The Ronny Deila Affect: Reflecting back on how his signing’s shaped the Treble Treble squad

Ronny Deila is somewhat of a cult hero amongst some of the Celtic fans, to others a stop gap until Rangers arrived back in the top flight.

You could look at Ronny’s time at Celtic as a successful one, as he won 4 and 5 in a row and a League Cup, or you can have the outlook that it was an unsuccessful one, due to having won not enough cups and suffered a defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Cup Semi-final. A defeat to Rangers which ultimately kick started 9 straight trophy wins in a row under the leadership of Brendan Rodgers, then Neil Lennon.

Only now, I think we can look back at what Deila did and appreciate it. If we do get to the Holy Grail of 10 in a row, then Deila’s place will be cemented in Celtic folklore for his contribution. The lack of cups and the defeat on penalties to a first division Rangers will all be forgotten.

Something that’s interested me recently was his signings and some of the players he brought through from the academy, or even developed after just coming through the academy in Lennon’s first tenure.

Don’t get me wrong he bought/loaned a lot of duds, but could that have been down to Celtic’s biscuit tin mentality to build a squad whilst there was no competition?

Here I’m going to look at some of his Celtic players who flourished or are now flourishing,

Jozo Simunovic – Still a Celtic first team player 5 seasons on. Not always a favourite but ever reliable. Celtic could do a lot worse than Jozo at the back.  Treble Treble Celt.

Dedryk Boyata – Now away to Hertha Berlin, the big Belgian was one of the most important players in The Treble Treble pursuit. Most notably his contribution in Rodgers first season where we became Invincible. Treble Treble Celt.

Jason Denayer – May have been a one season wonder due to being on loan but with Virgil Van Dijk by his side we may have had the best centre-back pairing for many a year. We’ve had many attempts to re-sign the Belgian since, but now plays for Lyon alongside Moussa Dembele.

Craig Gordon – Another Invincible, and majority contributer to The Treble Treble. Although second choice now, a lot of fans now calling for the shot stopper to be reinstated as number one after a collection of Scott Bain mistakes.

Erik Sviatchenko –  Still a fans favourite after being extradited for no apparent reason by Brendan Rodgers. Erik finished the 2016-2017 season as an Invincible but unfortunately didn’t feature as much as he should have.  Another that fans would take back in a heartbeat.

Patrick Roberts – The darling of the Celtic support for two and half years when he was on loan from Manchester City. Every transfer window Celtic fans campaign for his return. Now on loan at Norwich City in the English Premier League, he is sure to show his talent on the big stage. Invincible and Double Treble Celt.

Stuart Armstrong – The 6th Invincible, first team regular that Deila signed for Celtic. Major contributor with his goals and assists in Rodgers first season and first Treble, he carried his form into the next season for a Double Treble. With one season left on his contract Celtic raked in £7.5million from Southampton for his signature.

Ryan Christie – This seasons star so far! After a breakthrough season last year where he looked exceptional prior to getting two bad injuries, he has carried it on to this season where he has looked nothing short of mercurial.   We are half way through August and he is almost at the double figures mark for goals. He is already being tipped as this years Player of the Year.  Treble Treble Celt.

Kristoffer Ajer –  In February 2016, one of Deila’s last actions as manager could have been his most important one. He signed a 17 year old midfielder from Norwegian club IK Start. The teenager had already accrued 54 appearances, scoring 9 goals since his debut in 2014. Having spent some time in the reserves and on loan at Kilmarnock, he has made himself one of the first names on the Celtic team sheet since making the centre-back position his own in the 2018-2019 Treble Treble season. He has fast became the fans favourite and is destined for the top!

Academy Graduates –

Deila is the man we have to thank for giving Kieran Tierney his debut in the Hoops. It was in Ronny’s last season that he gained his first batch of regular first team experience which developed him into Celtic’s first choice left back. He soon became the darling of the Celtic Park faithful and ultimately a £25million English Premier League player. Another invincible and Treble Treble star!

James Forrest came through the ranks under Neil Lennon but was never a regular with a host of experienced players playing before him. Under Ronny he developed and became a first choice winger playing week in week out. Since then he has improved every season becoming indispensable to the Celtic first team. Yet another invincible and Treble Treble Celt!

Another who came through the ranks with Lennon in charge and who also spent some time on loan is Callum McGregor. He became a first team regular under Deila and actually played majority of his games on either wing, which again shows the beginning of Callum’s versatility that we see now. It was undoubtedly in Brendan’s time that Callum flourished but the foundations were put in place with Ronnie. It would have been easy to let a young Callum be sold when he wasn’t the finished article, but potential was obviously seen. Invincible and Treble Treble Bhoy!

Again, we can throw in names like Janko, Berget, Cifti, Kazim-Richards, Carlton Cole, Blackett, Tonev and Scepovic, but the need for a squad is apparent and as stated earlier, the hierarchy would have been in no rush to spend when the competition was zero. Maybe if we did, then there would be a few more Cups in the crowded Parkhead trophy room.

We’ve named nearly every Deila signing so we can’t forget two who just never made the cut for one reason or another…The enigmatic John Guidetti who did make his mark on loan from Manchester City but certainly came with baggage. He did however score some crucial goals, most notably against Inter Milan in the Europa League knock out round. The massively talented Gary Mackay-Steven who now stars in the MLS for New York City F.C, had great potential joining with Stuart Armstrong from Dundee United. Gary unfortunately just couldn’t find a place in the Celtic starting 11 despite some good entertaining performances. His best performances came in Ronny Deila’s final season.

Of the nine successful signings Ronnie made and the three academy graduates he developed, eleven of them contributed to the Treble Treble, with six of them still first team regulars at Parkhead. Three of them now star in The English Premier League, three are plying their trade in Europe, with the others somewhere in football obscurity.

Do you think The Ronny legacy should now be recognised?