IT has been something of a culture change for both Celtic and for Ronny Deila.

 

It is not just the banning of fizzy juice and chips from the players' canteen, but the sea-change in atmosphere that the progressive Norwegian has sought to bring into the club.

And nowhere is that more apparent than when it comes to handling the indiscretions of his squad, either on or off the park.

There has been plenty of both for Deila to get his head around over the last fortnight.

Yet, while he has been entitled to feel that he was badly let down by his captain last week and by some of the on-field images that have tarnished the reputation of his team, Deila has not felt the need to read the riot act.

While Sir Alex Ferguson infamously indulged in the 'hairdryer' treatment to players whom he believed had crossed a line, Deila has insisted that he will never seek to rule with an iron fist.

"The most important thing is that positive things are happening and that is what we have to do more of and focus on," he said. "When things happen that I am not happy with, I talk with them about it.

"What has been done, you cannot do anything about that. To punish them is not the right way.

"They have to understand themselves what they are doing and why they are doing things.

"Footballers are normal people. They don't like to let people down and they know when they do it.

"The stupidest thing as a leader is to go after them and punish them. This kind of leadership has gone now - it should never be in football.

"To frighten people to get better, if others want to do that, then do it but I will never do it. They are grown-up people.

"I get angry with a bad attitude, if you see that people don't want to do things.

"They come to training, you can see they don't want to do things, they give a damn in the team but they don't train well,.

"They put on weight and go drinking all the time, then I get irritated. I am never going to accept that.

"Everybody has to show that they want to get better, that they want to be part of the team.

"Sometimes a mistake is made because they don't have knowledge about it. Young players experience new things all the time and I just have to be there.

"I can tell my kids that they can't drink but they will do it, I promise you. I just have to be there when they have done it.

"What do you learn from that experience? What do you do next time?

"If they keep on making the same mistakes then we have to do something. Hopefully I won't ever be in that situation."

The affable Norwegian is committed to ensuring that his players progress and improve - even if that means biting his tongue when mistakes are made on the pitch.

The midweek thumping of Dundee United was one of the more fluent of Celtic's performances this season with the attacking quarter of James Forrest, Anthony Stokes, Kris Commons and Leigh Griffiths lending the Parkhead side both pace and menace.

And Deila is confident that it is an indication that strides forward are being made by his team.

And so long as his players have the freedom to make mistakes then he expects they will have the necessary space to keep developing.

"I remember Stokesy made a mistake in one of the first games, he lost the ball in midfield, the opponent counter attacked and we lost a goal," he explained.

"I took him after the game in front of the others and I said: It was fantastic what you did. You worked hard and made penetrating runs.

"He looked at me as if: What are you saying?

"It was like he was sure I was going to talk about the bad pass, but bad passes will happen.

"It's about what you do when you make that bad pass.

"The bad pass was a bad decision or a bad piece of skill, but you can't frighten people to be better at passing. You have to teach that and you have to give the freedom for them to do it again.

"But if there is a bad attitude and you throw your hands in the air after the bad pass and blame other players instead of working, then that is a negative for the whole team."

Stokes may have blotted his copybook with the red card he received on Wednesday night against Dundee United but Deila has generally been satisfied that the striker has taken heed of what has been asked of him in recent weeks.

It was only last month that the Irish internationalist looked as though he could be on the way out of the club after returning late from a trip home to Dublin.

Stokes was left out of the squad by Deila for the games against Inter Milan but has responded since then - although the Hoops boss has thrown down the gauntlet at the player as he has urged him to sustain recent showings.

"He has been excellent in training," he said. "He wasn't playing so good two or three games before the Cup Final, but he needed games and I said that if he kept working hard in training, he'd get his rewards.

"You saw in the League Cup Final. That is the best game I have seen from him so far since I've been at Celtic.

"I took him in front of the players and said: This is what you get when you are 100 per cent.

"When you work outside the pitch and on the pitch.

"I am proud of Stokesy what he has done, but I don't need fireflies, I need stars.

"If you are good one game, that means nothing.

"I need people who are good all of the time, so you have to change lifestyle, not just change for a small period."