Blind faith in Deila will only lead to heartache
AGAINST a noisy backdrop of work to transform Celtic Park into a Commonwealth Games venue, Peter Lawwell sat shoulder to shoulder with Ronny Deila at his unveiling.
It is a position the chief executive has maintained ever since that day in June 2014, in the face of mounting evidence suggesting the Norwegian’s race at Parkhead is run.
For Lawwell, loyalty to his man is understandable, given how heavily invested he is with the project. After all, he was the one who plucked Deila from the obscurity of Stromsgodset, where he had steered the unfancied club to their first Tippeligaen title in 43 years. All done on a shoestring budget, while ripening promising young players for profitable sale.
Lawwell’s willingness to stand by the likeable Deila could also be deemed commendable, certainly by the unforgiving, bloodthirsty standards of the modern football industry.
This season, in the billionaire’s playground of the English Premier League, not even Jose Mourinho was immune from the axe. At Manchester City, meanwhile, Manuel Pellegrini remains the model of grace and dignity despite being confirmed as a dead man walking, his shoes to be filled by Pep Guardiola in the summer.
In contrast, despite each setback for his Celtic team, at home and abroad, Deila has continued to be backed to the hilt financially by Lawwell.
CELTIC have invested in Deila; the 40-yearold was granted the pre-season schedule he desired; the Norwegian back-room team he craved; 22 players arrived across four transfer windows.
Yet when does loyalty turn from a virtue into a vice? In September, after a Champions League exit to Malmo, major shareholder Dermot Desmond insisted: ‘I’m confident the best of Ronny Deila and the best of Celtic is to come.’
In November, just prior to an unprecedented winless Europa League group campaign, Lawwell described Deila at the Celtic AGM as a ‘builder of teams’.
Three months on, Aberdeen have cut the lead at the top of the Premiership to just three points and the question chilling the souls of Celtic fans is: could Deila be building a team capable of losing a one-horse race?
Frank McAvennie fears Derek McInnes’ side are capable of claiming a first title since 1985. A long-term critic of Deila, the 1988 centenary Double-winning Parkhead forward does not expect Lawwell and Desmond to blink in their unstinting support of their manager.
‘I said at the time that Ronny Deila was a cheap option and that is still the same now,’ said McAvennie. ‘He’s a nice guy, but nice guys don’t win a lot.
‘I feel for him. It looked against Aberdeen like there was no fight in his team. There was only one side up for it.
‘Football is a results- driven business and Aberdeen are a bit too close for my liking. On the evidence of the other night, they are in it for the long haul.
‘In the last 11 games they have won four more points than Celtic. And if that happens again, then it’ll be Aberdeen’s league title. And who is to say they can’t go and win the next 10 games in a row — and maybe even win at Celtic Park?
‘ It’s four years now since Rangers have been out of the top flight and Celtic have not won the Treble. Last season there was no Hearts, Hibs or Rangers in the top flight.
‘I’m sure Peter Lawwell must have thought about (sacking Deila). Ronny’s his boy, but if you’re going to change, make a change now. Sort the team out for the summer — for the Champions League.
‘ Celtic are judged in the Champions League and Ronny has had a couple of cracks at it. But I don’t think Peter and Dermot are going to get rid of Ronny. If they were, they would have done it by now. I think he’ll be there for the long haul.
‘But that’s two massive games this week that Celtic have lost without a fight. Even the more ardent of fans will be disillusioned.’
McAvennie believes that Deila’s one-striker system is an affront to the club’s historic attacking traditions. He feels that disconnect is apparent in the growing number of empty seats at Celtic games, which c ould ul t i mately be t he manager’s undoing.
‘It was funny last week when the boy Colin Kazim-Richards signed and said he was looking forward to playing alongside Leigh Griffiths.
‘I thought: “That’ll be a first — Ronny only plays one up front!” And while sometimes it’s good to stick to your guns, if it’s not working you need to change it.
‘I was speaking to an ex-Celtic manager about the club using two strikers. When Billy McNeill was boss we didn’t have the best defenders in the world, but we attacked so we played in the opposition half. That takes the pressure off your defence.
‘Celtic look so vulnerable at the back and it would be nice to see two strikers taking the pressure off them.
‘He’s got to change the team round. Winning the league is not good enough for the supporters. The majority of them aren’t even going to games now. You can tell by the empty seats.’
While McAvennie believes t he players must be held accountable alongside Deila, he called for more scrutiny of how the club identifies players.
‘If the manager is buying the players, it’s not (good enough) — if not, then you’ve got to look at the recruitment,’ he said.
‘Someone has to carry the can. Look at Nadir Ciftci, he’s been shipped out. Carlton Cole... where is he?
‘ It’s too nicey- nicey. Gary Mackay- Steven and Stuart Armstrong are nice players, but put them under pressure and they are not standing up to it.’
FRANK McAVENNIE was speaking to preview the last-16 Scottish Cup tie between East Kilbride and Celtic at Excelsior Stadium on Sunday.