Commons Hails Deila Impact

Photo by Jeff Holmes Kris Commons can understand why Ronny Deila faced criticism in the early days of his Parkhead reign - but he believes the Celtic boss has laid the foundations for a bright future. The former Stromsgodset manager was the surprise choice to replace Neil Lennon last summer. The 39-year-old took his time to settle into life in Glasgow as his philosophy and methods failed to produce instant results. Commons - Celtic's top scorer last year - was often the man made to suffer as a perceived lack of work rate saw him benched. But the rest of the Celtic side struggled too as they crashed out of the Champions League twice - Legia Warsaw's expulsion initially gave them a reprieve - and endured early stumbles as they began the defence of their Scottish Premiership title. Fortunes have turned round since then and after helping fire the Bhoys to the first leg of a domestic treble with Sunday's 2-0 QTS Scottish League Cup final success over Dundee United, Commons can now see more trophies coming. The 31-year-old, who slammed home Celtic's first-half opener, said: "This is definitely the first step towards a treble for us. "At the start of the season we had two bites at the cherry in the Champions League but got knocked out twice. "We were up against opposition that we should have got past. "The manager came into a club that was doing really well and was high in spirits. The changes that he did bring in did take us time to adapt to. "While we were doing that, we got beat. If you lose even one match here the pressure is on you - that is part and parcel of the Celtic job. "People were quick to write him off because he was an unknown. Not many people knew where he was from, what he had done - he wasn't a name that was being spoken about. "You can talk about the likes of Gordon Strachan, Martin O'Neill, Neil Lennon - I think even Roy Keane was linked with the job at that point - guys who are Celtic and know what the club is about. "So to get Ronny Deila, people must have been thinking, 'Let's get on YouTube and see what he's been up to' - then found him in his underpants (when celebrating a Stromsgodset win) and then thought, 'We'll have a bit of that'. "There were questions asked in those early days about him changing a lot and bringing in a different style, to make us more European than SPFL. But in the long run that will be a great way to play."

Commons was also quick to defend captain Scott Brown after he was pictured on a night out, days before the final: