by Andrew Muirhead

Ronny Deila was an unknown commodity in Scottish football at the start of this season, now he is a league and cup double winning manager in his debut season as Celtic manager — a risk that paid off.

When the Norwegian descended on Celtic Park, the media and fans alike were questioning his appointment.
Who was he? What has he achieved? Why have Celtic appointed him?

Questions soon turned to anger and calls for his sacking after being knocked out of the Champions League twice — once by Legia Warsaw, then by Maribor who were punished for playing a suspended player.

They then dropped 10 points in their opening eight league games, including a shock 1-0 defeat to Hamilton in October.

There were claims of a dressing room unrest, chips were taken off the menu and Kris Commons was frozen out of the side.

The unrest among the support gradually disappeared as the team went on an eight game winning run, beating Aberdeen in the process, as they regained their dominance domestically.

A controversial refereeing decision denied Celtic a clear penalty in their Scottish Cup semi-final tie against Inverness Caley Thistle, a game-changing moment.

They never really got over that shocking decision and Celtic fell short of reaching the cup final and a possible domestic treble.

Friday’s 5-0 thumping of Dundee pushed Celtic to the brink of winning the title and as Ronny Deila spent time with his family in Norway, Dundee United’s 1-0 win over Aberdeen handed the title to the Glasgow side — deservedly so.

For Celtic and Deila it is now about strengthening ahead of next season to push on and improve both domestically and in Europe.

Maybe now he will receive the recognition he deserves. You wouldn’t count on it from some quarters though.