RONNY DEILA has offered Mark Warburton advice on how to cope with life as an Old Firm manager.
Speaking at the end of a week which saw his Rangers counterpart react angrily to speculation linking him with Fulham, he said, “Learn quick. That’s the most important thing.
“You have to use a lot of time for reflection. Know yourself, what you stand for, who you want to be, what you want to achieve.
“Then you have to go for it and believe in yourself.
“You have to adapt to the culture you come to, and the environment around you.
“When you get time to reflect, you understand how much you’ve learnt.
“But in the middle of it, you just take one day at a time.
“When I’ve been through it I think it will make it easier to go to another club that has the same intensity surrounding it.”
Deila, meanwhile, believes Scott Allan can become the new Kris Commons.
Signed in a blaze of controversy in the summer from Hibs who had held out against counter interest from RangersAllan, 24, is yet to make a start in the Hoops.
That could well change in Istanbul on Thursday night though, with Deila giving serious thought to throwing him in against Fenerbahce after being impressed with his display off the subs bench against Ajax.
“I don’t think anyone inside Celtic Park could have seen the pass Scott gave Leigh Griffiths before it happened. That was high quality,” he said.
“Then, when he came on against Inverness he again showed up well with the ball to Kieran Tierney which led to Leigh’s goal.
“For me he is quite similar to Kris, a younger version if you like, because of the creativity he offers the team.
“He has big potential and I am excited about him.
“He could be a very important player for us in the future.”
With former Scotland internationalist Commons 32 years old and Allan already knocking on the door, it is a future that might not be too long in coming.
“You always need goalscorers and creative players but a real positive for me is the fact Scott’s attitude has been very good,” said the Celtic boss.
“He came from the Championship.
“It’s tough to come in from another level into the best club in Scotland.
“The most important thing is to be patient and to work hard every day and to adapt to the tempo and style of play.
“He has done that from day one.
“Lately he’s been getting rewarded with game time and he’s giving back good performances.
“With good performances you get more confidence and that is what we hope to get from this match against Fenerbahce.
“We will see what we do with selections but we won’t change the whole team.
“We would never do that because we have a duty to the other teams to fight for the points.”
READ MORE
Gordon Smith: Success in Scotland can earn Mark Warburton a big job down south
Ronny Deila has to patch up Celtic’s leaky defence, says Stiliyan Petrov
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe