Former Celtic manager Ronny Deila guided the Hoops to two league titles and was robbed of the chance to achieve a domestic treble when match officials failed to spot a blatant handball in the 2015 Scottish Cup Semi Final.
On the other hand, his teams were eliminated at the Champions League playoff round in consecutive seasons, even after being reinstated when Legia Warsaw fielded an ineligible player, and finished bottom of their Europa League group in his second campaign.
The Norwegian manager, who recently won the MLS Cup with New York City, takes responsibility for failing to live up to fans’ expectations at Parkhead. However, he does feel the “average” level of his squad didn’t help.
Speaking on the Press Box podcast, Deila said: “We lost a lot of good players in the previous couple of years before I came in.
“We did not have the same amount of money invested as Brendan Rodgers did in the following couple of seasons. That made things difficult, but I also need to take some responsibility for failures.
“In that second season we had too many average players in the squad. However, there was some good talent as well who then performed very well when Brendan Rodgers came in, so I feel a part of that.”
Deila’s comments are of little significance when talking about domestic football, at a time when Aberdeen were Celtic’s closest challengers; the Dons having an estimated wage bill of approximately £40m less than the Hoops. His side also lost to theRangers, who were languishing in the Scottish Championship at that stage.
It was in Europe where his comments bear more relevance, and Deila admits his biggest disappointment was failing to reach the Champions League group stages when paired with Malmo. Having won the home leg, it was set up for the Bhoys to progress, but Malmo’s 2-0 victory in Sweden sealed a 4-3 aggregate defeat for Deila’s men.
Speaking about that tie, he said: “I think the biggest disappointment at Celtic was getting knocked out by Malmo in the Champions League playoffs.
“We played well in the first game and then struggled in the second game. We really should have made it to the Champions League group stages.”
Ronnie should be proud of winning two League Championships in two seasons as well as one League Cup. It was Europe that was his nemesis.
RD never had a hope in hell of success. He was treated abysmally by a lot in the press and the support. He could’ve, with proper backing had more. His methods were based in sound sport science and when BR came in the work Ronnie had done in the backroom made the new manager’s intro a lot easier than having to rip it up and start again- is that a song?- Ronnie was a winner for us, and a winner since. I for one will always appreciate the contribution he made to our Club and the basics he put in place fof BR to milk