Hugh MacDonald

IT was the most decisive of nods. It was Hampden on a press conference Wednesday and Ronny Deila assented readily to the suggestion that he would take a 1-0 victory against Rangers.

It was Hampden on a Sunday afternoon. Deila punched the air so often that one would have thought the atmosphere at the National stadium had just insulted him.

It had not. Instead, it gave him an acceptance, perhaps even a credibility among the fans. His trademark synchronised fist-pumping to the Celtic support followed a victory that was extraordinarily easy. It was 2-0 going on plenty.

Rangers were saved by Celtic carelessness, by a poor decision at 2-0 by the referee Craig Thomson when Leigh Griffiths was clear on goal and by a pitch that meant that should be hired out for children parties as an ersatz bouncy castle or as the host for the national ploughing championships.

Celtic's dominance in possession and passing was sometimes thwarted by the poor bounce or by the ball being stuck on a treacly pitch.

But for Deila it was redemption Sunday. The fans started to chant his name after 30 minutes and reprised with a joyful chorus near the end. In the meantime, Deila sat in the back row of the dugout or stood on the touchlines urging his players forward.

He deserves praise this morning, not least because if Celtic had lost on this Hampden Sunday he would have been subjected to the sort of criticism that would have been commensurate with him committing some sort of heinous crime.

One wizened observer told me beforehand that if Celtic had lost such a match there should have been a Celtic huddle to commit mass seppuku. Now this is a hack who deals in hyperbole with the facility a riverboat gambler deals from the bottom of the deck. But he was pointing towards some kind of truth.

Victory, then, was the minimum requirement for Deila in this League Cup semi-final. His balance is heavily in credit after a succession of decisions bore fruit.

Leigh Griffiths, rehabilitated to the side while seeming to be on the way to Hibernian, score the crucial first goal. Deila has given the striker another chance and he has taken it.

Kris Commons, somehow kept motivated despite being in protracted contract talks with the club, scored the second. He could be seen in the second half tracking back as the press box collectively wiped their eyes suspecting an optical illusion in the winter sun.

Scott Brown and Nir Bitton, who Deila has brought back into the side to great effect, ran the game in from of a back four that was never troubled.

Delia's propensity to use full-backs as auxiliary wingers also provided dividends with Mikael Lustig and Emilio Izaguirre posing Rangers constant problems. Delia had selection options but made the right call in every position

His side's propensity to press was also evident. At one point in the second half, Lee Wallace had the ball wide on the left when he was suddenly besieged by five green and white shirts. It was like a scene from a David Attenborough documentary, with Wallace playing the role of gazelle in a dangerous game of tig with a pride of lions.

He also instilled patience in his side. Deila had a look at the pitch, had a gander at what Rangers had to offer in attack and encouraged his side to play possession football. Celtic slowed the game to such an extent in the second half that one thought one was watching a selection of action replays rather than an Old Firm fixture.

It would be absurd to overpraise the Celtic defence in face of such limited opposition. The first half Rangers tactic of playing the ball long to Kenny Miller invited one to surmise that there better prospects for a snowball to profit in a a microwave in full power in a snug corner of Hades. Jon Daly's introduction gave Rangers a focal point. But the Eiffel Tower is a focal point too but it has a very poor scoring record in cup games.

It is perhaps sufficient to record that Craig Gordon did not have a save to make, confining himself to fielding a couple of cross balls.

Deila could thus ponder that the Old Firm offered a less taxing afternoon than that offered by Mjondalen in front of 6000 fans in the seething cauldron of indifference that is the Buskerud county derby when he was manager of Stromsgodset .

He may have been puzzled by the roars of Fenian blood, Popes of Rome, invitations for his supporters to go home, and accusations of paedophilia from Rangers supporters that sullied the air. In the due deference to the West of Scotland law of whataboutery, it must be stated there was an Up the 'Ra call early in the match and references to Huns.

But the overwhelming impression is that Deila still has a limited understanding of the what an Old Firm clash entails. This is not because this was his first game in charge of Celtic in such a fixture. It was not because he mercifully will not have understood many of the chants or songs.

It is, rather, that this Old Firm clash was essentially not an Old Firm clash. This is no sly reference to the oldco/newcpo debate but simply a recognition that a sporting fixture, however bilious, can only enthrall if there is a doubt over who will prevail.

Any dubiety on that score was dispelled with a nod of Griffiths' head after 10 minutes.

The nod of Deila's head on Wednesday at the invitation to take a winning score was replaced with an animated celebration at the end with a mini lap of honour.

There were those who cynically asked if there was to be a trophy presentation. But Deila could be forgiven this robust expression of relief. If he had lost, he would have been a trophy head on the wall of endangered managers.