John Collins has insisted that he would be open to working with Ronny Deila again in the future.

The former Celtic management saw their tenure at the club come to an end on Sunday afternoon before they parted ways, but Collins has insisted that the door remains open for both men to work together again in the future.

Deila asked Collins if he would be open to such a venture before he returned to his homeland on Sunday night and while the former Hoops assistant now sees himself returning to the game as either a director of football or a manager, he was keen to keep an open-mind.

"We are great friends and we had dinner after the game before he headed off,” said Collins. “ I took him to the airport. We will always be great friends and we will see where our futures take us. Would we work together again? Never say never.

“Ronny has asked me if I will go and work with him again. I think I will probably be a director of football or a manager.”

Meanwhile, Collins believes that Brendan Rodgers would be a decent fit for Celtic – but has also expressed his surprise that John Hughes has not been linked with the vacant managerial role at the Parkhead club.

The former Hibs and Celtic defender has been a loggerheads with the Highland club’s hierarchy recently and Collins has maintained that Hughes’ managerial record has not been promoted because of an inherent snobbery within the game.

"It surprises me that he's not been mentioned for the Celtic job,” said Collins. “He's not been mentioned by anybody.

"Let me put a few facts on the table about Yogi. He took over a team playing long ball football and very quickly moulded them into a team that plays exciting, expansive football that is pleasing on the eye and hard to coach.

"He took Inverness to the League Cup Final in his first year and got beat on penalties by a strong Aberdeen team. In his second season they beat us in the Scottish Cup semi final and won the trophy.

"He's sold players after making them better, like Graeme Shinnie, Marley Watkins, Billy McKay. He discovered Ryan Christie who was nowhere near the first team training pitch but he watched him in one Under-20s game, put him in the first team and moulded him into a player.

"He developed him and Celtic fans are going to have the pleasure of him for years to come because he is a terrific talent. He continues to play good football.

Insisting that Hughes doesn’t get the credit he deserves, Collins said:

“Is it snobbery? It is, 100 per cent. He did a huge job for us at Celtic this year, beating Aberdeen twice and drawing with them. He's had injuries all over the place, half his previous team sold. When you put it all together you are talking about a manager who has done an unbelievable job with no support, no hotels, no sports science, no video analysis, not a penny spent on any player. He's got a tiny budget. He's a coach that plays expansive, entertaining football, which is tough to do - and he does it with average players.”

Former Liverpool manager Rodgers has spoken to Celtic about the job and Collins was also enthusiastic about such a potential appointment.

"Brendan would be a brilliant choice, I like him a lot,” he said. “I enjoy watching his teams play football and I enjoy listening to him so I think he'd be a terrific choice. There's lots of others in the mix."

*John Collins was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup*