Celtic: Does Wilfried Nancy ‘know what he’s walked in to’ amid horror start?

As the players walked out at a packed Celtic Park, and a stirring rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone echoed around the stadium, the camera cut to Nancy.

The disco lights, which were splurged out on for these European nights, flashed towards the Frenchman.

Hart said the ground in the east end of Glasgow is a “special place” on such occasions but the mood of that place has turned sour in recent times.

Long before Nancy’s arrival, the club was riven with disharmony.

The events of last summer – recruitment issues, Champions League dismay, Brendan Rodgers’ acrimonious departure – had cast a long shadow.

Martin O’Neill’s interim stint back at the club steadied matters, with seven wins from eight games and an uplift in the mood.

But by the time Roma had a fourth goal ruled out in the closing stages on Thursday, large swathes of the crowd had gone home. Many fans had seen enough.

“It breaks my heart to see [Celtic Park] like this,” said Hart. “The atmosphere just isn’t there. This is such a special football club, but it’s only special when it’s united.

“It’s not easy for a new manager and new system, but it’s not rocket science and Nancy’s got to learn quick.”

Perhaps one thing all of a green and white persuasion could agree upon was that Roma were rampant as they cantered to a second win in Glasgow this term.

“It wasn’t good enough, especially first half, we lost too many duels and too many sloppy balls,” midfielder Arne Engels – who missed a first-half penalty – said.

“We know we can do better and hopefully we can move on because we have a final in a few days. We need to keep our heads high and move on.

“It’s up to us to react. We need to look to ourselves to keep performing.”