RONNY DEILA has become really quite intoxicated by the sense of positivity and possibility that continues to surge through the Scotland national side and its followers in the wake of a largely successful week.
The Celtic manager has admired the way the players have bought into Gordon Strachan's philosophy and moulded their games accordingly. Deila loves their willingness to take and keep possession while retaining their composure in even the most hostile territory. He watches Strachan's side and sees a team of men.
Now, the Norwegian wants to see all those attributes and more reflected within the Celtic team that he is, in the face of a number of early setbacks, endeavouring to build in the east end of Glasgow.
There are clear parallels between the rebuilding job being executed so admirably by Strachan and the changes being demanded at Celtic right now. Deila wants an attack-minded passing game. He wants an emphasis on using possession wisely. Even the system is broadly similar with wide players being utilised in a 4-2-3-1 formation.
The Parkhead manager was particularly thrilled by Scotland's performance in the 2-2 draw with Poland and believes it should serve as a source of inspiration for many.
"It was fantastic to watch Scotland on Tuesday," he said. "I got energy just from watching the game. The way they played with such confidence on the ball and the way they kept possession to take the energy out of Poland for 60 minutes showed others in Scotland that it's possible to go out and dictate games.
"I was very heartened when I saw this and also noticed that Scottish people are proud of their team when they see this. That's what we want to do at Celtic as well. This is the right way to go. It's how to develop players so they can play at the top level internationally. When you see Scotland, it's not boys. It's men.
"They looked like a team that is hard to beat. I was happy for Scotland and I think they have a very good chance to go through from what is a hard group."
Scotland's success has been built on hard work and double sessions on the training ground. There is also a growing sense that Strachan now has a strong idea of his first-choice XI, with room existing for tactical tweaks such as bringing in Steven Whittaker for Andy Robertson in an attempt to counteract the strength of Poland at set-pieces.
Deila is open when admitting that he is working towards all these ideals at Celtic. "I would hope to have a settled team soon," he said. "You see the relationships and the confidence in the Scotland team. You see Steven Fletcher up top and Shaun Maloney behind. The full-backs and wingers all find each other. You can see the things they are working on in training.
"They are also calm in possession in the central area and they all wanted to have the ball to take out the energy of Poland. I thought Scotland were going to win 3-1, but the result was still fantastic.
"We are starting to see some relationships within our team and we have to build on that and keep on going to get better and better performances. Consistency is important."
Of less concern to Deila is the scheduling of tomorrow's lunchtime kick-off against Ross County in Dingwall. He admits he may have to consider the freshness of a number of players following some arduous trips with their national sides, but accepts that dealing with a relentless grind of fixtures at often unusual times is part and parcel of being a big club whose matches tend to attract the focus of the television companies.
"Efe [Ambrose] and Wakaso [Mubarak] are coming back late and Emilio [Izaguirre] has had a long trip from his game with Honduras, so that could influence my selection," he said. "It's never ideal, but that is how it is for the big clubs all the time. I expect we will be 100 per cent committed and ready."
Deila also expects Mikael Lustig, Charlie Mulgrew and Adam Matthews to return from injury, with James Forrest almost certain to return from hamstring trouble for next Thursday's Europa League match away to Astra Giurgiu, should he fail to make the squad for the Highlands.
"It is positive that people are coming back," said Deila. "Three of them could be in contention [for the match with Ross County] and maybe Forrest as well. We'll see."
In addition to taking great heart from the progress of his current charges, Deila has also been thrilled by the latest development in the remarkable story of his former Stromsgodset player, Martin Odegaard. The 15-year-old became the youngest player to perform in a European Championship qualifying match after coming on as a second-half substitute during Norway's 2-1 victory over Bulgaria in Oslo.
At one stage, during the summer, there was some idle chit-chat about Deila possibly attempting to bring him to Glasgow. The Celtic manager has not ruled that out completely, but you get the impression that particular ship has sailed. Far bigger clubs are now circling the precocious talent.
"Of course, if he wanted to think about it [Celtic], there could be possibilities, but clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich are looking at him" said Deila. "The most important thing is he stays at Stromsgodset and plays."
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