RONNY Deila insisted last night that his players don't get the credit they deserve and said that everyone in Scotland, with the exception of Celtic supporters, wants them to fail. The Parkhead side put a brave face on their midweek Europa League setback in Molde with a thumping 5-0 victory against basement side Dundee United to move four points clear of Aberdeen at the top of the Ladbrokes Premiership, with Kris Commons, who had reacted angrily to his substitution in midweek, greeting his manager with a high five and a hug when withdrawn on a double yesterday.
“I like hugs," said Deila. "That was good. Kris was good, together with the team. He scored one especially good goal and he is brilliant at penalties. I’m happy for him and for the whole team. Everybody understands we have more demands coming this week and we have to save what we can.
"A few weeks ago, we got a lot of criticism because we were five points behind," the Norwegian added. "Now we have suddenly turned it around in a month and that’s something we should be proud of. There are hard demands here at Celtic. We have won the league four times in a row and will hopefully do it a fifth time. We are winning cups as well.
“Everybody wants us down, except of course the Celtic fans. If you look around, now it is Aberdeen getting troubles but it is not the same pressure on them as there is in Celtic. But that’s how it is here and everybody has to cope with it. You need character to do what we did today."
The manager opted against doing his trademark 'Ronny Roar' celebration but insisted too much shouldn't be read into that. “I haven’t done it every time," he said. "Celtic Park is a big stadium to go around. I just didn’t feel for it today and that’s my thing. It will come back."
Dedryck Boyata, who redeemed himself after Thursday's mistake with the second goal yesterday, said he feels Celtic can still celebrate a successful season. They face a ten-day spell, with matches against Hearts in the League Cup, Aberdeen in the league and Molde again in the Europa League. “We are top of the league, we are in the two cups, we have only lost one game in the Europe," said Boyata. "Everything can still happen if we pick ourselves up for the next games, then it’s going to be a different story."
All the recriminations yesterday were in the United camp. Mixu Paatelainen, in his second match in charge, didn't spare his players after an insipid performance which left them rooted to the bottom of the division. "It was rubbish with a capital R," said the Finn. "You can set out your tactics and prepare but if you don’t do the basic things right then everything goes into the rubbish bin. After that I’m not surprised Dundee United are bottom of the league."
Deila, meanwhile, had nothing to add to reports that Celtic have been involved in initial talks with the North American Soccer League (NASL) about entering a US franchise when the second tier of the sport in the USA expands from 11 teams to 18 in 2018. “I think I should keep concentrating on the team," he said, "and others can talk about that.”
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