The Ronny Deila Thread

On the Norwegian podcast ‘Fotballklubben, Ronny Deila has given a fascinating insight into the events leading up to him becoming Celtic manager, his efforts to bring in a new culture at the club and the reasons why he could not continue in the role. In the first of two articles with extracts from the podcast, exclusively translated from Norwegian for 90minutecynic.com, Deila explains what happened behind the scenes when a young manager from a medium-sized club in Norway was approached by one of the biggest clubs in the world.


‘You have to experience Celtic before you can start comprehend what it’s like’ (Ronny Deila)


Deila: ‘About a month before I came to Glasgow the club had got in touch with me via a contact that Strømsgodset had at Manchester City. He said Celtic was interested and asked if I could come over to Manchester to meet them. It was a very informal meeting, chatting mostly about how Celtic had needed to change their way of doing things. Early this century Celtic could compete on wages with English Premier League clubs; they brought in Chris Sutton, John Hartson and managed to keep Henrik Larsson for many years. Then the TV revenue in England exploded, every club now getting something like 2 billion (£200 million) per club, while Celtic gets 30 million (£3 million), the same as Rosenborg would get in Norway. The difference is now so big that it forces you to think differently, to look at different markets, buy younger players, develop your own talent.’

Interviewer: ‘Scottish clubs could also afford to bring in big names in terms of managers. I mean, you’re probably not as expensive as * Advocaat?’

Deila: ‘Exactly. So we agreed on how Celtic had to be run and how they needed to do things differently. Then I didn’t hear much more for a while. I went to Marbella (during the mid-season break in Norway) with a mate. It had been a very good first part of season, second in the league despite all our injuries. This was a well deserved holiday.

While I was there Celtic phoned and said they wanted me to come to London the next day to meet the owner. To be honest, I was really enjoying my holiday but I obviously couldn’t say no. I flew over at 6am the next day. London was pouring with rain. I’d been given an address in a very nice area of the city, got a taxi there and rang the bell. Nobody answered. I phoned my contact and he said they were on their way back from lunch and just to ring the bell again as the maid would let me in.

When I got in I was showed to a room with a big harp, a massive piano and with big Irish murals on the wall. You could tell this was a man who knew his history, was intelligent and had money. I sat down and waited, feeling a bit like a door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesman. They came back from lunch and I met the owner, who reminded me a bit of Donald Sutherland. I thought I just needed to tell them who I am and what I stand for and then whatever happens, happen. Again, it was quite informal.

After a while he said it was obvious that I knew what was I doing and asked whether I could replicate what I had done successfully at Strømsgodset in Scotland? I said I didn’t know, as I haven’t tried yet, but that I believed people are very much the same in Scotland and that what I’d done in Norway was transferable. Then he asked what I thought it be like to coach multi-millionaires? Again I said I didn’t know, I would need to try it.

It was all clever questions – this was clearly a man who knew what he was looking for, where he wanted to go and someone who could tell what people stood for. He did say it could be difficult for me to come to Celtic as an outsider, not knowing what it was all about and being as young as I was. He asked whether I thought it would be easier to be an assistant manager at first, learn that way and then take over as manager at a later time.

I said that if I were to be an assistant manager, it had to be under a really good leader. The owner said; “So it would have to be someone with a big enough name that you’d say ‘yes’ immediately to be their assistant? Like, you would you want to be Arsene Wenger’s assistant?”

And I said, yes, then of course would I’d want to be an assistant, who wouldn’t want to work with him.

Soon after that the meeting was over and I was back out in the rain, trying to get a taxi back to the airport to return to Marbella. I was so exhausted when I got back I turned off my phone and didn’t talk about Celtic with anyone for 24 hours. I only told my mate that I had been was myself so we’ll see what happens.

Two days later Celtic phoned again and said they were very interested in bringing me to the club. They thought it would be best that I started as an assistant manager in order to build up my experience in terms of the culture, the club and everything else, and then perhaps move up to the manager role eventually.

They asked whether I wanted to be Roy Keane’s assistant manager. I almost laughed out loud as the whole thing was so surrealistic. I have great respect for Roy Keane, he has a fantastic personality and it was an opportunity I just couldn’t say no to. It would have been an experience for life, no matter what would have happened, although I’m sure it would have been some tough times under him as well! So I agreed to be his assistant. Then the deal with Keane fell through and everything was up in the air again. Apparently, other managers were being discussed and a lot of talks taking place.

Two days after I’m back from Marbella, Celtic phoned me again and said they wanted me for the manager role. They had been enquiring about me all over, checking if I was strong enough to take on such a role. At that point there was no going back for me, not a single thought that I wasn’t going to do this. I was adamant that I was taking the job. I didn’t even look at the contract offer, I wasn’t interested in it at all, I just wanted the job.

I went into Jostein’s (Flo – sporting director at Strømsgodset) office and said I had been offered the Celtic manager job and that I wanted to go.

Jostein said: “You’re joking. That’s not true. That’s the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard”

I said: “Jostein, it’s true. They’ll going to phone you this afternoon.”

He just kept saying “you’re joking, this isn’t true”. He just couldn’t comprehend it.

Finally, he said: “Ronny Deila, do you know what it means to be manager of Celtic? You’ll have to be completely in charge, a total boss. You’re aware of that? You have to think very, very carefully about this.”

The negotiations between the two clubs started and they turned out to be very difficult. This was a Monday and the very next day we were playing Tromsdalen away in the cup. At this point the media interest had suddenly exploded. Peter (Lawwell) phoned me and said that Jostein had asked him to travel to Norway for face-to-face talks. He was reluctant to come and that Celtic wanted a quick resolution, otherwise they had to start looking for alternatives. It was a very stressful period and I felt under intense pressure, as it made it clear to me how much I wanted the job.

Peter eventually said he’d go to Oslo airport for talks on one condition; that I would come back with him to Scotland regardless of what happened during the negotiations. I said that’s fine, no problem.

We went up to Tromsdalen and lost in the cup, a terrible performance, total chaos around the match. My head probably wasn’t in the right place and the same for the players.

Then on the Thursday the talks between Peter and Jostein started at the airport in Oslo. I was at home but Peter said that he might bring me in early if the talks stalled. About five minutes after they started he phoned me and asked me to come in, as the clubs were miles apart. In one way my presence only made things worse because it brought a personal element (between him and Jostein) into what was a professional negotiation. But this was just too important to me and I that it might not happen if I didn’t get involved.

But no agreement was reached, Strømsgodset went away and Peter said; ‘We’re going to Scotland’. I got on the club’s private plane with my agent and Peter and flew to Glasgow. When we landed we were escorted to a car and as we drove away from the airport, Jostein phoned me:

“How’s my boy?”

“Yeah, I’m good, thanks”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in Glasgow”

“You’re not in Glasgow, Ronny.”

“Yes, I’m in Glasgow, Jostein”

“No, you’re not”

“Yes, I am in Glasgow”

He finally believed me and asked me if I understood what kind of consequences that could have. But I said: “Jostein, I am going to manage Celtic. You just can’t stop this. Now both of you have to get a grip and agree on this”

I was telling him how Celtic were confident that Strømsgodset couldn’t stop me and that they would have ten lawyers for every one Strømsgodset had and it would end up in total chaos if they couldn’t agree between them. I had nine years at Strømsgodset, it had been a fantastic journey, but this was the opportunity I wanted. Jostein still wouldn’t budge, saying Celtic needed to match their demands and that I was worth that much to the club.

I guess there was still the chance that this wouldn’t go ahead, but Peter is so experienced and seemed to have total control of the situation. In the car he said I’d be presented as the Celtic manager at noon the next day. It would be too much commotion if I went to a hotel in the city so Peter took me to his house outside of Glasgow to spend the night. But even there photographers were lurking in the bushes, managing to get pictures of us as we got out of the car.

I woke up the next day and nothing had happened, still no agreement, nobody talking to each other and it was only four hours left to the press conference.

We drove to Celtic Park, up Celtic Way and there is already about two thousand people there. It’s my first time at Celtic Park, this gigantic 60,000 seater stadium, I’m in a suit which isn’t really me and I step out to this big roar from the crowd, people saying “Welcome to Paradise”. Again, a surrealistic experience.

Then, about five minutes before the press conference is about to start, Peter says to me: “We’ve got a deal with Strømsgodset, it’s fine”.

As I’m about to put the pen on the paper, Peter looks me in the eyes and says: “Ronny, your life will never be the same”. And he was right.

Peter Lawwell and Jostein Flo are the two people in my life I have the biggest respect for, what they’ve meant for my career and what I’ve learnt from them is fantastic. And they get along fine now, they were both at my 40th birthday party – the negotiations were just work.’

http://90minutecynic.com/the-deila-podcast-part-1/

 

Podcast here
https://soundcloud.com/fotballklubb...da-han-fikk-celtic-jobben-guidetti-og-hengern

 

In this second article with extracts from the podcast, exclusively translated from Norwegian for 90minutecynic.com, Deila talks about the role of the manager in Britain, his efforts to shape 24 hour athletes and how he came to the conclusion that his time at Celtic was up.


‘To be a part of Celtic is like being part of a family, the saying is “a club like no other”, and it’s true, it’s something special.’ (Ronny Deila)


Deila: ‘As a manager in Britain, you’re above everybody else. You’d never have a prank made on you or something like that, it’s total respect. They don’t even call you by your name, it’s just ‘’gaffer’’. The hierarchy is very fixed and strong in Britain. It’s a big thing being captain as well, you’re in charge of the group. Your captain is your right hand on the pitch and for me Scott Brown was great, we had a very good relationship, which was important. He was an essential player for me and he still is for the club.

In a way, the culture within the squad was similar to Norway 15 years ago, both in a good and bad way. It’s a tougher atmosphere, there is more yelling and harsh criticism between players. This is something we need more of in Norway; a winning mentality, big personalities driving each other on. You need to have something special about you if you are to succeed at the top level.

However, they were not as conscious around nutrition and the concept of being a “24-hour athlete” as we are in Norway. Quite frankly, it was shocking, but it had a lot to do with the wider society in Britain and the diet norms. It’s fried food, there is sugar in everything, alcohol, basically all the things that are the worst imaginable nutrition wise. We had to change everything about it at the club. I said to the nutrition expert at the club at the time that players can’t eat cornflakes for breakfast, and the answer I got was that they don’t like anything else! For me it would be better not to eat breakfast than having cornflakes, which they didn’t agree with’

‘The player’s fat percentage was being measured at Celtic but I didn’t trust the readings; on some of the players I couldn’t even see their abdominal muscles. I brought in the nutrition expert I had worked with at Strømsgodset and it turned out that I was right; the measurements were wrong and too lenient, the fat percentage was actually higher.

In my first six months at Celtic the squad lost a combined weight of 60 kilos (9 ½ stones). John Collins had a very European mind-set when it came to fitness, having played at Monaco. He was fitter – at almost 50 – then some of the players in the squad when I arrived.

It was difficult at the start but we achieved some good results and got the players on board. After all, everybody wants to have a better beach body! Virgil van Dijk weighed 104kg (16st 4lb) when I arrived and when he left for Southampton he was 95kg (15st) and looked like a proper athlete. He was the best football player I’ve ever coached but 9kg (1st 4lb) will have a big impact on your ability to quickly move around the pitch.


The drinking culture was different. It is a lot more of a working-class culture within football in Britain – which there is absolutely nothing wrong with – and everyone was professional before games as you just can’t get away with drinking regularly if you have 60-70 games a season and with the intense media scrutiny there is on players.

But when they are given the opportunity to drink, they do it properly, which is fair. Especially because they do it together, something we also used to do in Norway. You don’t go out separately, you go out as a team. You must be able to trust each other out on the field, in good times and bad times. You must experience things together, celebrate together and it should be painful when you lose with people telling some harsh truths. To achieve that kind of relationship you have to spend more time together than just at training’

Interviewer: ‘If you have to choose one memory above all others from your time at Celtic, what is your favourite?’

Deila: ‘Inter Milan at home. After a tough start that season our progress had been very good and in the second half of the season we were great, we hardly lost a game and we conceded the least amount of goals domestically by any Celtic team ever. In that period we met Inter at Celtic Park and that atmosphere with 60,000 people was incredible, the intensity from the crowd was like at a rock concert. When Guidetti made it 3-3 late in the game the whole stadium exploded and it was just insane. That feeling just can’t be bettered, with the fans applauding you off the pitch’

Interviewer: ‘60,000 on Celtic Park is completely different than 60,000 at Camp Nou?’

Deila: ‘Absolutely.’

Interviewer: ‘What was John Guidetti like?’

Deila: ‘Guidetti was great in the changing room, he had an energy out of this world; singing, dancing, talking and laughing. In that sense, he was a great loss when he went. On the pitch he read the game well, worked very hard, had a winning mentality, a very good free-kick taker but probably lacked a little bit of explosively. He had an illness when he was younger that basically reduced the muscle structure in his legs, which really put him back.’

Interviewer: ‘In terms of your biggest regret at Celtic, the one thing you’d wish you’d done differently?’

Deila: ‘We didn’t get the player recruitment right, especially the second season. We ended up with a squad that wasn’t balanced enough and we weren’t able to replace Van Dijk, Denayer and Guidetti. There’s reasons behind that which are a bit too sensitive to talk about, but I felt we didn’t manage that part properly and that’s my responsibility. Simple as that.’

It was difficult in terms of the wages we could offer, there was a lot of times we couldn’t compete with Championship clubs in England, with players we were interested in going to clubs like Norwich instead.’

Interviewer: ‘Many people mockingly say that to win the league with Celtic all you have to do is chose 11 players to put on the pitch. Was there any truth in that – if you don’t win the league with Celtic you’ve automatically done a bad job?’

Deila: ‘If you don’t win the league, you’re fired. It’s that simple. If you had a great side challenging you then not winning the league could maybe be accepted. However, the situation when I took over Celtic was that not winning the league would mean getting fired. But we won the league handsomely in the first season and we were a refereeing decision away from playing a cup final for the treble.

After a tough start, I’d say my first season was a great success. There was a generational shift underway when I took over. Neil Lennon had built up a great team, but in my view they were probably on a downward trajectory. We’d lost some players and the squad had to be renewed, so I had to build up a new team. I think the team we built that first season was very good.

I renewed my contract, everything was great and the club said they wanted to keep me for a long time. Then things can change incredibly fast – just ask Claudio Ranieri! You have to continuously perform and I think there are very few people who could handle this job. First of all you have to gain respect in a squad filled with multi-millionaires, every three days (when you have a game) you communicate your vision to millions of fans and you have to handle standing in front of 60,000 fans that demand that you win every game – league and cup.

The reason I lost my job at Celtic was essentially our failures in Europe. Our first half against Malmo at home was incredible, we were so good. All the colour had drained from Åge Hareide’s face (Malmo’s coach). We were 2-0 up and Stefan Johansen could have made it 3 when he was one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The stadium was rocking, it was amazing.

Then Jo Inge Berget – of all people – scored after half-time, but we made it 3-1 and were in control. Then in 93rd minute Jo Inge scored again. After that we just couldn’t handle the pressure in Malmo. We played a terrible game and I didn’t manage to get the players to perform, maybe I picked the wrong team as well.


But it was similar this season with Celtic leading 5-2 after the first game against Hapoel and then being so close to going out in Israel. It shows the incredible pressure everybody at the club is under when it comes to the qualifiers. At that time Champions League feels like it’s the be-all and end-all for the club so the pressure is so intense. It’s something you must experience to understand. There are many people talking about Celtic but unless you’ve personally been through that situation you can’t know what it feels like.

My second season was a failure. Like I said at that first press conference, I measure myself on whether the team is getting better. Throughout the whole first season we got better and better and better. Then we had a great pre-season, we did well in the first qualifying games, we beat Malmo in the home leg, everything was going upwards and then we lose in Malmo.

I lost Van Dijk, which really impacted on the group and the pressure on my position started to intensify. After that we had a couple of bad losses in the league and the pressure on me continued to increase throughout the season to such degree that I could tell it was starting to impact on the players’ performances as well.

The worst thing that could ever happen was that we lost the league to Aberdeen. The difference between the clubs is so big that if I didn’t win the league I might as well never come back to Glasgow and just retire as a coach. No way I was going to be the first manager to lose a league to Aberdeen since Alex Ferguson was there!

I thought: “This isn’t about Ronny Deila, this is about Celtic”. The best thing I could do to save the season, to release some positive energy among the players and make sure we won the league was to say that enough is enough, and that I would be leaving.

In the end, it was the best thing that could have happened for all parts with Brendan Rodgers coming in. If I was allowed to chose any manager to replace me, I would have chosen Brendan Rodgers. Because I know that we share a lot of the same ideas and values and that he would be able to really push through and develop that culture that we had tried to implement over those two seasons.

I’m very proud that 80% of his team (Brendan Rodgers’) are players that I brought in or that I developed and that six of those played in Scotland’s 2-2 game against England recently.

People who know football, people I talk to in Celtic and in Scottish football understands what has happened; there has been a generational shift and I played a part in changing that internal culture. That new generation coming through also got the experience of playing in the Champions League qualifiers, especially the pressure around the Malmo tie and then they managed to get through that game in Israel. They’ve now also had fantastic experience through playing in the Champions League. There is such a bright future for this team.

I was back at Celtic Park last year for the Champions League game against Barcelona. I would have preferred sitting in the corner with the fans, as watching from the director’s box is so boring. I’d much rather sit in the stand, have a hot dog and relax, than having to put on a suit and go into a VIP area. They even rejected me at one ground in Scotland because I wasn’t dressed smartly enough for the director’s box! But it was great seeing everybody again at the Barcelona game.

Celtic have changed everything. If I go back to Glasgow in 15 years’ time, people would still come up to me. If Henrik Larsson – the greatest of the greatest – went into Glasgow city centre, he’d be mobbed. And Celtic fans are everywhere, all over the world. To be a part of Celtic is like being part of a family. The saying is “a club like no other”, and it’s true, it’s something special.’

 

Very interesting read thanks for putting that up Crow

 

Honest interview from Ronny.

 

I'm sad it didn't work out seemed like a nice enough guy ... that last season under him was brutal though.

 

That's a fantastic read Crow

 

That article just confirms what we already knew about Ronny. The job was too big for him at that stage of his career and he was disconnected from the reality and mentality of Scottish football. He says losing the league to Aberdeen would have been the worse thing that could have happened, what an understatement, that would have been the end of the world.
No mention of the shocker against Rangers in the Cup Semi either, neatly sidestepped.

 

Aye it's really good enjoyed reading that.

 

That was a really good interview. I really do wish him all the success

 

Enjoyed reading that. He's fairly honest and open which is a breath of fresh air in football these days.

Hope he kicks on with his managerial career, havent really been following how he's doing this season.

 

Very frank and revealing interview. I think in the second season he just couldn't command the total respect of the players when the going got a bit tough. Interesting as well when he pointed out he never replaced VVD, Denayer or Guidetti. I think part of that was not getting his number 1 or 2 targets as we wouldn't push the boat out.

Interesting as well the eating culture, which as we all know in Scotland is shocking, but to have certain foods on offer at a professional football club is surprising. Cereal is like eating pure sugar.

Before you can become a world class football team on the pitch you need a world class facility, you need world class staff in the background and you need a forward thinking ideology. We now have that and i think a part of that was started when Deila came to the club. History may not remember his time here that fondly for the football, although he did win a few trophies, but it will remember him kindly for initiating the change in the mentality.

 

Sounds like the players really hated him, or at least he thought so

 

http://www.talkingbaws.com/2017/06/celtic-fans-will-enjoy-ronny-deilas-story-got-celtic-job/

Quite an interesting read too. I didn't know Roy Keane was that close to being Celtic manager?

 

Think he clearly knew how big the club was before he came, he was very happy to keep learning under a better manager, but when the assistant job feel through and he got offered the managers job, no one can ever blame him for having the balls to take the job on.

Two things that are to be noted is the players resistance to a better diet and fitness regime. In season 1 we all saw the changes and praised it, season 2 i dare say the players thought they done enough to deserve some slack, but thats not what deila wanted, and it went down hill.

Second thing is the quick mention on tranafers and issues. Could we look in to who signed for Norwich between his two seasons? Clearly we came close to signing one of them. The other is that he was either not trusted with money, or he knows more about our restraints and been told not to talk about it - hence the sensitive comment.


Anyway, what a diference it could have been had he been assistant first. Perhaps even under brendan of all people.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

 

I find it strange that players would be resistant to dietary changes.

In Mulgrews recent interview with Si Ferry they sort of take the * out of the fact that Deila had banned sugar in Tea. I was genuinely very surprised by that, I would have thought that would have been standard at any club playing at a half decent level. Putting sugar in tea is something I'd even be conscious about and I amnt close to being a professional athlete.

 

Thanks Crow. Just goes to show

 

Ronny was coming in as Lennon's assistant if Neil had stayed.

Funny how things work out.

 

If nothing else, I'm delighted at Ronny criticising the diet and drinking culture here. Getting rid of it can only help Celtic. Hopefully it becomes the norm at the club.

That was a fantastic read. Hope he goes on to have a great career.

 

That sounds to me like Ronny was tapped up...