TO MOST Celtic fans, Neil Lennon’s successor Ronny Deila was a bit of an unknown quantity when he arrived in the summer of 2014.
The crown was Deila’s priority and his focus was sharpened somewhat on the evening of March 4 the following year when the Hoops toppled to a 1-0 defeat from St Johnstone at Parkhead.
Danny Swanson hit a shot that could have ended in the Gallowgate, but on this occasion it flew unerringly into Craig Gordon’s top corner for the match winning strike of a fairly drab confrontation.
READ ALL ABOUT IT…how the leagues were won.
However, the champions then embarked upon eight unbeaten league games with seven wins and one hiccup in a 1-1 draw in Inverness.
Ten points were picked up from a possible 12 in April with quickfire games against St Mirren (2-0), Partick Thistle (2-0), Caley Thistle (1-1) and Kilmarnock (4-1).
Celtic won their 46th championship and fourth in succession on the Friday evening of May 1 2015 after the players had been given the opportunity of moving 11 points ahead of Aberdeen who were due to play Dundee United at Tannadice the following afternoon.
Mathematicians were not required on this occasion. If Celtic beat Dundee and the Dons slipped up on Tayside, the championship would remain in the east end of Glasgow. Celtic concentrated on the job on hand.
PICK IT OUT…Scott Brown runs away after netting beyond future team-mate Scott Bain as Celtic romp to a 5-0 success over Dundee at Parkhead on May 1 2015 – the title was sealed 24 hours later.
They turned in a five-star performance with five goals to show for it in one of their finest ninety minutes of the campaign. It was a fitting extravaganza of skills and shooting power as the Dens Park side were wiped out.
Kris Commons thumped in a penalty-kick in the 71st minute after right-back Darnell Fisher had been floored, James Forrest slid in a right-footed angled drive six minutes later and, with the contest coming to a conclusion, Nir Bitton illuminated a darkening sky with an exquisite thirty-yard drive that cannoned in off Bain’s top left-hand upright.
Aberdeen lost 2-1 the following day and the title was officially the property of Celtic for another season and it was mission accomplished for Ronny Deila.
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