Deila snubs winter break away in Spain

Celtic boss Ronny Deila is set to snub a January break in the sunshine  claiming that his players don’t need it this year due to the early European exit.

Deila took the players away to help refocus them ahead of their last-32 tie against Inter Milan in the Europa League and hectic schedule until the end of the season.

Last year, the Celtic manager decided to take his team out to Gran Canaria where they faced PSV and Sparta Prague in two friendly games.

Speaking to the Daily Record the Hoops boss said:

I don’t feel we need it. I’m not thinking: ‘We need to get away.’ We have been in a tough period after Europe. There has been a lot of games and I can see the players have been a little bit down.

But I think that has turned around now and I saw very positive energy against Hearts. I am looking forward to every game.

However, Deila decided to turn it down this year claiming that the reasons were simple.

If we did it, we would have had to take away a Saturday game and that is an important thing for the fans as well.

We discussed the possibility and in the end we agreed we would stay. The weather hasn’t been great but football-wise, it hasn’t been too bad.

Deila has come under criticism in recent weeks with many Celtic fans unhappy with their European form and a growing sign of discontent amongst fans for their domestic performances.

For now, it seems Deila’s job is safe, with a first domestic treble since 2001 still a possibility for the Norwegian.