Peter Lawwell called it the ‘Le Guen hump’ and for certain Celtic players the chief executive’s words might be tweaked to read ‘taking the hump’. It’s to his credit that, with typical candour, Kris Commons admits he had teething problems with the regime change that saw Ronny Deila walk into Celtic intent on wholesale reform. Lawwell knew that by appointing the Norwegian in the wake of Neil Lennon’s resignation he was taking a risk, and recently likened the gamble to Rangers’ decision to install Paul Le Guen in 2006. After a difficult start, Kris Commons has now build a strong relationship with Celtic manager Ronny Deila . The Frenchman lasted barely six months at Ibrox and departed in the wake of a dressing-room revolt. Yet, while the likes of Kris Boyd and Barry Ferguson actively railed against Le Guen’s methods, the resistance to Deila’s changes was more subtle. There was, however, bemusement that the club should seek to change the winning formula that had seen Lennon land three titles in a row alongside consecutive qualifications for the Champions League group stage. Having clinched the major Player of the Year honours and scored 32 times last season, Commons more than most was perhaps entitled to feel his game had little need for refinement. He readily admits to feeling unsettled by the changes that saw the former Stromsgodset chief place a greater emphasis on fitness as he attempted to realise a high-tempo pressing game. As with most human squabbles, communication has proved the key to a solution. Deila’s policy of regularly sitting down to speak individually with his players has given Commons a right of reply and he has used it, returning to first-team prominence and signing a new contract last month. Commons has adapted well to the manager's demands of his players to be physically fitter than before . Commons is likely to start the League Cup Final and has declared himself all in as Deila bids to win his first trophy as Celtic manager. ‘It is always difficult when you feel like you’ve come off a season doing really well then someone comes in and wants to change things, as he sees it, for the better,’ he said. ‘But through that transitional period we got knocked out the Champions League and didn’t get off to a great start in the league. It had an effect on the park. ‘I wasn’t playing every week and, when I was in, I’d try to do the things the manager wanted. In recent weeks, when I have been fit and healthy, I’ve felt like a different player and added more to my game than usual. ‘We speak one-to-one on a regular basis about what he wants and what I want. He’s good that way, super. He’s not telling me anything I don’t know already, it’s just sometimes you need a push in the right direction to make you a better player.’ Bright, articulate and possessed with a healthy sense of his own ability, Commons is one of the bigger characters in the dressing room and it was always crucial that Deila found a way to bring the Mansfield-born attacking midfielder on side. Even Lennon had a rocky spell with Commons during the player’s first full season at the club but the pair went on to forge a productive working relationship to the extent that the Northern Irishman admitted he would happily take Commons off Deila’s hands as he settled into his new job at Bolton. Commons talks with captain Scott Brown in training ahead of the Scottish League cup final on Sunday . A return to the Championship, where the 31-year-old had performed comfortably and without the incessant pressure to win inherent at Celtic, would have been an easier and possibly more lucrative option. ‘I’m not looking for an easy way out,’ he contends. ‘I wasn’t looking just to plod away through these next two or three years. I have a lot of goals for myself — to win more trophies, more cups. I want to win a Treble and play in the Champions League these next couple of years. I’ve not signed a deal where I think: “Oh, that’s great, I can get my feet up”. ‘The manager will put pressure on me to keep improving, so I’ve got to show signs of doing that and that’s one of my goals — I want to get better as a player as I get older.’ Commons admits he is ‘three to four kilos’ lighter thanks to Deila’s demands that his players cut their body fat and admits he feels fitter as a result. Where Lennon would borrow from the likes of Martin O’Neill in allowing his players to freewheel on the proviso that they delivered on matchdays, Deila demands that, in his own words, his players are 24-hour athletes. Commons is desperate to win the competition, which has eluded him in his four years in Scotland . He may never boast a physique to rival Cristiano Ronaldo or Gareth Bale, but he has bought into the new manager’s philosophy — and regards the November win at Pittodrie as a pivotal moment for the new boss. ‘I think Aberdeen away was a big result, when big Virgil (van Dijk) scored in the last minute. I think that was a turning point. Even before that game we saw the benefits on the training field. ‘We are trying to play this high pressing game and everyone is looking to try and improve as much as possible, whether that is a 19-year-old kid that’s just come in or me at 31. ‘The manager wants everyone to make targets to get fit, get healthier, make better touches, make better decisions on the ball and things like that. It is just completely different from last year. ‘Then if you were doing well, it was a case of just keeping doing what you were doing. ‘Ronaldo, is this supreme athlete. He’s the pinnacle, isn’t he — he is the quickest, he can jump highest, he can score most goals. He probably has no fat. That is the target, so whatever I am over that, that is the target. ‘That is not just myself. Even Craig Gordon has had words about it, Nir Bitton and Charlie Mulgrew, too. ‘The manager has goals and aspirations. He wants to makes us better, not only as professionals, but as a team. He wants us to dominate domestically and then take that on to the European stage next year — and not just take part there, but put pressure on teams, especially away from home. ‘I think Inter Milan away we showed signs we are getting there. Even though we were down to 10 men, we showed a really gutsy performance.’ Hampden and the League Cup provided Kris Commons with a glorious Celtic debut yet, four years later, he is still waiting to get his hands on the trophy in celebration. Commons is battling a hamstring injury but hopes to be fit in time to face Dundee United on Sunday . Having completed his £300,000 move from Derby County a day earlier, Commons took just eight minutes to rifle home his first Celtic goal in the 2011 semi-final against Aberdeen. Yet although his spectacular strike set the tone for a largely fulfilling period of his career, he went on to suffer disappointment in the final as Rangers prevailed courtesy of Nikica Jelavic’s goal in extra-time. A year later and caught in a personal form slump, he was a substitute and restricted to the final four minutes as Celtic unsuccessfully tried to equalise Dieter van Tornhout’s shock winning goal for Kilmarnock. The past two seasons have seen St Mirren and Morton provide further misery as the trophy became the one honour to escape the clutches of Lennon. The glaring absence from his own medal collection was just one of the reasons Scotland’s reigning Player of the Year elected to sign a new contract in January and put an end to persistent talk that he was on his way out of the club. A hamstring injury has dogged Commons since he penned his new deal last month but he’s trained this week and, with Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong cup-tied, he looks a good bet to claim one of three attacking midfield slots in Deila’s team to face Dundee United. ‘I feel fine and I’m looking forward to playing — if selected,’ said Commons. ‘It’s the only cup I’ve not won in Scotland, so it’s a big deal. ‘I think Scott Brown is the only member of the squad who has won it.’
Kris Commons has been a key member of Celtic squad for four years . Commons admits he struggled when Ronny Deila arrived . Deila put increased emphasis on fitness in new regime . But Commons has met his targets and is now back in the first team .