Give Him Time

Last updated : 14 October 2014 By Ed_ScottishFitba

C:WindowsTempphp29B6.tmpNeil Lennon is confident his successor at Celtic, Ronny Deila, will be do well at the club given time in his post. Deila has endured a difficult start at Celtic, as Lennon did when he took the post in 2010, but the latter believes the current manager is still finding his feet at the club. Lennon left Celtic in May once the club had been crowned champions of Scotland for the third successive season. He also won two Scottish Cups during his four years in charge and took his team to the last 16 of the Champions League. He believes Celtic will provide solid backing for Deila, despite some fans having misgivings about the Norwegian’s start in Glasgow.

Lennon said: "I think under Ronny, once he finds his feet and gets a bit of time to implement what he does, then the club will be very successful. We’ve had great success, we’re the dominant team in Scotland and I’m pretty sure the club have picked the right man to take the club forward. And I wish Ronny and the club and the players every success because they did wonderful things for, not just my career but for my life as well."

Media reports in Scotland claimed Deila had been critical of his predecessor's methods while he was in charge, particularly the squad’s diet, but Lennon insisted the story was a complete falsehood in an attempt to create problems between the pair. He said: "I don’t think that was true. That was a bit of muck-racking by some of the press north of the border. I think Ronny just wants to implement his own ways in terms of the diet. I think everyone would know the diet at Celtic was pretty good and Ronny’s just trying to maybe eek out a bit more. I don’t think he was critical of my regime and certainly not critical of the players, I think he just wants to look at putting his own stamp on the club and that’s altogether fine with me."