It’s not easy being the manager of Celtic, especially when you need to face the media after a premature Champions League exit.

But I cannot help but feel the less that Ronny Deila says about the Malmo defeat the better for the Norwegian boss.

So far we’ve heard that his Celtic team were ‘scared’, that they wanted it too much and that the players wanted to protect their lead rather than go out and attack to enhance that lead!

We have heard it all this week to be honest and it’s getting a bit tiring.

It’s quite simple, over the two legs Celtic fluffed their lines and didn’t deserve to go through.

Today Ronny Deila also declared that he hoped that smarter fans/press wouldn’t be “judging only on results”.

Ronny this is Scottish football, where you get judged on absolutely everything!

At the moment, if you’re the Celtic boss your yardstick isn’t winning domestic competitions. The main focus on a season is all about qualifying for the Champions League group stages. That’s where the prestige is, and more importantly that is where the big money is!

Celtic have an extremely passionate support but they can’t see any reason why they cannot beat the likes of Maribor or Malmo in the final Champions League qualifiers.

They’ll enjoy decent league wins and cup victories but those results are expected and don’t give the fans the same enjoyment or excitement as a big midweek night in Europe does.

If Rangers get promoted next season, then the scrutiny over results will just intensify for Deila.

In his press conference today, Ronny went on to say this:

“This club is one of the best-driven clubs in the world. We’re developing young players, we’re taking in players and developing them and selling them for a lot of money and we win so many titles in Scotland.”

Yes they do win a lot of titles in Scotland, but it’s not exactly the fairest of races. That’s not Celtic’s problem but the achievement isn’t exactly a huge one. Even a domestic treble wouldn’t get a huge amount of fanfare unless they do it by playing an exciting brand of attacking football.

To be honest, much like Murray Park, Celtic’s training complex doesn’t bring through enough good young players that can step into the first team. It does bring up youngsters that benefit other Scottish sides, but is that it’s main purpose? I doubt it!

We then look at Deila’s comment about selling on players for ‘a lot of money’. The Hoops boss should be admired for his honesty but that comment won’t go down well with a certain section of Celtic’s supporters. These fans hate the fact that their club is a selling club and they also think that chief executive Peter Lawwell thinks more about balancing the books than he does about the squad competing at it’s best.

Celtic have a tremendous scouting network but they can also buy a dud. There can only be so many times that they bail out the club by finding a cheap gem of a player who can be sold for a big fee after an early Champions League exit.

Lawwell and his board need to come to the conclusion that the best way to get back into the Champions League group stages is by speculating slightly more than they have done in recent seasons. Before anyone says it, I am not suggesting that they do a Sir David Murray and spend a reckless amount of cash!!

Just a few more million on a striker with more European pedigree.

So to an extent I feel for Ronny Deila. I don’t think his board helped him enough in their search for Champions League qualification.

But now isn’t the time to reflect and blame everything and anything on defeat. Ronny should draw a line under the Malmo result and get his players ready for what’s definitely going to be a tough run in the Europa League.

Criticism comes with the Celtic job, it’s all about how you deal with it and react to the negatives. For me, at the moment Ronny Deila hasn’t done enough this week but he’ll have a chance to prove himself once again against Ajax, Fenerbahce and Molde in the Europa League! 

Posted on August 28th, 2015 by scott
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