Hugh Keevins: Celtic have to avoid another colour coded calamity

It would appear the fates have got together and decided Ronny Deila won’t be allowed to walk in the footsteps of Celtic’s legendary, treble-winning managers, Jock Stein and Martin O’Neill.

But it also seems fair to say the Norwegian is making his own, sizeable contribution to that state of affairs.

Sunday at Hampden was a colour coded explanation of why the trio of trophies that ought to have come Celtic’s way at least once while Rangers were exiled in the lower leagues has once again failed to materialise.

And cast serious doubt on Deila’s ability to manage a club as big as Celtic at the same time.

There was the red card shown to Efe “The Master of Disaster” Ambrose which led to Ross County’s first goal.

Then there was the white flag that came out after the Highlanders had scored their second effort and Celtic disappeared into their character-less shell.

Now there’ll be blue murder if Celtic don’t win at Pittodrie on Wednesday night, and the combination of red, white and blue isn’t one that normally appeals to Celtic supporters. But you wouldn’t exactly rush to put your house on an away win at Aberdeen from a team who so readily fail to respond when pressure mounts.

Where Deila becomes culpable beyond the frequently expressed doubts concerning his team selections, substitutions and dealings in the transfer market is his performance in the inspiration department when things go wrong.

The truly great ones, like Stein and O’Neill, could have breathed life into what seemed like the most moribund of corpses, and frequently did. Billy McNeill, to name another exceptional Celtic manager, specialised in winning big matches when his team was reduced to ten men through their own fault.

David Hay won a league title on a last day of the season that required his team to win at St.Mirren and Hearts to lose at Dundee. The players were willing to go through the proverbial brick wall for these men.

Deila was able to accuse his side of being “Weak” and “Lacking character” on Sunday. With the deepest respect to Jim McIntyre and his resolute players, how can that be the case against Ross County in Glasgow with the vast majority of an admittedly poor crowd on Celtic’s side.

In the end, they booed his substitutions and they waited behind to give full vent to their negative feelings after the final whistle had blown on another anti-climax. Now the question that has to be asked is whether or not Celtic will have the bottle to retain the championship if they go under against Derek McInnes’ side on Wednesday night. If the Celtic hierarchy believe the answer to that question is not in the affirmative then they could have a big call to make on Thursday morning.

A record of habitual failure to qualify for the group stages of the Champions League is one thing. Not being in the competition at all come the start of next season is another matter entirely.

Failure to win the domestic title should be automatic grounds for dismissal for any Celtic manager operating in a league which does not contain the club’s historic rivals from Ibrox. And one of the other concerns where Deila is concerned is that the greater the pressure, the more confused he appears to become.

A nervous wreck is not what Celtic need at the helm if their status as champions comes under threat, and it’s getting to the stage where it’ll be a shock if Aberdeen don’t win on Wednesday night.

The Pittodrie side have had an unsatisfactory season of cup dismissals and inconsistent league performances, and yet a win in midweek offers them a glimmer of hope that they could still win the biggest domestic prize of all.

It will take Deila to remove that inscrutable look from his face and get animated with his temperamentally suspect players before Celtic can be entrusted with the job of winning their biggest domestic game of the season.

If he can’t do that then this man credited with being a builder of teams and a developer of young talent will have fresh doubt thrown on his managerial credentials.

Gary Locke fell on his sword on Saturday night when it became clear he did not have what it took to prevent Kilmarnock from getting mired in the prospect of relegation. Now the club are on the verge of getting Billy Davies, another specialist in resuscitating apparently lost causes.

It’s what clubs have to do when they hold their hands up and admit things really are as bad as they look.

No-one doubts Deila is anything other than a thoroughly decent, affable and approachable man, but one of football’s most familiar and accurate clichés is that the game isn’t a personality contest.

Particularly after a manager’s personality when it comes to cajoling a performance out of his players has been called into doubt.

Wednesday would be the perfect moment for Deila to contradict the notion his side is easily dismantled whenever they come under pressure. Otherwise?