Ex-Celtic striker Andy Walker says Ronny Deila was replaced by Brendan Rodgers due to this match

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Walker believes Celtic’s loss to Rangers in the Scottish Cup last season resulted in the club hierarchy replacing Deila with Rodgers.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Andy Walker has stated his belief that Ronny Deila would perhaps still have been manager of Celtic if the Hoops had not lost against Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final last season.

Deila managed to guide Celtic to two consecutive Scottish Premier League titles but the Norwegian’s reign at Celtic Park can be viewed as a bit of a disappointment due to his failure to guide the Hoops into the Champions League.

In contrast, new manager Brendan Rodgers has managed to seal Celtic’s place in Europe’s elite club competition this season and the Northern Irishman already seems to have won over the fans in a matter of just a few months.

Former Celtic striker Walker is certainly delighted with the appointment of Rodgers as manager but the 51-year-old has presented an interesting claim regarding Deila ahead of Celtic’s clash against rivals Rangers this weekend.

Walker suggested that Deila could still have been in charge of Celtic if it were not for the defeat at the hands of Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final last season and hinted that he is actually a bit thankful for the loss against their rivals in April as it indirectly resulted in the appointment of Rodgers this summer.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Walker explained, “Celtic, for their part, should be fired up because it was such a poor performance in that semi-final. In a funny way, though, that probably worked out well for Celtic.

“Would the club have made the decision to move on from Ronny Deila had they won the league and Scottish Cup? I don’t know, I’m not so sure they would have. It would have been a lot harder to make that change.

“But everyone at Celtic has been given a huge lift by Brendan Rodgers coming in. He is a top manager who has done good things in the game. You can already see a big difference with the way Celtic are trying to play. And you can also see the players respect him. I’m not convinced that was the case with Ronny Deila.”