Club Brugge manager Ronny Deila has hit out at the media in Belgium, claiming they’re worse than what he encountered in his ill-fated spell at Celtic.
Deila managed Celtic, currently under the orders of Brendan Rodgers, from June 2014 until the end of the 2015/16 season.
Het Belang van Limburg cover comments from the Club Brugge boss today after his side progressed to the quarterfinals of the Europa Conference League with a 3-0 win over Molde.
That helped secure a 4-2 win over the Norwegian side on aggregate and turn around the tie, which the Belgians had lost in surprising fashion in the first leg.
It also helped to ease some of the pressure that has been building on Deila in recent weeks, with that disappointment in the first leg adding to a poor campaign that currently sees Brugge sitting third in the Belgian Pro league, 12 points behind second and 17 behind leaders Union SG.
That’s something he’s accustomed to in his career, particularly after his time in charge at Celtic, where despite losing just 20 of 118 games in charge, he regularly found himself the subject of criticism in the media.
It seems the Belgian press are one step above those in Glasgow, though, at least as far as Deila is concerned.
“This is my message to everyone. It’s a process,” he said.
“I know the media is talking to people within the club. Everything comes out, everything leaks, even information from the dressing room. I’ve never experienced that before.
“However, I have worked in big clubs. Even at Celtic it wasn’t that bad. You have to be able to deal with it.
“I am honest, always say what I feel and don’t care about hierarchy. It doesn’t matter who you are, even the King of Norway can sit here, and I can say he’s an idiot.
“That’s how it works in Norway, but maybe it’s different here. For me, respect means showing who you are and having good values.”
