Ask a lot of football fans, and they’ll tell you that Celtic, currently managed by Ange Postecoglou, have one of the more fervent fanbases in the world.
After all, many players and managers who have worked for the Scottish club often praise the Celtic Park atmosphere, which is exactly what Ronny Deila did in an interview with the Belgian media recently, only to then have a slight dig at them right afterwards.
That’s because he’s currently the manager at Standard Liège in Belgium, and was asked whether he preferred the Celtic fans or those of his current employer.
Few would have begrudged him choosing his former club, but it appears Deila firmly believes Standard Liège fans have more passion, stating as much to Pascal Scimè, relayed by RTBF.
He said: “Celtic have more fans. There are 10 million who support this club. It’s almost a religion there. It’s a big family and I feel the same at Standard, which is a good thing because you feel like you’re accomplishing something together.
“In a league match, Glasgow is calm, which is not the case in the big European matches, and when you face Rangers, the atmosphere is unbelievable. But at Standard, the atmosphere there is better on average throughout the season.
“Fans who are English football fans, from Liverpool and Manchester United, came to see me at Sclessin and said they had never seen anything so crazy. They had never seen such an atmosphere in England, and I completely agree. That’s because in Sclessin, the 30k supporters present are not tourists. In England, 50% of them are tourists, so we have to be proud of that, and the club has to be very proud. It’s a special stadium with special fans.”
So, it seems Deila wants to see a bit more fervour from Celtic fans in the regular league games, which many of the Celtic Park faithful might not agree with.
Then again, they no longer pay him, and perhaps he felt the need to talk up his current club.
