text: Peter Lawwell recently admitted to telling Ronny Deila that it was a matter of getting over the ‘Le Guen hump’ but Celtic’s chief executive might well have cited a couple of names that had met their grim fates closer to home. One thing is for sure: Deila did not need to be an ardent student of the history of Scottish football to appreciate the gravitas of the situation he had become immersed in earlier this season. By late autumn, his side had twice exited Europe while Hamilton Accies had left Celtic Park triumphant. A search party was hardly required to identify his doubters. Celtic manager Ronny Deila admitted that the first six months in charge were mentally tough . Publicly, Deila plastered on the brave face and talked of looking behind the results for progress. Privately, the misgivings about his long-term suitability for the post were beginning to gnaw at him. ‘We played Dundee away (1-1) and we couldn’t play worse than we did,’ Deila recalled. ‘It was unbelievably bad. You know what the players want but you just haven’t got the message across. ‘People are insecure and that’s a hard time for the coach and the players.’ Even for a manager who had been steeped in the nuances of Scottish football, such a period would have been troubling enough. Deila, a Norwegian who had cut his teeth at tiny Stromsgodset, began to look like a man caught in entirely the wrong movie. ‘I have to admit the first six months were tough mentally because you have to really learn a lot of new things and get settled,’ he went on. ‘One thing is the language, the culture is another and then you have to know new opponents, your own team, understand what Celtic is all about and Scottish football. ‘There are so many things to take in and it’s so easy to push too hard and then you don’t get any time for reflection and you just get tired and then you can meet hard games and hard periods. You have nothing to push against.’ The Norwegian was unsure whether he was cut out to be the boss of the Bhoys . Upon his unveiling last summer, Deila was asked if he felt ready to manage a club like Celtic. He could hardly have answered in anything other than the affirmative. However, faced with a dressing room full of strangers, a league and a country he knew little about and the small matter of Champions League qualifiers hurtling towards him, he quickly appreciated the scale of the task he faced. ‘I spoke English at once,’ he recalled. ‘I’d a one-hour speech to them (the players) about how I wanted things. I think that went quite well. ‘But I didn’t know anything about Scottish football. I didn’t know anything about the players. I’d had a full season with my old club and five days later I was ready for Celtic. ‘I didn’t know more than four names in the squad so it takes time to get to know them then bang, you’re in the Champions League and playing games all over Europe, so I was in a situation I had to manage. ‘The players really wanted it. No problem at all. But my way of playing is quite difficult, it’s a lot of things. It’s not straightforward, a lot of relations and rules that we have to get into the players. ‘That takes time to get into. It’s so important to understand if you go back to the big managers they had before, Neil (Lennon) and (Gordon) Strachan and Martin (O’Neill), they also struggled in the beginning. It wasn’t only me. Peter was saying that the whole time - relax, you’re not the first, we’ve been through this before. But it’s harder for a Norwegian guy coming in, who’s unknown, as opposed to someone coming in with a big name.’ He was not alone in those difficult days, however. Realising the need to have individuals familiar with the club’s DNA standing beside him, John Collins was suggested as an assistant. Stevie Woods, the goalkeeping coach under Lennon, was retained while John Kennedy, the former youth coach, was promoted. Collectively, they acted as Deila’s support network. ‘I had unbelievably good back up from Peter, John Collins, John Kennedy and Stevie Woods as well,’ Deila explained. But results have picked up and they lead the Premiership (Kris Commons pictured scoring at St Mirren) ‘I’m a very open person, I say it as it is and I do that with them as well. My staff has been very good and helped me a lot. We’re growing more together, I’ve learned from them, they’ve learned from me and hopefully we know where we want to go. That’s fun and that gives you energy. That’s why I love to be here.’ It’s the small things that are making his life a little easier. In the 10 months he has been in Scotland, language has become less of an issue. ‘The first three weeks, trying to listen to what people were saying for five hours... when I got home, I was totally gone,’ he admitted. ‘I was so tired because I was sitting there all the time thinking “what is he really saying?”. There were so many new things. ‘Broony is one of the hardest. He is so quick. Half the time I just try to laugh at the right moments! But I am getting to understand more. A blip against St Johnstone aside, Celtic have been imperious since the turn of the year . ‘Now I feel more comfortable with the vocabulary, I feel I can express myself better. Before it was always the same words I was using. But I’m looking forward to speaking like every Scot!’ Ahead of Wednesday's game with Partick Thistle, Deila, his players and the supporters are very much now on the same page. A blip against St Johnstone aside, Celtic have been imperious since the turn of the year. From privately wondering if he’d bitten off more than he could chew by coming to Celtic, Deila is now ravenous for more success. ‘It’s fun,’ he said. ‘I want to win more trophies. I feel good. I’ve managed now to enjoy the week better in the past when everything in management was new and stressful. ‘Mentally, I’m in a very good place which is why I’m saying I’m enjoying the moments right now and looking forward to the games. ‘We have built the foundation and now the fun part is starting - to build relationships into the team and get the systems even better and quicker.’
target: Celtic boss Ronny Deila was unsure he was cut out for the job .
  Deila struggled for results initially at Celtic Park .
  But the Bhoys now lead the Premiership and should win the title .