IT was not just the Celtic players who enjoyed the restorative qualities of some Gran Canaria sun on their face over the past week.
The short winter break also gave manager Ronny Deila the chance to reflect on his introduction to Scottish football, while also planning ahead for the second part of the campaign. January is traditionally a quiet month in the Norwegian football calendar - their season runs from April to November - and while there is still some way to go before Deila can completely switch off and relax, the change of scenery has undoubtedly served him well as he returns to the howling winds and torrential rain of Glasgow.
Celtic have played 19 league games, the exact halfway point of the SPFL Premiership season. There have been bumps along the road - and Deila is yet to convince everyone he is the right man for the job - but Celtic have manoeuvred themselves into a strong position. The solid, largely unforeseen consistency of Aberdeen is keeping Deila's team off the top of the table, although Celtic will regain a two-point advantage should they win their games in hand.
The unexpected pressure of having an opponent breathing down their necks is keeping the Celtic players focussed and Deila motivated. He has been painted in the past as some kind of football aesthete, forever fussing over projects, long-term planning and creating the perfect team. He is, however, also not daft. There will be no long-term for Ronny Deila at Celtic if in the short-term his team is not winning trophies. Not winning the title as the only entry in a traditional two-horse race is unthinkable. Beating Rangers in the League Cup semi-final will also be demanded by the Celtic support, with a run to the William Hill Scottish Cup final also expected. Only in the Europa League - where Internazionale lie in wait - will there be some leeway from the constant demands. Deila knows as much and does not shy away from that challenge.
"In the league I had hoped for maybe three or four points more but we have what we have," he said ahead of tomorrow's match away to Hamilton Academical. "We will be leading the league if we win our games in hand and we are through in everything else, so results-wise it has been good. We have made a lot of improvements in other ways; that was important for me regarding the way we train, the way we are playing and everything in the coaching.
"We have done a lot but, again, you always want to do more. But I think we have done it in a good way and we just have to walk up the hill to get to where we want and that will take time.
"It's going to be hard, of course, [to develop the team if Celtic aren't winning trophies]. But I'm a winner. I'm not a development coach. I'm both.
"You can't do one thing and not the other. If you don't develop you don't get better. It goes hand in hand; short and long-term. I've won things before and I'm here to win. That's the most important thing. I am determined to win. That is what we are thinking of every day.
"But it's also about other things behind it. It's about playing good football and we do that. We try to play good football. We go into every game to control it, to get tempo in it and also to develop the young players. This all goes hand-in-hand but without winning there's no development either. That's something I've learned here - that you're quite vulnerable when you lose and you need to get back on track very quickly. But we are hungry. I see the hunger in us in training and I can't wait to start playing games again."
Aberdeen have clung on to Celtic like a limpet on a rock and show no signs of falling off. Deila has been impressed.
"That is good for the league, of course," he added. "There are more teams competing for the championship. Again, we have won a lot of matches but we need to be on top of every game to get the title because Aberdeen are doing very well and there are other teams behind Aberdeen who, if they get a run, will also be into it. I would expect Aberdeen to keep pushing us."
Deila is still hopeful of adding to his squad this month, with Gary Mackay-Steven the most likely signing. He also expects Kris Commons to stay until the summer at least.
"We don't need to do anything because we have a good team but I want to make the team better and stronger. We're hoping for [new players] but to keep [the ones we have] is the most important thing. We're working on both."
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