Celtic boss Ronny Deila must make most of window of opportunity

at Celtic, that becomes secondary to what trophies they bring to the club.

However, Ronny Deila will have to wait at least another couple of months before he will have his first opportunity to make his contribution to the Parkhead boardroom's cabinet collection.

Before then, the Norwegian will be carefully scrutinised to see what moves he makes in his second transfer window since arriving from Stromsgodset.

The relative safe-haven back in his homeland must seem a million miles from the maelstrom of life at the home of the Scottish champions.

And, like every other Hoops boss before him, Deila has quickly discovered that - while the job is stressful enough - the opening of the transfer window, and the increased expectation level that brings, makes it even more so.

At the halfway point in this window, speculation continues to far outweigh action.

The fact Deila predicted it would be the end of the month before anything would be happening has been lost in the fog of rumour about who is going and, more importantly, who might be arriving.

In his first window in charge, Deila learned that it is not always wise to speak openly about your intentions.

He admitted he did not see the value in signing players on loan as you were simply developing them for the benefit of their parent club. Celtic then proceeded to sign five players on loan - Jason Denayer, Jo Inge Berget, Wakaso Mubarak, Aleksandar Tonev and John Guidetti.

While not back-tracking on his earlier statement about the value of such arrangements, Deila did feel compelled to explain that, so long as there is an option to buy, such a signing makes sense, especially for a manager new to a club and still assessing what is already at his disposal.

If he can deliver on that with Guidetti, and possibly his Manchester City team-mate, Denayer, the supporters who are still sceptical about who is dictating the signing policy at Celtic will buy into this.

Giving even more credence to the loan-for-a-look approach is the fact that Berget, Tonev and Wakaso have failed to make any real impression since coming to the Hoops, with the Norwegian already packed off back to Cardiff.

Had they been bought outright, it could have been a costly mistake, one which Celtic can ill-afford when money is so tight.

Deila is now seven months into the job and has had ample time to decide which areas of his side he needs to strengthen.

But as he sits down with chief executive Peter Lawwell and head scout John Park to go through the list of targets they have been compiling, the pressure is growing to make sure they get a bang for their buck.

The fact Dundee United's Gary Mackay-Steven has emerged as front-runner to be the next signing, but possibly on a pre-contract agreement, is not enough to excite a support which believes there is money available to be spent, and that it needs to be invested if the quality of the squad is not to dip even further.

To date, only Stefan Scepovic has been recruited for a transfer fee - £2.3million - since the club banked £10m from the sale last summer of Fraser Forster, the keeper joining Victor Wanyama on the lucrative road south to Southampton.

With no Champions League Group Stage income about to hit the Parkhead coffers this year, and with other revenue streams slowing up as attendances fall, the club is understandably reluctant to re-invest much of this player-sale bounty.

But Deila and Lawwell are in accord when they insist they want the team to come out of this window stronger than it went in.

And, while the manager also maintains retaining his best players - like Virgil van Dijk - his priority, ahead of such a challenging second half of the campaign, the arrival of some genuine quality to excite the fans and the players would be money well spent.

It has never been Deila's style to try to buy finished products. Stromsgodset simply did not have the funds to allow him to do this, and Celtic are not about to tell him he has the bankroll to compete with better-resourced clubs down south and elsewhere, either.

But when Deila does decide who he wants the club to invest in, he has to hope that player makes a more immediate impact than Scepovic.

The manager expected him to be a slow burner when he arrived from Sporting Gijon on the final day of the summer window.

And he retains faith in the man who scored only his fourth goal for the Hoops in the 2-0 win over Kilmarnock before they headed for their mid-season break to Gran Canaria.

"Scepovic is more settled in the city and in the team, and I think he will get better and better," said Deila.

For the striker himself, the burden of being responsible for the manager's only transfer fee to date is not losing him any sleep, even though each goal he has netted for the club has, so far, cost them just under £600,000.

But Scepovic does accepts that, free or fee, he has been brought here to make a significant contribution to the success of the side. And he is aiming to do just that in the business end of the season.

He told the Celtic View: "When you come to a new club, you need some time to adapt to the team. I think that's behind me now and I am looking forward. For a striker, it is really important to score goals.

"Some games, you might not play as well as you want to, but, if you score goals, no-one will care. But it's important to do your work for the team, and do what the manager wants.

"It's important to participate in the game, make assists for other players, and make space for your team-mates."

Most of all, it's important to show that, when the manager makes a purchase, it is money very well spent.