The folly of allowing Ronny Deila to dictate his departure date was underlined today when the outgoing Celtic boss revealed that the lack of improvement in the team was killing him inside!
Is that the type of manager that you want leading you into the title run in?
Having admitted that he had been considering his departure for some time Deila put the blame for his failure firmly at the feet of the players as he planned his departure for pastures new.
The phrase “losing the dressing room” is a common excuse when results go wrong, in the case of Celtic this season the writing has been on the wall ever since the Champions League exit to Malmo.
After that defeat Deila described his players as frightened and scared, at Hampden on Sunday he said his side lacked organisation, after losing to Ross County in the League Cup Deila described his players as weak.
With such obvious differences between the manager and players even an eight point advantage in the Premiership title race could be under threat.
Explaining his decision to step down Deila said: “Improvement is one of my biggest values and when you don’t get it, it kills me inside and I lose energy with that.
“I don’t think there has been a lot of improvement and when you don’t get improvement the outside pressure is going to get harder and harder as well.
“I have no problem dealing with that, I have been sitting in this room a lot of times and there has been a lot of difficult questions.
“That is not the problem, the problem is when you don’t get improvements and the things you said you wanted to create when you came in the door, you haven’t created.
“One of the reasons we haven’t had that improvement is because of the pressure and speculation around me all the time.
“That is why I think it is best for the club that new energy is coming into the club next season and now we can really focus on winning the five games and getting five (titles) in a row.
“It is going to be a huge thing for me, the players and the whole club, this is why the decision has been made.”
The pressure on Celtic could be eased tomorrow night if Aberdeen fail to win at St Johnston- if they do win Celtic will kick off against Ross County with a five point advantage.
While Deila’s management hasn’t been decisive the same argument can be put to the Celtic board. If the manager hasn’t seen improvement over several months why is he being allowed to choose his departure?
David Murray got lots wrong in football and in business but presented with a similar situation in 1991 he called things correctly.
Having negotiated his move to Liverpool Graeme Souness told Murray that he’d be leaving at the end of the season.
With four matches left to play Murray told Souness that his services were no longer required, after a few days Walter Smith was announced as the replacement and Rangers (IL) staggered over the line beating Aberdeen on the final day with a manager committed to the club.
Expecting the rift between Deila and the Celtic players to be put on hold is a high risk strategy- by 3pm on Sunday we’ll know if it has been successful- or if further turmoil is in store.