THE impasse between Kris Commons and Ronny Deila was not decided by which of them blinked first.

They both blinked. Commons wanted a two-year contract to prolong his Celtic career beyond this summer but Deila was unconvinced about his fitness and willingness to adapt a different playing style. Ultimately Commons knuckled down and showed the manager what he wanted to see, but common ground was reached only after he saw compromise from the manager too.

When Celtic stuttered in the first third of the season Parkhead and Lennoxtown became fertile grounds for rumours about strain between the new, young, little-known Norwegian manager and the settled, winning squad he inherited. Those rumours slowly diminished as results stabilised and improved. There was a getting-to-know-each-other phase to Celtic's campaign, and only after mutual trust was established did the victories start to flow. Deila made observations about the squad's fitness which rubbed some of them up the wrong way. In return, they didn't initially play with the tempo and energy he wanted.

"I think Ronny's changed as well as the squad," said Commons. "Ronny's had huge success in Norway and had a style of play and a set of players he knew inside out. He taught them on the training field and had his philosophy of winning games. That's not guaranteed to bring success to a club like Celtic. So not only have we changed, Ronny has changed to get the best out of our group. I think we are all on the same page now. The last few performances have definitely shown that."

No player symbolised the Celtic's evolution from Neil Lennon to Deila more than Commons himself. A key player and the top scorer last season, he was often sidelined under Deila and ultimately displaced from the number ten position by Stefan Johansen. Publicly Deila said Commons was unlikely to be offered the two-year contract he wanted because he was already 31 and may not be able to continue delivering the tempo he wanted from Celtic players. "I just thought that was an excuse," said Commons yesterday. "Something that was being said because perhaps he didn't want to say I was lazy or not fit enough, that sort of thing.

"I think I changed his mind about me. Definitely, without a doubt. I think what he hadn't seen in me, I am trying to do. He was probably a little bit sceptical of whether I could change the way I am, being 31. I'm hoping that I have convinced him that I can do the job and also that I can maintain that. I don't know what the turning point was. Probably not just one thing but hard work, dedication, showing him that I am willing to not so much change my game but adapt to give him what he wants to watch on the pitch, as well as winning matches. It wasn't difficult. He wasn't asking me to do things I'm not capable of.

"I probably played pretty much exactly the same for the last four years. I was then trying to adapt certain things that Ronny wants in the team that I wasn't providing, that he wanted not just from ten players but 11. Mainly off the ball things. Being a number 10 you can get away, especially in the SPFL, with probably being a little bit lazy. I wouldn't say I was lazy. I would just say you can probably get away with it. There are certain games where you don't have to produce your best football. I could still find myself in good areas, bright enough and intelligent enough to hurt opposition, without actually putting in the work."

From his first day at Celtic Deila told his players he expected them to be fit and to give everything they had in training every day. He had doubts about Commons. "I can't teach him so much about football but he still had something more to give in the way he trains and with his fitness," said Deila. "If we could get that even better, what a player he could be. In the beginning, I didn't see that kind of improvement from him. That's why I waited to give him the contract that he wanted. But in the last month he has really bought into it and has been working really hard. You saw his performance against Rangers. I'm happy that he understands what I want and agrees how we are going to do it."

Commons had not been able to picture a future away from Celtic. Before the offer came Deila signed two attacking midfielders, Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, but Commons remained confident that an acceptable contract would be presented. It would have been "awkward" to play out his remaining months had no deal been forthcoming, but having signed until 2017 his head is clear. "The challenge is to win as many trophies as we can. People talk about winning a double, winning a treble, getting as far as you can in the Champions League and the Europa League. There are plenty of targets for me. I was told the other day I'm on 75 or 76 goals so another target would be to get a century of goals. I think that would be quite a feat for someone that's not a centre forward."

"I always thought it would get settled. I just thought 'come on Peter...'"