When Celtic appointed Ronny Deila, I said that the appointment was a bold one and could become a masterstroke.

After eight months in charge, I think the Norwegian is well on his way to establishing a fine legacy at Parkhead.

The thirty-nine year old has had his fair share of blips. The club initially struggled in Europe, with the Glasgow side losing out to NK Maribor (after only going through against Legia Warsaw due to a technicality).

They also made various slip-ups during the early stages of the league campaign. Dropping points to Dundee and Motherwell as well as losing to Inverness Caley Thistle and at home to Hamilton Accies.

Those results all happened in the opening three months to the season and caused friction amongst the Celtic support. Some had even seen enough and were asking the board to bin the young coach.

Supposedly he wasn’t a ‘Celtic man’, wasn’t a big enough name and was out of his depth in Glasgow’s east-end.

How wrong they were.

All the thirty-nine year old needed was time to settle on a formation and be convinced of which players in his pool to play. In the opening months he changed certain things too much and did it too quickly.

But that is natural for any new boss. They have certain ideas and not until they see those plans in action do they realise that they might not work. The best managers then adapt and change those ideas.

That’s what Deila has done.

Just look at him reintroducing the likes of Leigh Griffiths, Kris Commons and Anthony Stokes.

At the start of this campaign they weren’t getting much of a look in with the Celtic first team as Deila tinkered with his starting eleven.

But they kept their heads down and worked hard. The Norwegian took note and put them into the side. Those three reacted brilliantly and have came in and made an instant, positive impact.

In modern day football its imperative that you keep a squad happy not just the first eleven. By bringing players back into the fold, Deila has shown any of his players who seem to be on the outside looking in that they too can get back into the team if they work hard and then take their chances when they arrive.

 

Celtic Chief Executive Peter Lawwell said this recently about his new boss…

When we set off with him, we knew we were going to give him time. If you go back to le Guen — I always say to Ronny about the “le Guen hump”.

‘When he came in, he’d won three-in-a-row in France, had new ideas, a new philosophy and a new culture.’

‘It didn’t work. It was revolution rather than evolution. Bang. The players revolted and he went out.’

‘So we had to get over that le Guen hump if you like and manage through that. You get the players on board and get everything settled down. He’s done that brilliantly.’

The parallels with former Rangers boss Paul Le Guen (PLG) might seem comical now but Lawwell was right to use the Frenchman as an example to Deila not to follow.

PLG came into Rangers with an impressive domestic reputation, much like Ronny. Like the Norwegian, Le Guen stated that fitness was paramount. The Frenchman also favoured the fluid 4-2-3-1 formation that Deila has come up with at Celtic Park. But unlike Paul, Ronny Deila hasn’t gone over the top with his changes and hasn’t ostracised any of his key personnel.

After Stokes arrived back late from a trip home to Dublin, Ronny Deila assessed the situation, left the striker out of a big game against Inter and then talked to him about his mistake. Then he reintroduced him back into the first team. Stokes has then rewarded him with displays that have been full of hard graft!

In fact Deila seems to work with his players to get them onside and believing in his ideas.

Captain Scott Brown is a cracking example. Under Deila, Brown has improved his all round game and is definitely fitter under the Norwegian’s guidance.

When some in the media and irate ‘fans’ called into phone-ins demanded that Brown should be punished and left out of the League Cup final starting line-up after a drunken night-out, Deila just pointed to Brown’s positive influence and attitude. The manager obviously started him on the Sunday.

Why wouldn’t he? Some managers give their high performing stars are given a bit more leeway. You know managers like Sir Alex Ferguson with Eric Cantona. Other manager don’t, like Paul Le Guen.

Last season, the league results for Celtic under Neil Lennon were fantastic. But it wasn’t overly imaginative. It all got very samey.

Like Lennon, Deila is passionate but his arrival has also been like a breath of fresh air for the ‘Hoops’. He is confident and thrives on success.

That desire to succeed will probably see the Glasgow giants win the treble this term, something the legendary Lennon failed to do. Deila already has the League Cup, leads the Premiership with a game in hand and is into the the Scottish Cup Semis.

All as a squad effort, no one player is bigger than the team.

If Ronny can win the treble he joins only the fantastic Martin O’Neill and the legend that is Jock Stein. There isn’t higher esteemed company in Celtic’s history.

Really Ronny Deila couldn’t ask for a better start to his Celtic career and he has done it his own way. Just like Stein and O’Neill before him!

Posted on March 20th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article