RONNY DEILA, the Celtic manager, last night spoke of the inspiration provided by the unwavering support of Dermot Desmond and the desire he possesses to fulfil the major shareholder’s ambition of developing a side capable of competing regularly in the latter stages of the Champions League.
Desmond gave a rare interview while attending the Dunhill Cup at St Andrews to make it clear that he expects great things from Deila and is happy with the progress being made at the Ladbrokes Premiership champions despite a mixed start to the current campaign.
Celtic failed to make it to the group stage of the Champions League after losing to the Swedish club Malmo and lie four points behind Aberdeen in the league after nine games.
Deila, though, has not been placed under any kind of pressure by Desmond or his chief executive, Peter Lawwell, and appreciates their confidence in his methods as he prepares for this evening’s Europa League Group A visit of Fenerbahce of Turkey.
“It’s always important to feel trust and it’s great to feel it from Dermot and Peter as well,” said the Norwegian. “It gives you confidence and belief and lot of energy to work.
“I’m happy that he (Desmond) can see that we’re doing good things here.
“He wants results like everyone else, but he understands that there is a way to do that and that we are progressing.
“He’s like every leader should be. He’s very honest about what he sees and what he thinks. He asks questions about the next move and what we will do and different things.
“I’d hope to speak once a week or once a fortnight, but he is a busy man. We speak maybe one time every 14 days.
“I haven’t talked to him much face-to-face, but he’s an inspiring person. He has experience and knowledge. You can feel it when he comes into a room that he knows what he’s doing and he loves what he’s doing.”
Desmond retains high hopes for the club despite insisting that Lawwell and Deila work within a strict financial framework and is comfortable with the man currently in charge of the footballing department.
"I’m confident that the best of Ronny Deila and the best of Celtic is to come,” he said.
"I think, in fairness, we have greater resources than any other team at present in the Scottish Premiership. I think our first challenge is to win the Premiership and get into competing in the Champions League. After that, it is qualifying for the later stages of the Champions League.
"I think that we’re a better team than we were last year. We’ve had a few tough matches.
“Aberdeen did very well against us and, in Europe, we were a bit unlucky against Malmo. I think we’re on a learning curve and I think we’ll continuously improve.
"He has got two trophies under his belt and I think we can see the good work he’s done with a lot of the players. [Tom] Rogic and [Nir] Bitton have made considerable improvement as have a lot of others under Ronny’s guidance.
“I feel very confident that he’ll continue to improve all the teams at Celtic. I’m very confident at Ronny’s future at Celtic."
Deila concedes that failing to overcome Malmo in the Champions League play-off round was a major disappointment, but insists he has had no doubts over his overall blueprint for the club.
“The worst thing I know is to let people down,” he said. “It’s the hardest thing in life and that’s why it’s tough to be a manager.
“If you can’t go through the hard times, you’ll never be a manager.
“You see what kind of person you are. I know what I am and I will stand for my values and my way of thinking in football and leadership.”
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