Celtic boss Ronny Deila has to be commended for his U-turn over Kris Commons

Last summer during the World Cup finals in Brazil, I was on a flight from Rio to Recife and found myself sitting next to an experienced Norwegian coach.

As we got chatting, it transpired he knew Ronny very well and he was very complimentary towards him.

However, he did say that he would bring his favoured 4-3-3 formation with him to Celtic and that he would favour fast, dynamic, wide players. My immediate thought upon hearing this was just where Commons would fit into that.

Kris is a player who has always prospered playing off a front player and having licence to roam.

This coach drew out Ronny's preferred way of playing and I did think he would have to come to Glasgow and show a different face and find a way to accommodate the guy who is arguably Celtic's best player, or go the other way and rebuild the team entirely.

You would have to say that for much of this season it has looked as though he opted for the latter option.

It was only a few weeks ago that we had Kris throwing his boots to the crowd after a victory at Hamilton in a gesture that looked like a farewell.

Yet, over the last few weeks, he has come to the opinion that Kris brings something to the team that is as unstoppable as you get in Scottish football.

I have to say that Deila deserves some credit for that. He could have been pig-headed and continued with his own policy, but he has shown that he is willing to rethink things.

You have to remember that he got the job because Celtic were trying to do something a bit different and, in that respect, you have to applaud his desire to change.

But he has shown his own flexibility and I don't think it is any coincidence that Commons has come back into the team in recent weeks and shown what he is capable of providing.

I think most of the Celtic fans I have spoken to in recent months were increasingly frustrated at the prospect of his going - and he could have gone for nothing had he signed a pre-contract with someone - so they'll be thrilled that a deal has been struck that is agreeable to both parties.

The other two signings that were made - I suspect Michael Duffy will be a development player for the time being - are classic Deila players, I think.

Gary Mackay-Steven brings that important width that the Celtic manager is looking for, while Stuart Armstrong is a real all-rounder in the middle of the park.

Armstrong is a different character to the kind of guys we usually come across in that he has genuine academic leanings and I think that he would have been willing to tread a path that not too many other players have.

I suspect that he may well fancy a go playing somewhere on the Continent in the future, but he could well be another player whom Celtic bring in and then make a very tidy profit on a few years down the line, just as they did with the likes of Gary Hooper and Victor Wanyama.

But, for the time being, it is nice to see that money exchanged is in Scottish hands.

It can only benefit our game to have clubs making a bit of cash from their players and getting the chance to then re-invest.

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