RONNY Deila made several valid points on Friday afternoon as he returned fire on those who have offered a less than complimentary view on his stewardship of Celtic in the wake of the defeat to Molde last month.

The Scottish champions are indeed a selling club who require to sign young players with potential and develop them over a period of years in order to achieve success both domestically and in Europe.

The pressure on them to excel in all competitions and the fallout when they fail to do so is also far greater than at any of their rivals in Scotland – including across Glasgow at Rangers.

And, yes, both majority shareholder Dermot Desmond and chief executive Peter Lawwell are cognisant of the limitations their manager is forced to operate under.

But was Deila really correct when he declared he would remain in charge at Celtic Park regardless of whether his charges progress to the knockout rounds of the Europa League?

That, surely, is debatable.

Qualification for the group stages of the Champions League is worth in excess of £21 million and is of great significance to Celtic given the continued diminished state of the top flight in this country.

Deila, though, has been unable to secure a place among the elite of European football in three attempts since being appointed last summer.

His failures against first Legia Warsaw and then, after the Poles had been punished by UEFA for fielding an ineligible player, NK Maribor can be attributed to the brief period of time he had been in his position.

However, this term Celtic should really have taken their place alongside the likes of Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid in the draw for the continent’s premier club competition.

Qualifying games against Stjarnan of Iceland, Qarabag of Azerbaijan and Malmo of Sweden presented about as straightforward a route into the lucrative tournament as they could possibly have hoped for.

So the performances both home and away in the play-off reverse to a limited Malmo side – they fielded the former Rotherham player Kari Arnason in defence – were disappointing, costly and alarming.

It is estimated the failure cost Celtic in the region of £13 million. That is the difference between them posting a loss and recording a profit at the end of the fiscal year.

“We want to be competing with the best for our fans and it’s disappointing that we didn’t get through,” said Desmond in an interview with STV at the Dunhill Links Championship back in September. “But we’ll endeavour to get there next year.”

When the Parkhead club’s financial results were released that month, Lawwell stated: "We will focus on qualification for the group stages of the Champions League. That is where this great club belongs."

One of Deila’s main objectives, possibly the main objective, in the Europa League this season, then, was to prove he could be trusted to lead Celtic into the Champions League at the fourth time of asking next year.

Has the Norwegian coach convinced senior club officials that he can be in the draws against Ajax away and Fenerbahce at home and the reverse to Molde away so far? It is highly doubtful that he has.

Losing or even drawing to Molde at Celtic Park on Thursday night - and failing to finish in the top two of Group A and progress to the last 32 thereafter - will result in serious questions being asked of Deila in the boardroom irrespective of how his side fares in the Premiership, League Cup and Scottish Cup.

It is worth noting that Deila’s predecessor Neil Lennon also had a far from impressive record in Europe early in his tenure as Celtic manager. His side lost heavily to both to Braga and Utrecht and then to Sion.

Yet, the Celtic hierarchy remained calm, allowed Lennon to learn from those difficult experiences and was rewarded for that patience.

The Irishman took them into the group stages of the Champions League after that, beat Spartak Moscow away, Barcelona at home and made it through for the knockout stages for only the third time in their history.

However, the former player, who was constrained by the same restrictions as the current incumbent, had shown in the Europa League the season before that he had developed as a manager. Celtic drew with Udinese twice and beat and drew with Rennes.

Yes, Deila recovered well from his traumatic start and steered Celtic into the last 32 of the Europa League last season where they then performed well in spells against Italian giants Inter Milan home and away before exiting.

But was it the exceptional form of goalkeeper Craig Gordon or the influence of the manager which was responsible for the results in group games against Dinamo Zagreb, Astra Giurgiu and Salzburg and then Inter after that? Many are of the opinion it was the former.

In his defence, Deila has been hampered significantly by injuries, at the back especially, in recent weeks. Nevertheless, his side has failed to perform for 90 minutes in Europe and has repeatedly come unstuck as a consequence of recurring failings.

Any rerun of the abject display and heavy loss against Molde will lead to further doubt being cast upon his ability to satisfy the demands of supporters and the club and his position becoming increasingly precarious.