored a brace to double his tally for the season, but there was the usual vulnerability at the back with Manuel Fernandez and Nasser Djiga continuing for the injured duo of John Souttar and Derek Cornelius.

They have Ferencvaros in the Europa League and Hibs at Ibrox before a trip to Tynecastle Park, live on Sky Sports on December 21, looking to avoid matching Celtic with back-to-back league defeats to the Jambos this season.

Kilmarnock have not won a game since October 4 and were booed off the pitch at Rugby Park on Saturday night.

While there the front three of Marcus Dackers, Bruce Anderson and Scott Tiffoney showed some glimpses of what they can do, Killie were also culpable at the back. Sloppy for the first goal and caught out by a quick counter attack for the second.

It is just two league victories for Stuart Kettlewell at Kilmarnock – they’re just four points behind bottom side Livingston who have played a game less.

Motherwell confidence soaring

Jens Askou Berthel has Motherwell playing attractive football and it is not style over substance, with the Steelmen unbeaten in eight.

It was a routine win against a struggling Livingston side who have won just once since returning to the top flight, but it showed the manager can make changes to his team without standards dropping.

He made seven on Saturday but the confidence remained high with the Fir Park side sitting third, just six points behind second placed Celtic.

David Martindale knows he has big problems – his Livi side managed just one shot on target in 90 minutes as their winless run extended to 13 games.

Pressure off continues to ease at Aberdeen

Aberdeen has to wait until October 5 for their first league goal, with Jimmy Thelin under mounting pressure just months after guiding them to Scottish Cup glory.

Fast-forward to December and the Dons are unbeaten in six and are into the top-six after victory over struggling Dundee.

Adil Aouchiche netted a first half double as Aberdeen grew into the game with Kevin Nisbet adding a third late on.

But their defensive frailties continued to show and Dundee pulled a goal back and had chances to get back into the match.

Are the Dons now on a run to match the way the started last season before falling away?

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: skynews.com