Wilfried Nancy feels fury of Celtic fans as Martin O'Neill seranaded amid 47-year nadir at Tannadice

Where does the Frenchman go from here? Just a few short weeks ago, while still manager of Columbus Crew, he could never have imagined reaching such a career crisis on a cold December’s night in Dundee.

Corners are proving stakes in the heart for Celtic but so much more is wrong. Dundee United sourced two goals from kicks from the corner flag. That they came in the second phase of play is no mitigation for Nancy’s confused and unorganised-looking team. It means it’s now five goals in four games that Celtic have conceded from corners, either directly or indirectly.

That’s on the manager. For the first time since Nancy came in –only a fortnight ago remember – the fans turned on the Frenchman in a public show of fury, as they chanted for him to get to... France, was it? Martin O’Neill’s name was also sung, as is becoming a ritual at Celtic matches.

What isn’t on the manager is Daizen Maeda hitting the post with a header from about a yard out with ten minutes left as the visitors searched frantically for an equaliser.

Something else that isn’t Nancy’s doing is the dreaded vote of confidence delivered by CEO Michael Nicholson hours before kick-off. It invited calamity and Celtic duly delivered. The heat remains firmly on the Celtic board after United overturned the visitors' one-goal half-time advantage with two goals in four minutes from Krisztian Keresztes and Zac Sapsford, with the winner worth the home fans’ gate money alone.

A large banner was smuggled in and unfurled in the top tier of the Jerry Kerr Stand, just a few yards away from where a very uncomfortable set of Celtic directors were sitting. “Celtic’s Shame,” it read, with a large arrow pointing to where the perceived source of this shame were perched.

Absent from the group of condemned men was Peter Lawwell, with the Celtic chairman having vacated his position earlier in the day in dramatic style. He stressed that he could no longer tolerate the increase in abuse and threats. Nicholson later revealed three staff members had been assaulted following Sunday’s League Cup final defeat to St Mirren.

“One down, More to go,” read another banner at Tannadice. The anger of some of the fans has clearly not been assuaged by Lawwell’s departure, not that anyone thought it would be. There is a deep unhappiness within a core of the club’s support and nothing that happened at Tannadice, whether it be good or bad, was going to alter the situation. While things started well, they quickly unravelled into a new nightmare for Nancy.

He made four changes to the side that fell so limply against St Mirren. “My job is about trial and error,” he explained in a pre-match interview. After three arduous assignments that included Serie A side AS Roma and league leaders Hearts, a trip to Tannadice could not have been a much kinder next stop on the schedule, in theory at least. The hosts were winless in their last 23 meetings with Celtic and had shipped 16 goals in the previous four home clashes against the Glasgow side. Of more immediate relevance, United were without a win against anybody in their previous seven outings and had slipped to eighth in the league.

In a way, this increased the pressure on Nancy. So much seemed to rest on the start his team made. It couldn’t be much worse than at Hampden, when they lost a goal after 93 seconds. Luke McCowan was on the left in a wing-back role that would have been familiar to him from earlier in his career at Ayr United and Dundee. It was Maeda, in a more comfortable for him wider role, who caused United untold problems on the left, however.

Yang Hyun-Jun could not convert at the far post after a Maeda cross just three minutes in. It was already looking ominous for the hosts. Reo Hatate slipped in Jonny Kenny who showed Bert Esselink a clean pair of heels before being foiled by a good save from David Richards. Sadly for Kenny, such wasted opportunities were the story of his night.

Maeda showed him what to do after 12 minutes when he turned Esselink inside out before shooting into the corner. United had been the architect of their own downfall. Ryan Strain’s ball into the middle of the park was a bit loose although he wasn’t helped by Sapsford losing his footing. Tierney sent the ball quickly back upfield and Kenny transferred it to Maeda, who did the rest. Perhaps tonight things were going to be different. It was the first time Celtic had scored the opening goal under Nancy, which felt like a step in the right direction.

Kenny ought to have made it 2-0 ten minutes later after another long ball from Tierney saw Celtic get in behind the high United rearguard again. Kenny could not take advantage, however, delaying his shot too long. He then rolled a ball past the far post when it seemed easier to score following Maeda’s cutback. Would these misses be significant? Not the way Celtic were overwhelming United but then could that last? No, it couldn’t.

United manager Jim Goodwin made changes at half time. He had to. He brought Vicko Sevelj on for Esselink and switched to a back four. Managerial flexibility. Maybe Nancy could try it sometime. The tide immediately turned. Kasper Schmeichel made a fine save with his left foot from Sapsford.

It was a warning sign largely unheeded by Celtic, who couldn’t get out of their own half.

Keresztes swept in on 58 minutes after Will Ferry launched a ball back in following a corner. Ross Graham kept the ball alive at the back post before Sevelj teed up Keresztes, whose cultured left foot did the rest. Did Celtic have the minerals to respond? As against St Mirren, no they didn’t.

They barely had time to refocus before they found themselves trailing. Another corner, more disarray in the Celtic box. Amar Fatah cushioned a header down for Sapsford, who still had so much to do. He took a touch, took another one and then turned and curled a right footed shot into the far corner beyond Schmeichel. Many famous goals have been scored at Tannadice and this was another one as United celebrated a first win over Celtic since 2014.