WHEN I was Celtic manager the only social media, if you could even call it that, was the Jimmy Sanderson phone-in show on Radio Clyde.

If that’s going too far back from some of you, then ask your dad. It was something of a big hit in the 1980s.

What Ronny Deila would give to live in those simpler days when all he would have to contend with in terms of public criticism was a few angry punters calling in on a Saturday night.

That was tricky enough to deal with after a bad result, let me tell you.

Back then only a small number of folk got a couple of minutes to tell any manager what they were doing right or more often then not wrong. Now such criticism, much of it off the chart, is absolutely everywhere.

Just this week, a petition was put online by some supporters demanding Deila be sacked by Celtic. That’s life as a high-profile football manager in 2015.

Everyone has a point and everyone has a chance to make that point.

My advice to Deila is not to go online at all. No good could come off it. If the guy absorbed every word and listened to every call-in show then he wouldn’t get out of his bed in the morning. But I do understand why a lot of the Celtic support is so frustrated.

There was always going to be a reaction after a home defeat to a previously struggling Motherwell team. I don’t believe it to be a knee-jerk reaction either.

I don’t think the anger was particularly about the result or even the performance, although the fact the team played so badly was a factor.

Instead, it is the European campaign and those two defeats against Molde in particular which are haunting this season. This more than anything is why some have lost faith.

That fans can’t forget how disappointing those games were. It has been far too difficult to move one.

That is why the manager is feeling the pressure, not because of a few poor results in the Premiership, a league I believe they are still going to win. Any slip-up now is going to re- ignite the memories of failing to get to the Champions League and then not being able to win a single match in the Europa League.

That frustration will never go away and as always, it’s the manager who cops the flack.

I have been there. It is a lonely place. There were times at Celtic and at my other clubs when as a manager you felt like banging your head against a wall.

All you can do, all Deila can do, is believe he is doing the right things, be confident in himself that he is working well and get that through to his players. But he needs to start winning consistently and with far more conviction. The only person who can get this right is the manager – with obvious help from his players.

If that does not happen then there will be more pressure on Deila and more pressure means a lot more talk about his position.

And he does not want that. It might get through to the board.

The doubters want to see a Treble and I agree with Scott Brown when he said that is what this season’s goal must be.

And, boy, Deila has missed his captain. Even I couldn’t have guessed how much his absence would hurt.

I’ve made the point time and again that Brown is the most influential player in that dressing room.

Few players have his drive and ability to get his team-mates going. He was always going to be missed but this Celtic team should have been able to cope so much better with the loss of just one player, albeit their best.

The performances have to get better. The players must take responsibility for that. They are a lot better than what they showed against Motherwell. Deila has to find the answers. He can’t just say he knows what needs to be done, he needs to show us that he does.

There is a Treble to go for with half a domestic season to play. Frankly, some of the games recently have not been great – although Hearts on Sunday should be tasty.

It has been a hard week to be Ronny Deila, but he is the only man who can really do anything about it.

Happy 80th birthday to Stevie Chalmers

Glasgow Times:

PLEASE allow me to wish a certain Stevie Chalmers, scorer of the most important goal in Celtic history, a happy 80th birthday this Boxing Day.

What a man and what a career he had.

I could watch his winner against Inter Milan from 1967 over and over again. In fact, I have literally done that. Could you ever get bored of it?

There have been better Celtic goals than that one, but Stevie’s instinctive finish will never be bettered.

I had the great privilege of joining the club while Stevie and the rest of the Lions were still there. Just how lucky can a young man be?

We played alongside these guys, Stevie included, in reserve games. There were no subs too. It was 90 minutes of being a team-mate with your heroes.

Sometimes it was hard to take in.

The best thing about these guys is that they were so friendly and willing to help the younger lads.

Nothing was too much trouble. They were always there when we needed them.

We trained with the best, got to play with them as well and it remains one of the greatest honours of my life.

The quality of these men was one of the main reasons the Quality Street Gang got its name. How could you not learn from these guys?

Do you want to know the best thing about that group of players, which that Stevie belonged to? They knew what it meant to play for Celtic.

That was a hugely contributing factor as to why they were so successful. Playing for the club meant everything to them. They were fans as well.

The lads knew how us fans felt when they won the European Cup.

A special group of guys.

Tynecastle tinderbox will be test for Hoops

CELTIC going to Tynecastle right now is akin to taking a walk in a bonfire – it could be a dangerous thing to do.

I said before a ball was kicked that I felt Hearts would finish third and while they have had a little bit of a lull, it’s been a good season overall for the Edinburgh men.

They are a club going places with a young, talented team on the park. Good on them.

You can’t help but admire the job Ann Budge, Craig Levein and Robbie Neilson have done when you consider where they were.

Glasgow Times:

The atmosphere is as good as any in the country when that stadium is rocking, as it will be tomorrow afternoon.

I am really looking forward to this. It could be one of the games of this season.

I said last week that the Motherwell match was not a guaranteed win – and I was right – and this is even more difficult.

Hearts have some decent players and I can’t imagine that they will be intimidated.

Celtic really could do with a win, and not only that, put on a show for the fans. It’s a big day for the manager and players.

They have done well at Tynecastle in recent years, so a repeat of some past performances will, I am sure, bring them a win.

Your question for Davie Hay

ANGELA McDAID, of Garrowhill, Glasgow, asks: Did you mind playing so many games over the Festive Period?

Not really. I don’t think I ever played on Christmas Day which did used to happen, but Boxing Day was the big one down in England.

“The crowds were huge and they took it really seriously.

“Of course with Celtic is was New Year’s Day and the Old Firm game. Now they were worth having a quiet Hogmanay for.”

If you have question for Davie, just email him at daviehay@eveningtimes.co.uk and we’ll print the answer alongside the question.