Deila eyes new Norse trend

Bhoys boss is striving to be a hit where his countrymen have failed

UNDERNEATH t he questions asked of Ronny Deila lurks deep-rooted suspicion. A barely disguised belief that Norwegi an managers in British football don’t amount to much.

Stale Solbakken failed at Wolves. Egil Olsen flopped at Wimbledon. Henning Berg was sacked by Black burn and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s brief spell at Cardiff was another Vincent Tan fiasco.

Deila i s guilty by association. Defeats — and there have been a few — prompt knowing nods.

The desire of rival supporters and media men to see a new name on the SPFL trophy for the first time in 30 years is natural. Yet something else is at play. Deila’s critics want to be proven right.

‘It is harder for me than a coach coming from Spain or elsewhere because I come f rom a skiing country,’ shrugged Celtic’s manager in the lounge of a Gran Canaria hotel yesterday. ‘I understand all of that.

‘You have to start somewhere and I did well in my home country. Now I am abroad trying to do something with Celtic.

‘Until I win something, I will always be questioned. That just motivates me and I have one goal — to win everything in Scotland.

‘If I do that, then the questions will stop.’

They may do. Yet in a newspaper column last week, Celtic legend Chris Sutton irritated supporters at the club by suggesting a domestic clean sweep this season would almost be tainted. A former pro with an opinion worth hearing should be welcomed.

Sutton’s suggestion that a Deila team achieving that feat would be no match for the treble side he played in under Martin O’Neill, or Jock Stein’s all conquering side of 1967, annoyed those who prefer to peer through the glass half-full.

‘It gives me energy,’ said Deila of his detractors. ‘I use it as motivation.

‘All I can do is work as I always have and be confident. I don’t get annoyed. I leave it to the rest of them.

‘I know you are only as good as your last game. You can win trophies but if you lose the next game, you will be questioned.

‘I believe in the way I work and the way we are doing things. The players believe it, as well.’

Li ttle has changed in hi s methodology. Celtic and Stromsgodset are worlds apart i n scale and expectation.

Yet Deila believes the techniques and beliefs which won a title in Norway can apply just as well in Glasgow.

‘I have the same mechanisms as in Norway but just on a much, much bigger scale,’ he continued. ‘I have a better team here.

‘At Stromsgodset, if we played at 70 per cent we could lose 5-0. Here, we can be 80 per cent and we have a good chance to win. It’s much easier to win here.’

Even so, there are times when Celtic have made it look difficult.

Aberdeen can stretch their lead at the top of the Premiership to four points by winning against St Mirren in Paisley today.

The champions have two games in hand. And a glut of fixtures lying in wait on their return f rom the Canaries on Tuesday night.

‘We have to be on our toes,’ said Deila. ‘ We stil l have t o meet Aberdeen twice and they will be important games.

‘When we get to April, we can talk about a title race. It’s way too early as we are only halfway through.

‘ I have been impressed with Aberdeen — we will have to be sharp.

‘But I know what my team is about. They know how to play under pressure. If you want to be good, you need to dare to be bad.

‘You can’t just be out there on the pitch — you have to be determined to make things happen.’

Under pressure after a defeat to Dundee United and a poor home draw with Ross County, the response was an emphatic victory in Kilmarnock on Monday night.

‘I was pleased at Kilmarnock as there were 11 players out there who really wanted to win,’ he said.

‘We had so many chances. The first half was maybe some of the best football we have played this season.’

At Deila’s Celtic, sports science is a big deal. The means by which a raft of imported backroom staff hope to coax another 10 per cent or so from the team.

Ji m McGuinness, t he f ormer All-Ireland winning coach, has been bumped up to work with the first team. Yet Deila believes the biggest sports psychologist at the club is him.

‘This is my responsibility,’ he said. ‘If they go out afraid, the team will never reach its potential.

‘They have to go out and enjoy the game, work hard and dare to make a difference.

‘Psychology is 60 per cent of football. It’s all about keeping energy through the week and using it in every game.

‘The next games are going to be important but we will see how it is when the six best teams play at the end of the season.’

From a clifftop hotel in Gran Canaria, the second half of the season is in planning for Celtic. A strong team will start against PSV Eindhoven in a triangular invitational tournament this lunchtime (12.15pm kick off) before f acing Sparta Prague on Tuesday afternoon.

Trailing Aberdeen, some suspect Celtic might have been better playing their scheduled league game with St Johnstone at Parkhead instead.

Deila is not one of them. ‘ These are good conditions to train,’ he maintained.

‘The weather conditions at home are bad and if we had stayed on there we couldn’t have trained.

‘It is about coming and playing international opponents and that is what we are going to do.

‘I think we are going to play a strong team.

‘It is one week till we play Hamilton so (today) is going to be like the team which played last time.

‘PSV are a very good team. It is important to see where we stand before we play Inter Milan.

‘It is different playing European opponents. It’s much harder to keep possession under pressure.

‘It will be a very interesting game and I’m not sure about the pitch or how good it is, we will see.

‘We will be put under more pressure than in Scotland, I think.

‘Hopefully not, but we have to be able to defend and we will see where we stand tomorrow.’