Storm Imogen had Glasgow reaching to batten down the hatches yesterday morning.

Ronny Deila has found himself in the eye of a very different kind of storm this past week and the expected shelter of a cup tie against part-time opposition offered only a partial reprieve from the incessant battering he has taken following last week’s defeats to Ross County and Aberdeen.

Celtic came through the tie against Lowland league side East Kilbride but it was a turgid and gruelling display from Deila’s men who made heavy weather of the encounter.

Given the magnitude of the criticism this week, the fact they are in the hat for today’s draw at all may well be taken as some kind of breathing space for the club and for the manager. For now.

The “sack the board” banner held aloft within the Celtic end before kick-off may have served as a reminder from an era long forgotten to those of a certain vintage, but it underlined that when there is a certain level of dissatisfaction with events on the park it is not only the manager who will feel the heat.

Peter Lawwell has been vociferous in his support of the affable Deila, but it is clear a steep upturn is required if they are to quieten the growing voices calling for change.

Leigh Griffiths, one of the shining lights for Celtic this season, took 20 minutes to make his mark on this game but it was a scrappy, ugly goal that broke the deadlock when a Gary Mackay-Steven was headed towards goal by Dedryck Boyata and then appeared to come off Griffiths arm.

Scott Stevenson partially cleared from the line before Griffiths slotted home from close range.

Yet, for all his apparent troubles, Deila was in good form after the game, light-hearted as he joked about the freezing temperatures. He does not appear to be a man who is losing too much sleep.

He was right in much of what he said in his post-match assessment as he cut a comfortable figure.

“I think we controlled the game very well,” he said. “We could have created more. We were not accurate enough and the surface was difficult for us.

“There were also some new players and new relationships in the team. We could have played better but we went through and that’s the most important thing.

“We wanted to score more goals and we had our chances. Normally, we should have scored even more. But no-one will remember that if we win the cup.

“It would have been very hard if we had lost this one today. So it was a crucial victory. But I was quite comfortable during the match.

“I will of course give a lot of credit to East Kilbride. They fought really hard and tried to play football as well, which was positive. “You never know in football, but it would have been the biggest surprise in football for a lot of years. But it didn’t happen and I’m very happy for that.”

Celtic did control the game – East Kilbride had one shot on target which did not come until the 71st minute – and there was the signs there of some kind of partnership between Colin Kazim-Richards.

The duo dove-tailed up front with Kazim-Richards netting his first goal for the club five minutes after the break. Deila suggested afterwards that it is important to have different systems to utilise, but although this is one of the issues that supporters have been increasingly frustrated about this season, the deployment yesterday of two holding midfielders in Charlie Mulgrew and Scott Brown meant there was a lack of link-up play between the forwards and the centre of midfield.

Some of the ponderous nature of the game may have been partly due to the artificial surface, but there is no doubt that there is work to be done on this Celtic side.

One of the pluses of the afternoon was the return of Mulgrew after a season that has been plagued by injury.

Mulgrew lasted 77 minutes, his first appearance since the re-occurrence of a thigh injury that put him out in the early stages of a Europa League tie against Ajax back in November and it is a point in the season when his return in the dressing room will be as welcome as on the field for Deila.

“He is a big character for us so it was good to see him back,” he said.

Deila needs as much good fortune as he can at the minute.