“I know that there is another world out there, but this is a lifestyle. It’s not a job. I can assure you that I have been as furious as this when I was in Stromsgodset and we didn’t win an away game for a year.
“It was in the newspapers all the time. I said the same things - that we had to learn from the experience, develop and in the end we would reach the goal.
“That’s how it has been in my football career. Many times I have sat after games and thought that I don’t want to do this anymore, because it is so painful to lose.
“It’s like you feel as though the police are standing outside your door in the morning, waiting to take you in because you done something criminal.
“I know the players have the same feeling, but you have to get this away and look forward. Then you need to have fun when doing things. If you don’t, you will never improve.”
Deila also revealed that his teenage twin daughters, Live and Thile, had opened his eyes to the impact upon him of the defeat by Ross County.
“When we lost the semi-final they were here,” he said.“It wasn’t easy to try and look at them after that game.
“Then they said to me: ‘We know how it is, Daddy. We talk together, but you don’t listen.’
“That’s what it is like when you come home from a loss. You are thinking about the game and you are not actually there.
“You feel the pain twice, but that’s how it is and that is what I have chosen. I chose this life. I’ve done it for 20 years. It’s hell or heaven all of the time. That’s how football is.
“That’s why I have to try to deal with it, but if you don’t feel pain or happiness, then I think I would be very bored.”
As the fixture list would have it, Celtic meet Ross County again on Saturday, this time at home in the league, but the Hoops manager is not inclined to think in terms of retaliation for last week’s setback. “Revenge is a bad word and we have something to prove,” Deila said.
“We have to take with us the first 12 minutes when we were good before the red card (to Efe Ambrose).
“If we do that for 90 minutes, we can cause them problems.Of course, we want to show we are a better side than we did in the last 78 minutes at Hampden.
“The biggest problem you have as a leader is if you think it’s only you who cares.
“You wonder, ‘where is their hunger?’ - but I can assure you that’s not the case here. Every player feels the same way as I do and we want to bounce back on Saturday.”
One positive of the past two weeks has been the return after injury of Scott Brown and Charlie Mulgrew, who is out of contract at the end of this season. “A contract offer could happen, of course,” said Deila.
“Charlie is an important player and he is a professional and a leader who brings a lot of positive energy to the dressing room but without having him on the pitch, it’s more difficult.
“Hopefully, he plays games and stays injury-free - and at Celtic.”
- Telegraph