RONNY DEILA was left exhausted by life as the Celtic manager in Glasgow and ended up a near recluse while he struggled to cope with his “loss of freedom” and overbearing fame.

In what was the final time the Norwegian spoke to the Scottish media at length before he leaves the club after Sunday’s home match against Motherwell, Deila admitted a lack of privacy had badly affected him over recent months.

Deila also revealed he wished he had insisted on bringing his own staff, who would have kick-started an immediate revolution at the club, when offered the Celtic job two years ago.

The popular 40-year-old has overall enjoyed his time in the country but not every aspect of being one of the most famous men in Scotland sat well with him.

“The life has been the most tiring thing for me,” Deila admitted. “Freedom is a very important thing for me. It’s a value I rate very highly but you lose your freedom in this job. It doesn’t matter where you go, the gas station, the supermarket, everywhere, people thing that they own you.

“There are hundreds of photos every day. I never said no once, but it is hard when you are living your life like that 24/7. I must admit with every month that has passed I have been more and more staying in the house. I lost my freedom.

“People will say to you that you are famous, you are the Celtic manager, and have to accept it, but you have to deal with the other stuff as well. It’s the same everywhere I go in Scotland, England or Ireland, you get recognised everywhere in Europe.

"I was walking around in Marbella and people came up to me. I understand it, but it’s not enjoyable. As I said, freedom is important to me. In Norway a lot of people know who I am but they just look at you and move on.

“You also have the two sides here with Celtic and Rangers. You never know what kind of people are around you. You have to be aware you are in work every time you are out of the house.

“There has been very few bad experiences; however, I must say everyone has been very respectful, not just the Celtic fans. I have had a good time here but it has been a different life.”

If Deila could have his time again he would have implemented many more changes from day one, rather than easing his way into the job, and having his own people around him would have made life a lot less complicated.

“It is very hard to say what was right and wrong but I think in the beginning I was feeling myself into this job, and if I could do it again I’d maybe bring my own people in at the start,” he said. “I came in here alone. Also, I would be more revolutionary – looking back I think I chose to do it little by little by little.

“I think you have to be yourself – you have to say ‘it is my way or the highway.’ I think that is something that I didn’t do. But, again, it is very hard to say. If I had done that, maybe it would have been very hard on the players, with things being very different from what they were used to.

“When you come into a club like this, you have to get to know that staff and the players. You also have to know what’s happened here before and try to implement the coaching you want. You also have to play the most important games first.

‘It’s a very difficult situation. You try and get results along the way. I know now that you always get a little bit of time.

‘If I’d known that at the time, I’d have been harder at first – this is the way we do it. Bang, bang, bang. The end product would have been better.”

Deila will now most likely take some time to himself before he ponders his next managerial job. He is bound to get offers but a rest would do him good.

"Some days I think it would be good to have a break, to really reflect and recharge the batteries,” he said. “At the same time if something comes that is interesting, I am very motivated to do something else as well.

“To be honest it would be good to have a couple of months to settle and see what is happening. Then maybe we’ll see if there are opportunities to do a new job.

“Maybe I could be an expert on television. I’ve been asked to go back in to television in Norway and it’s tempting. I always loved doing television. It’s a very easy job!”