Celtic boss Ronny Deila blames media for uncertainty over future

Celtic boss Ronny Deila has blamed the 'need to sell newspapers' for the increasing speculation over his job with the Scottish champions.

Pressure mounted on the Norwegian after Saturday's 2-1 defeat to Motherwell left them without a win at home since the 3-1 victory over Aberdeen on October 31.

David Moyes has been constantly linked with his job and on Monday fellow former Celt Andy Walker labelled the fare on show at Celtic Park as 'dull and uninspiring'.

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Despite last weekend's loss, Celtic remain top of the Premiership table with a game in hand, are in the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup and looking forward to a Scottish Cup tie against Stranraer over the second weekend of 2016, live on Sky Sports.

Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ, Deila said: "I follow football all the time and I have seen this before. You have to have a realistic picture of the whole thing and you can't get carried away because sometimes you write the right things, but it's very rare.

"There are always ups, very high and very low, it's never something in between. But if you see the overall situation when you are leading the league, into everything [League Cup and Scottish Cup] then I cannot understand everything is so unbelievably bad.

"It's about getting clicks on the internet and it's about selling newspapers, because it is unbelievable."

Asked if Jose Mourinho's dismissal from English champions Chelsea last week had heaped more pressure on him, Deila said: "It just shows how crazy it is because there is so much emotion, so much focus around football nowadays.

"There are hundreds of media and everybody needs a story and everybody gets caught into this and it affects everything.

"It affects the players, it affects the club and we need to stay calm inside. That is the most important thing. We need to be together and that's what I feel. I feel united with the players and with the staff and the people in the club.

"Yes we have challenges that we need to do better but when we stay united and are going forward then we can do it." 

And Deila, who takes his side to Tynecastle to face Hearts live on Sky this Sunday, is convinced Aberdeen will run the Hoops close in the race for the title, admitting the destination of the league flag may not be decided until the last weeks of the campaign.

"Aberdeen are a very good football team," he said. "They have a consistency and have been together for a while with the same squad. They are a good opponent and they are going to push us until the last minute.

"We have not played well in the last two games but every team goes through periods like this. You have to see the whole picture. We hadn't lost in the league since September, now we have to get back on track and we have been very good at bouncing back from a bad result in the past."