RONNY Deila has insisted that no-one at Celtic is telling him who to pick or who to buy and claims that a successful transfer policy is proof that he has plenty of power at Parkhead.
The Celtic manager's contentment with his club's January recruitment is in sharp contrast to Kenny McDowall at Rangers and Allan Johnston of Kilmarnock, who are deeply unhappy over moves in and out of their clubs which were demanded by their respective boards.
However, Deila goes into a crucial month, in which Celtic will resume their pursuit of a fourth Scottish Premiership title in a row as well as the Europa League last 32 encounter with Inter Milan, having signed Dundee United pair Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven for £2 million and retained defender Virgil van Dijk, despite interest from several English clubs, underlining his good working relationship with his employers.
"I said all the time that I didn't want to lose anyone and that we had money to spend on new players," said Deila. "Maybe if that didn't happen, it would have shown that I didn't have power. That's true. But I communicated and worked with Peter Lawwell and the board.
"If a player was leaving, we would have had to agree on that. It might have been so much money that we couldn't say no. But it's never a situation where they tell me what is happening. We talk about it things and then agree on it.
"We'll always be as one. It never crossed my mind that things wouldn't go the way I wanted it to. I was never worried about it. I've never had conditions imposed on me. I haven't experienced those things and the power is important.
"When you choose a club it's important that you know you can work with the people there. I had a very good feeling at once when I spoke to Peter and Dermot Desmond before coming here. This is a very professional club and they want to improve all the time. I had the right feeling in my stomach and since then our working relationship has been good. We speak every day.
"We want the same things for Celtic and we have to do it the right way for the club. I always believed I would have this level of power at the club. I haven't experienced anything else. But you have to earn that power for yourself. It's important to say that I'm not here for my own CV. I'm here to create something at Celtic and develop the club."
Deila admitted that securing Armstrong and Mackay-Steven has only enhanced his growing admiration of Scottish football talent. "I think there are a lot of good football players in Scotland and I think also that the way we are working can make them even better," said the manager.
"These two are hungry because they haven't won anything before. They are exactly what you need to build and be better. They know Scottish football and they love Celtic. There are so many positive things instead of getting a star in from Europe who doesn't know about Celtic."
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