Ronny Deila welcomes Kris Commons apology after Celtic substitution

23 October 2015 14:16

Ronny Deila has welcomed Kris Commons' apology following his tantrum after being substituted in Thursday night's 3-1 Europa League defeat against Molde in Norway.

The Hoops were 2-0 down when the midfielder reduced the deficit just after the break only for Mohamed Elyounoussi to restore the home side's lead moments later.

When Commons was replaced by Nadir Ciftci with 15 minutes to go his anger at the decision continued as he took his seat in the dugout and appeared to berate assistant boss John Collins.

Commons, in a statement published on the club's official website on Friday, said: "I'd like to apologise for my reaction last night, something that should never be shown publicly on the field. I was very frustrated at how the night had gone. However, I did not handle this in the right way."

Deila was asked to comment on Commons' apology at his press conference and said: "It is very important. I am happy with that, he came to me and that is very good.

"There is a lot of emotion on the pitch but you have to do it in the right situations.

"We have to have discipline and stay together and he understands that. He has apologised and we move on."

The defeat left Celtic bottom of Group A on two points after three fixtures.

The Norwegian side, top of the section with seven points, travel to Celtic Park on November 5, before the visit to Glasgow of Ajax and the Hoops' trip to Turkey to face Fenerbahce.

Deila, whose side host Dundee United in the Ladbrokes Premiership on Sunday, came under fire from some travelling supporters after the match and admitted the negative reaction left him feeling "bad" about himself.

"I understand they are angry," he said. "A lot of people travel around with Celtic and have big expectations.

"I get disappointed and feel bad with myself but again, you will lose football games in the future.

"You don't die over football but it affects a lot of people's lives and that is important. In life you have bad days and good days, that's what makes football exciting.

"This time it was a bad performance and even worse to lose.

"The only thing we can do is look forward and do it on Sunday."

Deila straight-batted a suggestion that the next few weeks would be important to his future at the club, saying "every game is important", and tried to put the defeat at the Aker Stadion into context.

"The situation is not unbelievably bad," said the former Stromsgodset boss.

"We are top of the league, we are still in both cups and still have a chance in Europe so there are some positive things.

"But again, the performance yesterday was not good enough."

Source: PA