Former Celtic captain Paul McStay does not think Ronny Deila should be showered with sympathy as he heads for the Parkhead exit - because he has had the chance to manage one of the biggest clubs in the world.
According to reports in both Scotland and his homeland, there will be a parting of the ways with the Norwegian following Sunday's disappointing William Hill Scottish Cup exit to Old Firm rivals Rangers.
The Hoops hierarchy are understood to be concerned by the lack of progress under Deila during his two-year reign.
But the 40-year-old has also reportedly been left weary by the constant speculation over his future and is ready to tear up his one-year rolling contract this summer.
However, retired midfielder McStay - back in Glasgow to promote his forthcoming autobiography 'The Maestro', which will be published through kickstarter.com - believes Deila should not be pitied, despite having worked through a period of downsizing in Glasgow's East End.
Read more: Celtic legend Henrik Larsson 'fighting to save job'
He said: "I don't feel sorry for Ronny from the point of view that he is managing one of the biggest clubs in the world.
"Ronny will have been delighted to have been given that opportunity.
"He has given it his best shot and he will continue to do that I think between now and the end of the season.
"So to me, wow. I or any coach would love to have had an opportunity like that, so I think he should enjoy it and try to achieve the best he can. That means winning the league."
But McStay does reckon the former Stromsgodset boss deserves the chance to see out the season and lead Celtic to their second Ladbrokes Premiership crown under his charge.
The Parkhead side have an eight-point lead over Aberdeen with five games to go but some angry Hoops fans have demanded Deila be sacked immediately after the penalty shoot-out loss to Mark Warburton's men.
"I've never met Ronny but I've got a lot or respect for the guy," said McStay. "He comes across as a really good person.
"But right now he's still in a job so I would just leave it at that and allow him to go and hopefully win his second championship. That's where I'm at.
"[Does he go now or at the end of the season] is a decision they have got to make at the top [at Celtic]. If you come out now and do something drastic it might some detrimental effect on the team in the last few games.
"For me, the focus should just be that we've got a league to win, let's go do that."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel