IT could be said with as much certainty as you can about something that never happened and never will that John Barnes would have won the league for Celtic over the past two seasons.

Yup, that John Barnes. The one who thought playing 4-2-2-2 was a smashing idea and when Henrik Larsson broke his leg opted to replace him with a 35-year-old Ian Wright. A football genius he was not but he would have had enough about him to see off Aberdeen.

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The same might be said of Tony Mowbray, Dr Jozef Venglos and most certainly Tommy Burns who not only would have won back-to-back titles, but would have done so with panache. Put it this way, the much missed great man would not have gone with one striker up front at home to Partick Thistle.

Shall I go on? Liam Brady and Lou Macari would fancy themselves to be victorious in a Ranger-less Scottish Premiership. My goodness, every single manager currently in the top tier, and many from the lower leagues, would back themselves to be good enough to lead Celtic during the past few years.

Take it from me, enough of them say as much when the tape recorders are switched off.

The Herald:

So what Ronny Deila has achieved, and this season’s league title has not yet been won, is not much to crow about. His failures, the latest coming against Rangers on Sunday, easily overshadow the successes.

The Norwegian has been given a fairly easy ride because is a gentleman and a good guy. That alone, however, should not keep him in a job which is plainly beyond him. Take a look at the names mentioned above. None of them won the league for Celtic, Barnes and Mowbray were sacked during their first season, Macari’s stay was also a short one. Is Deila really a huge improvement?

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The answer is no and the Celtic board should have spotted this a long time ago and acted. They will now do so within a matter of weeks. The decision has already been taken.

How can the manager not see that Gary Mackay-Steven is frightened of being a Celtic player? Why is it impossible for him to drop Stefan Johansen or Scott Brown? Why does he stick with a 4-2-3-1, a system which has not worked and the players do not like.

On Sunday, Leigh Griffiths appeared to scream at Deila to change things. He did not and Celtic went on to record their worst ever derby defeat to go along with the recent appalling attempts at taking part in the Champions League, a scenario that seemed at Hampden as remote as Deila being given a ten-year deal.

When the penalty kicks were taking place, the entire Rangers backroom staff, plus subs, wrapped their arms around one another’s shoulders. The Celtic coaches stood side by side, the players were elsewhere.

The togetherness which Mark Warburton has forged is notably absent at Celtic. Deila has lost the respect of many senior players. Kris Commons, who never got his boots dirty, must wonder why he is still at the club.

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Peter Lawwell’s project has failed and the all-powerful chief executive’s stock among the support may never recover. He might point to five league titles in a row but you cannot fool everyone. The punters know it is not good enough.

Celtic should be in another universe from Rangers. That they are not is shameful. Their team should have wiped the floor with a side made up largely of players discarded from elsewhere. As it was, the men in blue who not so long ago drew with Raith Rovers, whose players are on £150 a week, bossed their rivals in a Scottish Cup semi-final.

The signing policy at Parkhead is awful. Far too many duds have come and gone. Scott Allan and Ryan Christie, two of the most exciting talents in the country, are being wasted. So, too, is Stuart Armstrong, a fine central midfielder but who is never a winger.

And why the club signed Nadir Ciftci, Carlton Cole and Colin Kazim-Richards, not trusted to come on against Rangers, will forever remain a mystery. Panic seems a likely explanation.

It is, of course, not all Deila’s fault. His influence on the transfers is up for debate and the manner in which the club has been run is nothing to do with him.

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Over the past four years it has seemed, at least to this observer, Lawwell has been focused on one club. Unfortunately, that club has been Rangers.

As long as Rangers were in the mire then we are okay, we can do whatever we want. Lawwell has many friends among the support, who were happy to parrot this party line on social media. Anyone who questioned Celtic, be it the manager or the board, had an agenda, a favourite buzzword these days, and didn’t know what they were talking about.

Rangers died, their second coming won’t be up to much and we can cut costs and still be successful. That was the mantra. Sunday was surely the last time anyone bought this. Celtic’s custodians should get back to concentrating on Celtic.

The first thing which has to be done is for the club to spend a bit of money to get in the right manager be it David Moyes, Michael O’Neill, Brendan Rodgers or Roberto Martinez, who may soon be available.

Celtic, as a club, have missed a unique opportunity to really kick on since 2012. Instead, they have gone backwards and changes need to be made. It will start with Deila, but it should not end there.

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