RONNY DEILA has admitted his position would be untenable at Celtic and that he would voluntarily walk away from the club if he failed to win the league.

In a brutally honest assessment of where he would find himself should Aberdeen, his side's only rivals, win the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership, the Norwegian conceded his time in Glasgow would come to an end.

Deila remained his team would finish the season with at least the league title, they face East Kilbride on Sunday in the Scottish Cup, and made a passionate case to remain Celtic manager. But no supporter, player or director for that matter thought a fifth championship in a row was anything other than guaranteed, given the huge financial advantages they hold over every other club.

Asked what it would mean to him personally if Aberdeen did win the league, Deila said: "That would speak for itself. Then my future is over here. We have to win the league. That’s how it is and it’s just something you should expect from this team. I wouldn’t see any reason to continue then, you know. Then I haven’t done my job, of course."

The perception of Deila among many Celtic supporters, and arguably this is now the majority, is that he is personable, intelligent with a good football brain but not the man for their club at this moment in time. In short, that the 40-year-old is out of his depth.

Deila said: "They’re totally wrong. I really believe I’m the right man for this club. Everything is in our hands, we can win the league and that’s what we’re going to do and if we don’t then, of course, that’s a failure - that’s how it is."

Throughout the good and bad, Deila has remained positive even when there has been pressure on him, something he admitted has difficult at times.

"It’s not easy - I can tell you that," said Deila. "Leadership is about being calm, especially in this type of situation. I don’t want to lose my head and be angry, it doesn’t solve anything.

"You have to be respectful of people and talk honestly and I’ll continue to do that - but it’s hard to answer the same questions every three days when we talk about progress. I’m not a magician, I need a little more time.

"The same answer will be there about my job in three days time as well. You need to be patient as well but I understand the circumstances. I have to see it from the bigger perspective. You don’t die of it - although though it feels like it sometimes - this is football.

"I don’t think I’m the only one who has had these problems at this club. All the successful ones have also had hard times and that’s something I know about as well. I had very hard time in Stromsgodset as well, but when you go through it you learn something and then you get stronger. Life is a battle."

One thing going for Deila is he does seem to have the mental strength, which any Celtic manager needs, that some of his predecessors did not possess.

"I can’t talk about others, but it’s tough for me as well," said Deila. "I know the demands, we need to win the league but I don’t win it by saying we have to win the league, I have to find out how and we must return to the performances of two weeks ago when we were talking positively about things and now everything is turned around again.

"That’s the hard part with this job because it turns so quickly, you can feel you have built momentum and - ping! - things turn around again and we have to reorganise."

Meanwhile, Frank McAvennie, the former Celtic player, believes if his old club are going to change manager then they have to do it soon or they risk losing out on Champions League qualification next season.

“In the beginning there were a few ex-players who had a go and some of it was a bit personal," said McAvennie who won a Double with the club in 1988. "I never made it personal with Ronny. I like him, he’s a likeable guy but I said at the time it was a cheap option and that is still the same now.

“I want him to do well. But there’s only so many times you can come out and claim your team is progressing. We’re not progressing anywhere.

“But I don’t think Peter (Lawwell) and Dermot (Desmond) are going to get rid of him. They would have done it by now. I’m sure. They need to sort the team out for the summer and the Champions League.

"Celtic are judged on the Champions League and he’s had a couple of cracks at it. Winning the league is not good enough for the majority of the supporters."