RONNY DEILA admitted he was puzzled as Celtic beat Aberdeen 3-2 to make absolutely certain of the club’s fifth successive title.
The departing manager saw his team race into a three-goal lead at Parkhead and expected them to go on and add to the scoreline.
Puzzlingly, though, the Hoops allowed the Dons back into the contest to score two goals and there were some scary moments before the final whistle indicated another flag success at Parkhead.
Deila, who will leave the club following the game against Motherwell a week today, said: “Yes, I was a bit nervous when the game went to 3-2.
“I couldn’t understand why it was happening. It was 3-0 and we should have been going for a fourth and a fifth goal.
“But we got nervous at 3-1 and in the end it was very shaky. However, we are now 12 points clear and that is something positive.
“The main thing is to be the champions of Scotland. That’s five in a row and that’s a fantastic achievement.
“I hope this club has many more in the future.”
Sportingly, the Norwegian said: “You have to give credit to Aberdeen for what they have done. Celtic is an unbelievably big club with a lot of money and things like that, but you still have to do it, to win things. You can see what has happened in England this season with Leicester City.
“So, it is important that you enjoy these moments and I know I will.”
Deila also reckons his replacement will be delighted to see what he has inherited within the squad.
He added: “There is a lot of young talent here and a bright future for a lot of the boys.
“They have now got a lot of experience over my two years here, but you can see they need to be mentally tougher and stronger.
“When things are going against you, they can sometimes retreat into their shells. They need to show their best qualities as they did in the first-half.
“It has been a great day, though. Being manager of Celtic has been an unbelievable experience – tough, but fun!”
The latest title win is Celtic’s 12th in the last 18 seasons since Dutch manager Wim Jansen put paid to Rangers chances of winning ten in a row back in 1998.
The club are set to announce a new manager in the next few weeks with candidates like Brendan Rodgers and David Moyes – who played for Celtic in the early 1980s – being quoted as front runners. Both have considerable Premier League experience with Moyes have managed Everton and Manchester United while Rodgers has been in charge of Swansea and Liverpool. Both are currently out of work but Celtic will face stiff competition from south of the border if they are to capture either candidate.
Moyes has been linked with the vacant manager’s job at recently relegated Aston Villa while Rodgers is the odds on favourite at the bookies to make an emotional return to Swansea.
Given the financial restraints on all Scottish clubs who are hampered by a tiny television revenues when compared to the clubs in England and Wales, it is crucial for an ambitious club like Celtic to secure strong commercial deals in other areas. This will provide much needed resource for the new manager, whether it be David Moyes, Brendan Rodgers or someone else, to enter the transfer manager and begin the rebuilding process.
Celtic will be aiming for 6 titles in a row next season but that in itself isn’t enough. The club, almost by necessity, have to compete in European football. The Champions League Group stages are the target and for that Celtic, guided by their new manager, will have to succeed in UEFA’s Champions Route through the qualifiers this summer. It won;t be easy judging by the previous two seasons where clubs with much smaller resources, Mallibor and Malmo, eliminated Celtic in 2014 and 2015 respectively. The less said about Legia Warsaw the better.
Celtic’s recent deals with dafabet and Magners Irish Cider are excellent deals for the club and are added to the lucrative long term and kit sponsorship deal with New Balance.
Other established clubs in the Scottish Premiership are also trying to emerge from harder times and pursue ambitious goals. Hearts this week announced further details rebuilding their main stand to increase the capacity to 20,000 as they seek to challenge both Celtic and Aberdeen as Scotland’s top 3 sides.
So it’s interesting to learn of (unconfirmed) rumours which claim that one of these teams is in the final stages of a deal signing with a binary options broker named Binary Uno. No further details have been disclosed so far regarding the nature of the deal, but it seems to give further weight to the theory that astute business partnerships are the way to go for ambitious clubs in Scotland.
Celtic will also want to right a few wrongs next season in the two domestic cups after some big disappointments in the season that comes to a close for the club this weekend.
Many Celtic players will be saying an emotional goodbye, as will Norwegian manager Ronny Deila and his assistant John Collins. All with leave with the best wishes of the Celtic support who realise it is time for an new man to lead the club, hopefully to even better times ahead.
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