Celtic boss Deila becomes half-century Bhoy

and he racked up his 50th game in charge of the Hoops in style.

The 3-0 dismantling of Dundee United brought the curtain down on a saga of back-to-back games, the likes of which the Hoops have never encountered in their 127-year history.

And the chances are no-one wants to see four games in two weeks against the same opposition ever again.

Mind you, the champions only had to play 45 minutes to complete the set against the dispirited and, ultimately, dis-United Tayside team who had systematically and comprehensively seen the fight knocked out of them in the previous three matches.

That first-half effort was enough to see Celtic cruise to a 3-0 win and take a precious three points - one for each of Deila's fist pumps to the fans as he celebrated the win.

Now as well-earned respite is enjoyed in the break for internationals, the Norwegian can take a moment to reflect that, after all the trials and tribulations which peppered this four-game saga across three different competitions, his side have emerged sitting pretty, having:

*Secured their first trophy under his leadership.

*Booked a semi-final place in the Scottish Cup.

*Extended their lead in the title race to five points once again - and with a game in hand.

It was a nice way to bring up the 50 for Deila, who can now claim a record of 32 wins, eight draws and 10 defeats.

It may not be the best set of stats posted by a Celtic manager, but when you consider the shaky transitional phase he had to negotiate at the beginning of his tenure, and the fact 14 of these games have been in European competition, it's better than some would initially have predicted.

Deila admitted he was not aware he had reached this milestone, and smiled as he said: "It has gone in very quickly. But, you know, we are playing so many games and, it seems, all of the time.

"This is a special moment, though, and a proud moment for me. Hopefully there are going to be many, many more."

The immediate target is to greatly improve his 64 per cent win rate in the maximum 12 games Celtic will play between now and the end of the season.

Deila believes this can be achieved, and explained: "I think we are much more consistent than we were before. The performances are better as well. We are excited now, and in a much better position going into the very important months of April and May."

Which is what he hoped they would be as they close in on their ambition to add the Scottish Cup and Premiership title to the League Cup already safely delivered to the trophy cabinet.

Certainly, they are in the driving seat and in the enviable position of having their fate in their own hands. Aberdeen's lunchtime burp when they coughed up two points by only drawing 1-1 with Dundee, gave Celtic an increased appetite to finish off a punch-drunk Dundee United in double-quick time.

Indeed, no-one from the Tangerine corner could even lay a glove on the defending champions. Thankfully, the nearest it ever came to a repeat of the red-card mayhem which preceded it was a wild tackle by Paul Paton on Gary Mackay-Steven, which earned him a place in the book of Kevin Clancy, who later also cautioned Scott Brown and Nir Bitton for fouls.

First-half goals from Mackay-Steven, John Guidetti and Jason Denayer - the only one of the trio to celebrate - put the result beyond United even before they got in for their half-time smelling salts.

Jackie McNamara's side became victims of the law of diminishing returns, and looked a pale shadow of the team which held Celtic to a draw in the Scottish Cup when they started this quartet of games.

Deila was not surprised they offered so little resistance and said: "I think the United players were tired on Saturday. It's hard to play against Celtic four times in a row like that. But that's the kind of tough schedule we have to handle."

They did so markedly better than United. The reward for the Hoops' first-half domination was the chance to coast to the finish line in the second 45 minutes, when the main point of interest for their fans was a rare sighting of Stefan Scepovic.

The Serbian striker appeared to have taken up permanent residence on the subs bench. And the presence of the rested Leigh Griffiths, Kris Commons and James Forrest alongside him could not have given Scepovic any reason to believe that would be the day he would finally get some game time.

But Deila understands the need to have as many players as possible fit and ready to step into the breach for what is going to be a testing run-in to a campaign which has already sapped the energy of even the ultra-fit among them.

The fact is that, with Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong available again after sitting out the previous three games by dint of being cup-tied, and Stefan Johansen having served his one-game suspension, the loss of Anthony Stokes to a ban - he will also miss the Scottish Cup semi-final - and the continued absence of important players such as Mikael Lustig and Charlie Mulgrew, was easily managed at the weekend.

But there will be bigger tests ahead after this latest hiatus for internationals, and Deila plans to be ready to meet them head on.

The Hoops boss must now keep his fingers crossed all those on national service return with tales of battles won, but without any war wounds.

His troops have to be at their best when it comes time to focus on the home front again, and Deila said: "We still have a lot to fight for and many games to play. But we are in a good position and I'd be very surprised if we have a big dip now with the way we are playing and training."