RONNY Deila spoke publicly about his decision to stand down as Celtic manager at the end of the season for the first time yesterday. Here, in his own words, are the reasons why he is departing and his thoughts on his two turbulent years at Parkhead.

Ronny, you’ve admitted you were unable to improve the Celtic team. Why do you think that was?

“That’s hard to say. It’s something I have to reflect on. Of course, there are things I could do better and things I have done very well. It’s not black and white. But in the end, the results haven’t been good enough.”

Have you felt under pressure?

Read more: Quitting Celtic "kills me", Ronnie Deila says

“I feel pressure all the time, but from inside myself. I’m a winner, I hate losing, I hate when I don’t get things as I want. I want to see small improvements all the time. I tried, did everything I could and have learned a lot. But, in the end, there is so much fuss and noise that it is affecting the whole club.”

Were you tempted to stay on for another season and try to turn things around?

The Herald:

“Yeah, but I think it’s come so far now that I have to put the club in front of myself. I have to put my hands up and say I’ve done everything I can. I’ve had my chances, but I haven’t got the results and performances that I wanted.”

Your team looked unfit against Rangers on Sunday. Why was that?

“I saw different people get cramp. There are things we have to look at of course. But for me it’s a psychological thing as well, because when there is so much going on around the players it drains you of energy and then you don’t get out your best physical ability.”

Has your diet and fitness regime worked?

Read more: Ronny Deila will go on to find another big club on the continent, Mark Warburton says

“I think a lot of the players have improved physically. KT (Kieran Tierney) couldn’t play 45 minutes without getting cramp when he started in the first team. Now he’s played 120 minutes against Rangers and been fantastic. I can tell you a lot of players who are better physically.”

Did the dressing room turn against you?

“It is very easy for a coach to sit here and say: ‘The players haven’t performed as I wanted’. But the coach is an unbelievably important factor in that. That’s why being the coach that I am - I know I’m a great coach and I know I’m going to be a great coach in the future - I don’t blame my players. I haven’t made some of them as good as they can be. Some of them have been very good, but, overall, there hasn’t been the thing that we need in Celtic.”

The Herald:

Can you say you had the full support of all the players?

“The players will fight for me throughout the season and I don’t have any big problems with them. But it has been difficult to handle because of the amount of players. It is hard to keep motivation up sometimes when you have too many players.”

But isn’t that your fault? You signed so many midfield players.

“That is something I can look back on and say, yes. We have done positive things, but we have also done things that are not so good.”

Did you actually sign the players? You hear a lot of stories about how the manager doesn’t sign the players at Celtic.

“That’s not true. I sign the players. I have the final decision. It has been like that all the time.”

So that’s not a problem for a future manager?

“No. In my time there has been no problem.”

Do you have issues with Kris Commons?

“No. I have no issues with Kris at all. Kris is a good player. I’ve given him many, many chances, he’s played a lot of games under me, he’s had good performances and okay performances. Kris has been in my squad every time he’s been available. There is absolutely no problem with Kris.”

Was central defence a big factor in the team’s failure to improve this season? You struggled to replace Virgil van Dijk and Jason Denayer.

“In the beginning of the season, in Europe, central defence was a challenge. But since Christmas we haven’t conceded a lot of goals. Sunday against Rangers was the first time in a long time we had conceded two goals. So defensively we have been much better. We have got Erik (Sviatchenko) in. We have Charlie (Mulgrew) back. They have made it better.”

But isn’t it difficult to make the team better if you are constantly losing your best players?

“That is true. That is always a challenge when you try to build something. Consistency is important. At the same time, you have to have the players wanting to play here. It is not like we just sell to sell. We sold Virgil because we couldn’t keep him. He wanted to leave. The year before it was Fraser Forster. His head was in England. There was no chance when the offer came. This is something you have to handle.

“It is a different situation. I think that 10 or 15 years ago you could compete with the big clubs and Celtic was really high up there for the players to want to play for. Now the league and the money down there is unbelievable. A lot of the players now use this club as a step for going into the next stage.”

Are the expectations of the Celtic manager too great? You could leave here having won the Premiership two years running.

“The future will say what kind of job I have done. If a manager comes in and goes into the Champions League and wins the treble then fantastic. It is possible. But I think it is more difficult to keep consistency because of the differences now in salaries and level with the big clubs.”

Just how hard is it for Celtic to get into the Champions League group stages?

“It’s very tough, but it is possible. Why should Malmo be there and not us? We should and we could have beaten Malmo. We were better than them in a lot of the time that we played them. You need a bit of luck. It is small details between being in the Champions League and being in the Europa League.”

If you had beaten Malmo in the Champions League play-off could that have changed everything for you?

“Yes. I think so. It could have been different but, again, it’s a lot of ifs.”

Is it unfair to say the job was too big for you?

“My stats are not that bad. When you win 65 per cent of your games it is quite okay. I don’t think I will ever have that at another club in my life – unless I take over at Barcelona and do fantastic! But the important games we have lost.”

If you hadn’t decided to go, do you think the club would have given you another season?

“That’s hard to say. Then the board would have had to make a decision. But it has been my call. Of course, I talk all the time with Peter (chief executive Lawwell) and I have really appreciated that when things have gone well or badly the communication has been good. Our understanding and respect for each other has been very good.”

Some Celtic fans think you should go right now. Did you think about doing that?

“No, I did not consider that. If the club wanted to do that, they would have looked at it. I don’t think it is good to change everything around when there are five games to go.”

What’s next for Ronny Deila?

“I’ll get a little bit of sun first! In football you never know what will happen. I still have high ambitions and feel strong and motivated to keep on doing the things I love. This has been an unbelievable journey with tough and good times, but in the end that’s what life is about.”