Ronny Deila admits he ‘lost himself’ at Celtic as he claimed Scottish football’s culture 'revolved around fear and results' at Parkhead.
The Norwegian boss has been widely praised for the job he's done at Standard Liege this season. He was Hoops boss for two years and won a couple of titles and a League Cup. But Deila - who won two Scottish Premiership titles and the Scottish League Cup - has admitted he never felt at home at Parkhead because he was unable to relax.
He said: "In Scotland, the culture revolved around fear and results. I don't believe in that. I believe in respect. You get that through two things - knowing what you're talking about and treating people right. With a reign of fear, you can put everyone on edge, yes. But that will only yield short-term results. If I start calling someone names, there is a chance that they will react angrily, we will clash and we will grow even further apart. If I tell you that I am disappointed in you and explain why I was not satisfied, we can get somewhere.
"I felt like I kind of lost myself at Celtic. I had no room for movement. I am not a 9-5 guy. I work hard and am structured, but at the same time there is craziness in me. I need to be able to go out and have a drink with friends.
"I felt like I had to constantly look back there. It was like I had gone from the first year of primary school straight to the last year of secondary school, it felt like that. I am proud of how I did there, but I felt I had skipped steps. That's why I went back to Norway, to Valerenga.
"There I was watched extra closely again because I was that coach who had worked at a top foreign club. I started behaving the way the outside world wanted me to behave. That's dangerous because if you are not true to yourself, you lose your credibility. That's why New York City and even the first lockdown came so handy for me. For the first time in 25 years, I could think about who I was and I got new energy.”
And Deila, in an interview with a Belgian newspaper, insisted winning trophies wasn't his main aim at Celtic. He pointed out: "I've never been too focused on winning prizes. I like projects. That also attracted me to Standard Liege. At Stromsgodset, my first club as a manager, getting better was the motivation and eventually, the prizes came naturally. Then I went to Celtic, where winning was mandatory.”
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