GORDON: RONNY CAN HOLD HIS HEAD HIGH
CELTIC goalkeeper Craig Gordon has told Ronny Deila he can walk out of Parkhead with his head held high.
Celtic effectively sealed a fifth successive title with a 3-1 win at Tynecastle on Saturday and Gordon insisted his boss has every reason to celebrate, despite the flak from critics.
The Norwegian has three league games to go before he leaves and, despite underachieving this season, Gordon believes Deila should enjoy his title.
“Of course he should, we all should,” said the Scotland goalkeeper. “It is an incredible achievement for all of us to be part of a team that has just won five league titles on the bounce.
“I have so much respect for Ronny and I hope he enjoys this and his last games in charge.
“To me, he is a coach with some good ideas, a good philosophy on how he wants the game to be
played and I have no doubt he will land a new job soon.
“He is a young coach and the last two years will have stood him in good stead. He is a good manager and someone whom I would like to think I will still keep in touch with.
“I fully expect that he will go on to have a very successful career.
“He has had a tough few months but has been good at keeping that pressure off the players. We are pretty much over the line now, however, and he deserves to be allowed to enjoy that.”
The celebrations after Saturday’s 3-1 win at Tynecastle were relatively low -key, as Gordon acknowledged, but he believes that if this season’s title becomes part of an historic sequence then it will be treasured as much as any other.
“Winning a title is special,” he said. “It has to be. You play 38 games over the course of a season and if the league shows that you are the best team in the country then surely that is something to celebrate?
“I agree that it was all quite relaxed after the whistle had gone. It wasn’t a crazy day simply because we have been expected to do this. But if Celtic go on to win more titles – as we would like to – then this will be as important as any other.”
And the former Hearts keeper joked that he had always dreamed of a title-winning day at Tynecastle.
“I always wanted to win the league in front of the Hearts fans,” he smiled. “But, seriously, I am at a stage in my career when I realise that these are special days – however you do it.
“There will be changes, I’m sure, as a new manager will want to put his own stamp on the team but the pressure is off right now. We can relax and express ourselves a wee bit now in the final games.”