Ronny Deila believes the "average players" he had at Celtic played a major part in his Parkhead downfall.
But he takes personal responsibility for the way it ended - with their Champions League exit against Malmo a particular sore point.
Deila won back to back league titles at Parkhead after replacing Neil Lennon although there was a feeling they underperformed for long spells under the Norwegian.
They were eliminated at the Champions League playoff round in consecutive seasons and finished rock bottom of their Europa League group in his second and final campaign.
And while the Norwegian boss, currently in charge of New York City, takes responsibility for failing to live up to fans' expectations, he does admit the "average" standard of some of his players didn't help.
Speaking on the Press Box podcast, Deila said: “We lost a lot of good players in the previous couple of years before I came in.
"We did not have the same amount of money invested as Brendan Rodgers did in the following couple of seasons.
"That made things difficult, but I also need to take some responsibility for failures.
“In that second season we had too many average players in the squad. However, there was some good talent as well who then performed very well when Brendan Rodgers came in, so I feel a part of that."
Deila also admits his biggest disappointment was their crushing Champions League exit at the hands of Malmo.
The Hoops were handed a golden opportunity to qualify for Europe's premier competition but were unable to advance despite winning the home leg, with Malmo's 2-0 victory in Sweden sealing a 4-3 aggregate defeat.
He went on: “I think the biggest disappointment at Celtic was getting knocked out by Malmo in the Champions League playoffs .
“We played well in the first game and then struggled in the second game.
"We really should have made it to the Champions League group stages."
