RONNY DEILA has revealed he had to leave Celtic because he had become a burden to his players.
The Norwegian admitted the massive strain of being a Hoops boss eventually got to him and changed his life.
Deila said: “In the final months, I could feel the pressure. My quality of sleep was poor and I had headaches and sweats.
“I was going to work without any joy. You could see it in the dressing room. There was only relief when we won.
“The debate about my future influenced the squad. I felt I was a burden to the team.
“The players were terrified of losing and after the loss against Rangers (sic) in the Cup I said to the team this was my last season. It liberated them and released energy into them. From then, we went on to win the league.
“But for me it was over. I wanted to see joy and energy and progress, but it was no longer there.
“My first season was fantastic, but after we lost to Malmo, things got very different. There was unrest in the group, we stopped making progress and when you don’t progress, there is no fun anymore.”
Deila, who lasted two years in the job as Neil Lennon’s successor, added: “I lost my freedom. Normally, I am a very social person, but I ended up staying at home more and more.
“The more exposure I got, the more my freedom disappeared.”
