Deila is dead man walking, even if he does double

But in defence of Deila, this is about as far as it goes. Today he looks like a dead man walking. His Celtic team is staggering to the Ladbrokes Premiership tape and appears confused and uninspired. Last Wednesday evening’s 0-0 draw with Dundee, in front of a drab, unexcited Parkhead crowd, said it all. It is inconceivable that Peter Lawwell, Dermot Desmond and the rest of the Celtic bigwigs are not furiously chin-wagging in private, sifting through plans B, C and D.

Deila will not survive. He might stumble his way to the title this season, and even claim the Scottish Cup, but too many doubts surround him now. Foremost among these is one simple measure: progress. After 21 months in charge there should be an obvious style and momentum about Celtic’s football, but none is to be seen. On the contrary, the team have gone backwards and, even worse, are lacking in confidence. There is no other figure to point a finger at – Deila is the man charged with making the team flourish, and he is failing.

Lawwell, frankly, finds himself in an awkward position. Should Celtic lose to Morton tomorrow in the Scottish Cup quarter-final in Glasgow then the decision is easy: Deila goes. But this is unlikely to happen, in which case the Deila projects drifts on into the spring, with few obvious candidates ready to step into the breach when he leaves.

What does Lawwell do? Wait until the summer, presumably with a league title and Scottish Cup having been secured, and give Deila another go? A vast cross-section of the Celtic support - who ultimately fund the club - would feel uneasy about that. Or cut Deila free right now? In truth, that is not ideal either, with the team plunged into further uncertainty with two months of the campaign to go.

Many Celtic fans – and I don’t doubt Lawwell, too – would love Davie Moyes to take over. There is an obvious synergy to it all: the 52 year old knows Celtic well, remains highly regarded, and is available. But would Moyes come? Having worked at the top in England and Spain, he will surely feel that other opportunities in bigger environments than Scotland will come his way. As for Brendan Rodgers, the former Liverpool manager, arriving in Glasgow, that would be a remarkable coup for Celtic, but sounds even more far-fetched.

Deila’s early promise has simply petered out. Whatever plan he had for Celtic has gone awry, summed up in such signings as Nadir Ciftci and Carlton Cole. In his attempted rebuild last summer he gave himself a dodgy defence, a midfield of thousands, and a threadbare attack recklessly reliant on Leigh Griffiths. It has all gone horribly wrong.

Contrary to some public myths you hear, there is no antipathy towards Deila from the press. In fact, the media gang quite like him, get on well with him, and find him agreeable and affable. There is certainly no orchestrated media campaign to “get him out” as you sometimes hear it fatuously said. The plain fact is, Deila’s team speaks some harsh truths on the pitch.

He might miraculously extricate himself from this mess. After landing a double this season Celtic might feel they have no option but to press on with Deila, and good times may arrive.

Football has seen greater shocks. Right now, though, you cannot see anything other than an imminent Deila and Celtic divorce.

Stubbs can be brave and bright

My eyes were watering up just listening to Alan Stubbs describe to me in graphic detail the pain-killing procedure that went wrong for him prior to an eight-hour cancer operation he endured 15 years ago. If you’re up for it, you can find the gory details elsewhere in this section.

It reminded me again what a strong, robust character the Hibs manager is. His team, having been going so well, are suddenly in anxiety after three successive defeats, and Stubbs and Hibs could really use a Scottish Cup win against Caley Thistle tomorrow.

Whatever happens, I’ll never doubt Stubbs’ resolve again.

Leeann Dempster, the Hibs CEO, believes him to be “one of the brightest young coaches in Britain”. I would add to that, and one of the bravest.

Wharton would be a giant cut down

When I was a kid Tom ‘Tiny’ Wharton was – very literally – a giant among referees. In fact, by those mid-1970s, his whistling career was drawing to a close, but you couldn’t move back then for hearing of this great man, a huge bulk at 16 stone, who refereed games with fearsome authority.

Wharton was one of the great referees of his time, held in extremely high esteem. He was one of the best this country produced.

But here’s the rub. Were he refereeing today, I fear, Wharton would be skewered by TV coverage of football. Every refereeing slip, every error, is cruelly highlighted.

It’s as well for him that Tom ‘Tiny’ Wharton was a referee when he was.

Rangers and Dundee have history

So Gary Harkins, the Dundee captain, makes comments about Rangers being “a new club”. Then Rangers yesterday issue a statement, possibly containing a tad too much protest, stating that “our history is intact” and referring to “our unbroken timeline”.

Well, this is going to be spicy at Ibrox today. Never mind this off-field stuff, there is football excitement at the thought of what will happen when Paul Hartley’s Dundee meet Rangers in this Scottish Cup quarter-final tie.

I genuinely cannot be sure which way this tie will swing. Dundee are from a tier above them, but Rangers have all the might and backing that come with being Rangers.

In the here and now the intriguing question remains: where would this Rangers team sit in the current SPFL Ladbrokes Premiership?

My own hunch is, comfortably in the top six (Dundee lie fifth), and maybe top four. But we should be wiser about this come mid-afternoon.