Criticism of Celtic manager is harsh - Scott Brown

Celtic skipper Scott Brown claims criticism of manager Ronny Deila has been "harsh" and believes the Hoops can go the rest of the season unbeaten.

Following an ignominious exit from the Europa League where the Scottish champions finished bottom of their section, the Norwegian came under more pressure after the 2-1 home defeat by Motherwell at Parkhead on Saturday, despite still leading Aberdeen at the top of the Premiership by one point and with a game in hand.

Former Celtic striker Andy Walker, now a pundit, claimed the Hoops' style of play was "dull and uninspiring" while former midfielder and ex-assistant manager, Alan Thompson, said the Parkhead club have been "pedestrian" and an online petition to sack Deila has been started.

Brown, out with a long term knee injury which will keep him out "probably for another eight weeks", was at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary to present a £5,000 donation to Simpson's Centre for Reproductive Health and he responded to the former Stromsgodset manager's critics.

"I think it is harsh when you are top of the league and your manager is top of the league," said the Scotland captain.

"Everyone has their own opinion. We need to kick on and at the end of the season prove them all wrong.

"We have had one poor result and another one a couple of weeks ago against Kilmarnock but if we go on a run of five, six games I am sure it will all be forgotten about.

"The manager did a good job last season. We were really unlucky not to get the treble, just a little bit of luck here and there would have been nice or a couple of good refereeing decisions.

"This season we have had a slow start but we need to kick on now.

"Everyone expects us to run away with it (league) but it is never that easy, whether Rangers are in the league or not.

"It is always hard when teams play against us at Celtic Park, they just defend and try to catch you on the counter. But we could go the rest of the season without getting beat again.

"We haven't played well enough all season but we know we can kick on and we need to kick on."

Brown asked those Celtic fans who have lost faith in Deila to keep the faith.

The midfielder said: "Stick by us through thick and thin and we will do you proud.

"We have not properly shown our true colours this season for a run of games but I believe we are going to do that soon.

"Things are not coming off for us and we are not creating as many chances as we should be.

"We have a lot of possession and sometimes that doesn't mean a lot, sometimes you need to knuckle down and get the three points.

"It might not be pretty but three points is three points."