Celtic: Fans react to Callum McGregor’s praise of Ronny Deila

A lot of Celtic fans have been discussing former manager Ronny Deila after Callum McGregor spoke about how good an influence he was on the midfielder’s career.

The Norwegian managed the club from June 2014 and stayed at Parkhead until May 2016, per Transfermarkt. He was in charge for 118 games and had a strong record for the Hoops as they won 76, drew 22 and lost 20 whilst he was in charge. This gave him a 64.41% win percentage and statistically ranks him in the top 10 managers in the club’s history, via fitbastats.

Seemingly he also had a good reputation and connection with the squad as McGregor, who was given his debut for the Hoops by Deila, said (via Daily Record): “I will always be grateful to him for showing that faith in me. When he took over he could have gone in a safe direction but he liked to develop young players.

“He always wanted to give you a chance and you have to give him credit for that. Ronny was willing to throw younger boys like myself and KT in and let us play. Without that I might not be sitting here today playing for Celtic. It’s something I will always thank him for.”

This is some great praise from the Scottish international, who has gone on to win the league six times and lift eight domestic cups. He has featured 166 times for the club and scored 30 goals whilst also picking up 36 assists, per Transfermarkt.

Many Celtic fans clearly appreciate both McGregor and Deila judging by their comments to the quotes, which is unsurprising given their respective records at the club. Here is what these fans had to say following the comments from the 26-year-old:

https://twitter.com/celticbible/status/1265918168322760704?s=20

🗣 CM: “He always wanted to give you a chance and you have to give him credit for that. Ronny was willing to throw younger boys like myself and KT in and let us play. Without that I might not be sitting here today playing for Celtic. It’s something I will always thank him for.”

— celticbible (@celticbible) May 28, 2020

We have a massive debt of gratitude , Thanks Ronny

— DAVID MCDONALD (@dmcd67) May 28, 2020

Deilas on record saying that McGregor had more game intelligence than any other player he had worked with.

— Billy, Bertie and Bobby (@jenual67) May 28, 2020

Ronny 💚💚💚 https://t.co/l3DoaWO0H0

— Andreas K (@K1ingK1ong) May 28, 2020

Don’t forget James Forrest as well. He has hardly been injured at all since Ronny got him fit. He could hardly play 4 games in a row beforehand

— hugh mcgreechin (@shuggiemac1) May 28, 2020

Well done to Callum, a terrific footballer, endless energy with a terrific football brain, absolutely essential to Celtic.
Well done to Ronnie D, for nurturing that talent. 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

— thomas brown (@thojude) May 28, 2020