IT was the storm that drowned out the galling reality of the Molde monsoon.

But even now calm appears to have descended following Kris Commons’ outburst on the bench back in Norway on Thursday night, questions are still being asked about not only the conduct of the player himself – who has since apologised to his manager – but those in close proximity who allowed him to vent his frustration in public.

While Parkhead boss Ronny Deila was on the touchline trying to somehow direct his team away from the rocks against the Europa League Group A leaders, Commons was gesticulating furiously several yards behind him surrounded by the club’s coaching staff and fellow substitutes at the decision to remove him from the tie.

It was a reaction that disappointed Murdo MacLeod. The former Celtic midfielder watched on as the 32-year-old lost the rag, and was saddened to see such a venting aired in public.

However, while he was upset at the conduct of the player, he has explained he was similarly irked at the response - or lack of - from Celtic No.2 John Collins, who he believes should have done more to control the situation.

“In my day, players would come off in a huff and kick a bottle of water or throw a tracksuit top down. But I’ve not seen a tantrum going on as long as that,” said MacLeod.

“How would I have reacted? The manager was managing the team and he’s out on the touchline. John Collins is in there and, for me, John should have gone over and got hold of him. I don’t mean by grabbing him, I mean telling him to shut up and telling him to go down the tunnel.

“He should have got Kris out the road because you can’t have players having a tantrum like that at a football club. He’s possibly the top player at Celtic Park so it’s difficult to say he’s out the door.”

He added: “It was the strangest thing. I thought so many people were out of order. I thought Kris Commons was out of order. I think he should have just walked into the dugout and sat down and let the Celtic fans protest on his behalf, which they did do. He shouldn’t have reacted.

“I think the coaching staff should have told Commons to sit down and shut up or go up the tunnel.

“There were so many people at fault – even taking Kris Commons off could have been a failure as well.

“It’s all moved on in a short space of time. In the old days the manager would say he’s not playing again and he would be out the door.

“But he’s apologised and now he gets a second chance.”

Regardless of the woes in Molde, or the outpouring of emotion over different aspects of what took place that night, Commons and his Celtic counterparts appear to have steadied a ship ahead of what is a potentially-hazardous journey over the coming days.

Sunday’s 5-0 trouncing of Dundee United – accentuated by two goals from Commons – appears to have gone someway to building momentum in the run in to tonight’s League Cup quarter-final at Tynecastle.

While getting by Hearts and into the last four of a trophy they would dearly love to retain will naturally be a high priority for Deila, the main focus of this week will surely focus on the visit of Aberdeen to Parkhead this Saturday.

The Pittodrie club were of course five points clear at the summit of the Ladbrokes Premiership little over a month ago, but now face the prospect of a defeat seeing them slide seven points adrift.

Naturally, Celtic’s ability to handle the pressure of a title race has played a key part in the balance of power swinging in their direction. However, so too has been Aberdeen’s inability to do likewise.

“It’s been incredible,” said MacLeod. “For Scottish football it looked as though there was going to be a challenge to Celtic from Aberdeen as they looked very comfortable, they were in control, they’d beaten Celtic.

“So you thought there was a challenge but now you feel there’s no challenge. It’s so important for Aberdeen to get something at the weekend.”

The pressure on Derek McInnes to get a result out of his team is clear – just take a look at a league table at 5pm on Saturday.

There is also pressure for his opposite number. Defeat for Celtic won’t be enough to oust them from top spot, but it may be enough to raise questions over how much consistency is being found by Deila’s team.

However, MacLeod is in no doubt as to where the Norwegian will truly be judged.

If they lost to Aberdeen but beat Molde then he’s still in a job.

“The European campaign is the one everyone is looking at just now,” he said. “We’ve known from the last three years that they’re going to win the league this season, so it’s not a surprise they’ll go on and win the league.

“It’ll just be by how far a distance they’ll finish in front of the second team.

“But the Molde game is the big game for Ronny Deila. I don’t know what Celtic are thinking long-term about his future.

“But it wasn’t so long ago where it was a jam-packed Celtic Park and they were beating Barcelona and Manchester United, they best teams in the Champions League

and now they’re struggling home and away against mediocre sides.”

Murdo was promoting a new Ladbrokes ’Track Your Acca’ app which allows punters to track their bets and cash out on the go - for full details log on to thegrid.ladbrokes.com