“I think that was one of the names that was mentioned” – Ronny Deila spills the beans

The Ronny Deila era at Celtic was a strange one.

Before he was appointed, there was a lot of speculation on who was going to be the Celtic manager at the time.

As a highly rated young coach, Ronny was brought to the club to become the assistant to the new gaffer but in a sensational turn of events, as we all know, he ended up being hired as Celtic’s number one man in the dugout.

In an interview with Graham Spiers on the Press Box podcast, Deila was asked if the legendary former Manchester United midfielder, Roy Keane, was really one of the names in the frame that he was meant to work under.

Deila said, “I think that was one of the names that was mentioned.

“I have a lot of confidence.  I’m know what I was doing. I had success. And I was ready for it. I just knew that that is the job I want. And I knew that I’m going to do well.

“And of course, I don’t think you can ever, especially when you are a foreign guy, to imagine what Celtic is.

“I don’t think anyone can be prepared to be a Celtic manager.

“When I come in, I was I was not nervous. I was excited. But of course I don’t think I knew the this the size of the club, how big it really was.

“Even though I’d been in Celtic Park and of course I knew a lot about the history of Celtic. But when you are in that role you you have to adapt quick and that’s that was a tough.

“Once in the beginning to get the players to understand how I wanted to play and also how I wanted to lead compared to what they were used to.

“And that I also have to adapt to the size of the club.”

Ronny eventually went on to win two Scottish Premier Leagues and a League Cup during his time as Hoops manager and many argue that he was ‘done’ out of a treble in the Scottish Cup semi final against Inverness due to a poor referee decision.

More on this later.