Jury's Still Out on Ronny

Friday marks a significant milestone in Celtic's history.

On April 24, 1965, Jock Stein won the Scottish Cup final against Dunfermline and put the first trophy of his success laden career as Celtic manager in their trophy room.

Fifty years on, big Jock remains the most revered figure in Celtic's icon-strewn pantheon of greats. The side he inherited just six weeks before the final had failed to win any major trophy for seven years. Two years after the defeat of Dunfermline, Celtic were crowned the champions of a continent after beating Inter Milan in Lisbon in what was then known as the European Cup final.

That historic accomplishment in Portugal came at the end of a season in which Stein had become the first Celtic manager ever to win the domestic treble.

There would be no-one to match him in that department until Martin O'Neill performed similarly dramatic restoration work three decades later.

The Celtic side the Irishman took over had been subordinate to Rangers on the home front until O'Neill worked his magic and delivered a treble in his first season at the club.

Ronny Deila had a place in Celtic's history apparently assured for the same treble-winning reason until his side flopped against Inverness Caley Thistle at Hampden on Sunday.

It will suit an element of the Celtic support to put that reversal after extra time down to the fact that their team was denied the most glaring penalty of this or any other season on the verge of half-time while already being one goal to the good.

Their sense of grievance is entirely justified.

For two match officials, the referee and the whatever he's called standing behind the bye-line, to miss a textbook example of deliberate handball beggared belief.

The conventional response from a radical wing of the Celtic support will be to allege that the match officials knowingly conspired to deny Celtic a penalty and the opportunity to take a lead that would have sustained them to the final whistle.

But conspiracy theories can sometimes be a convenient way of avoiding any objective analysis of a team's performance.

The main players in Deila's team, such as Stefan Johansen and Kris Commons, failed to rise to the occasion at Hampden.

The defence was too often made to look ropey, such as the time when a Celtic corner turned into a Caley Thistle goal that led to Craig Gordon being sent off and a penalty being awarded.

And his understudy, Lukas Zaluska, was fortunate not to have had another spot kick given against him for barging into the back of an opponent as he struggled to deal with a high ball thrown into his box.

Also, might it not have made more sense to remove an ineffective Commons rather than sacrifice the more pacey James Forrest when Gordon went off?

Neil Lennon should have won a treble during Rangers' absence from the top flight of Scottish football and now Deila has fallen at an unexpected hurdle as well.

That's why it's so hard to join Stein and O'Neill in the history books. You need to do better than Celtic managed at the weekend to have greatness bestowed upon you.

Too many fans had Deila canonised before the evidence of him being a miracle worker had been fully gathered.

Wednesday night's league game at Dundee is now a massive one for all concerned at Celtic Park.

Morale has been dented and limbs have been tired by extra time conducted on reduced numbers.

A defeat from Paul Hartley's side would give Aberdeen the chance to reduce the deficit between themselves and Celtic to just two points before Deila's side go to Tannadice on Sunday.

There are no arithmetical certainties about the outcome of the title race as yet, only assumptions about what will happen.

And jumping to conclusions can be a dangerous form of exercise in this game.

It was supposed to be that the game between Aberdeen and Celtic at Pittodrie on May 10 was the time when Deila's team would have their title-winning coronation.

But there's a lot of water to pass under the bridge before that becomes the case, and the manager dare not fail the fans now for fear of the consequences.

The jury is still out on Ronny in my estimation and his progress between now and the end of the season will be revealing.

You don't get to be the equal of Stein and O'Neill without being remarkable, and Deila's Celtic can't consider themselves to be that good as yet.

They had the treble in their hands and now they've dropped the ball. The referee was incompetent but Celtic were inadequate on the day at the national Stadium.