Ronny Deila – A Norwegian Perspective

By Wolfie

Drammen, and its football team Strømsgodset, might not be the first location that springs to mind when considering where to head for in the search for Neil Lennon’s successor.  The unfashionable city in the unfashionable footballing country seems a million miles away from the glamour of the Premiership or the prestige of the Champions League.  There are no superstar players-turned-coach who have played at the highest level and who will raise Celtic’s profile.  There are no personalities that will excite the media and fans and put those mythical “bums on seats.”  It is, however, the home of Ronny Deila, Norwegian Manager of the Year, Tippeligaen Champion and, as of today, front-runner for the Celtic job.

Looking at the Strømsgodset of today, current Champions and last season’s runners up, a team recognised as easily playing the best, most attractive style of football in Norway, it’s not that difficult to see why Celtic could be interested. Throw in the usual clichés about Scandinavians settling well in the UK, having no problems with the language or culture and being hard-working and conscientious and you already have the outlines of a case.

Similarly, with very little knowledge or research, you could easily rebut this case.  I’m sure a “best dressed man in Albania” rejoinder could be made to the “most attractive style in Norway” claim.  Unimaginative, dull, cheap would be pretty much guaranteed to make an appearance, perhaps with claims that he’d be Lawwell’s puppet or unable to stand up to the Celtic CEO.  The more perceptive critics might point to the lack of European experience.

To see why Celtic are interested though, you shouldn’t be looking at the Strømsgodset of today, you need to look at the Strømsgodset of the last decade or so.  From the early to mid-2000s, Strømsgodset were playing in the second level of Norwegian football.  They had played in the highest level – Tippaligaen – before but to a newly arrived Scot in Norway, you didn’t hear much about them.  The only reason they were on the radar at all was that the train from Oslo passed by their small, compact stadium.

The mid 2000s saw the club flirt with bankruptcy.  There was nothing particularly mysterious about it, like a thousand other clubs, their cost base was too high and their income too low.  A radical restructuring took place, with almost the entire squad being let go and replaced.  A philosophy was adopted that put the development of young players at the core.  Jostein Flo was appointed Director of Football and charged with delivering the new vision within the new realistic cost constraints.

Amazingly, Strømsgodset won promotion at the first attempt following the restructuring under manager Dag-Eilev Fargermo.  The celebrations were cut short though as the victorious manager was lured away to the more attractive Odd-Grenland in Skien, Telemark.  The management of Strømsgodset, led by Jostein Flo, then took the courageous decision of giving the head coach role to the young and inexperienced assistant-coach Ronny Deila.

Deila had been a relatively successful player for the Drammen club, though one who did not make much of a splash in the national game.  More importantly though, he was an astute and dedicated student of the game.  A thoughtful and confident coach who not only accepted the mandated low-cost home grown development policy but actively embraced and expounded it.

A teacher by training (and nature), Delia has described his role as first and foremost about developing the player, encouraging them to reflect on their game and improve.  This is interpreted much wider than just technical skills, it involves tactical awareness, football knowledge and at a basic level, growth as a person.

Deila began to implement the developmental strategy, combining it with his own clear ideas of how the game should be played.  Adopting an attacking style, with a trademark 4-3-3 formation, the idea was for quick, accurate passing and rapid transformations from defence to attack to catch the opposition unprepared.  This differs markedly from a more measured and slow-paced possession game but does not mean a direct, percentages based approach.  Without possession, the intent was to press high up the park and in numbers.

Initially, success was maintaining Tippeligaen status with the reduced player expenditure.  This was a close run thing as Delia needed a final day victory over Viking to ensure survival.  This is at the root of the infamous stripping pictures that many people will have seen today.

From that time, Stømsgodset have been on an uninterrupted and inexorable rise.  The Norwegian cup was won in 2010, a thrilling season campaign saw them pipped by Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s Molde last year before finally winning the Tippeligaen this year.  The club have continued on their policy of youth development with affordable salaries.  Top players have been sold on when their value or wage demands outgrows the clubs ability to accommodate it. Their places taken by new recruits from the youth development system.  Star striker Marcus Pedersen was sold to Vitesse in 2010, midfielder Anders Konradsen was sold to Rennes last year, and of course, player of the year Stefan Johansen was sold to Celtic this season.  Johansen did not come through the ranks at Strømsgodset.  Instead he was plucked from the fringes of the Glimt squad and converted from a winger to a high energy central midfielder.

This club has a very young squad, with most players being under the age of 23.  While they have some very good players, their main strength is as a collective unit and in their cohesiveness and organisation.  Neither Pedersen nor Konradsen have been great successes since leaving and haven’t hit the heights they achieved on the Strømsgodset platform.  They also continue to be outspent by a large number of their competitors.  Latest figures for 2013 show Strømsgodset coming 9th out of 16th in terms of annual budget.

Deila seems not to be involved in player recruitment and transfers, with that task entrusted to Jostein Flo.   Rather than a source of conflict, this separation of responsibilities has allowed each to focus their energies more effectively.  The harmonious nature of the working relationship seems to be grounded in a shared understanding of the strategy and way forward for Strømsgodset.

What Deila and Flo and Strømsgodset have achieved is nothing short of remarkable.  A team of youngsters, with a regular turnover of “star” players, has continued to compete effectively with teams with playing budgets two and three times their own.  They have done this while playing the most attractive, attacking style of football and scoring the most goals.  They have done this by managing to get more from their players as a team than you would expect from them individually.

This is why Celtic are interested and it is why Celtic should be interested.  Like Strømsgodset, Celtic needs to get maximum value from every pound they spend for the simple reason that our competitors (in Europe!) have many more of them to spend.  We need to generate a surplus from our transfer dealings that helps fund the running of the club.  We need a manager who grasps the essential nature of our buy low, sell high strategy rather than one who merely accepts it.  We need a system and style of play that gets the most out of our players while entertaining the fans.

Deila has helped deliver this for Strømsgodset.  It is of course extremely difficult to assess how much is down to a single individual and how much is down to the structure and culture of the entire club.  Sometimes it is easy to be deceived by the passion and erudition of a person and attribute everything to them.  Strømsgodset adopted an entire approach to running a football club.  From top to bottom, the entire club was committed to this approach.

I have no doubt that Deila understands the model that Celtic are trying to put in place.  In many regards, he understands it better than people at Celtic.  However, there is simply no guarantee that he will be able to lift the culture, mind-set and approach wholesale and transplant it to Celtic.  This is the risk. The decision that the Club must weigh.

Given Celtic’s insistence that all money raised by the Club is reinvested in the Club (be it transfer fees, salaries, youth academies, etc) then it’s safe to say that there is not going to be a massive transfer pot for whatever manager we appoint.  In that case, why appoint a manager who wants or expects such a bounty?  That seems like a far higher risk to me.

Wolfie