When Celtic appointed the lesser known Angelos Postecoglou from Yokohama F. Marinos last summer, few in Scotland really knew what they were getting. Born in Greece, raised in Melbourne, and understated playing career and a nomadic run of management roles that spanned six clubs and a country across three continents, it was hard to know how to take him.
The buzz from Down Under, though, quickly suggested they were onto a winner. And so it has since proved with one league title in the bag and another looking likely come May.
The Hoops' trip to Sydney Super Cup has put the Postecoglou buzz back into full focus as he heads back to the city for the first time since swapping the J-League for the Scottish Premiership. And in honour of the trip, the Aussie media have been reminding everyone just how big a deal he is to Australian football.
His time in charge of the national team Down Under was transformational. They won the Asian Cup for the first time in their history and qualified for back-to-back World Cups, all the while playing the sort of football that has seen Celtic flip the Glasgow rivalry on its head to reclaim the Premiership title. And a new feature documentary, Ange Unseen, has given fans a unique insight into his time in charge of his country.
The short film shows some behind-the-scenes clips of Postecoglou's famed and feared team talks, as well as the verdict of 12 of the Socceroos who played under him. The verdict, as you'd expect, was pretty unanimous. Here is what each of them had to say.
Tim Cahill: "He has a real good aura. 'Do what I tell you and execute it because we give you all the answers,' and that's what normally happened. Best motivator. Amazing, amazing."
Aaron Mooy: "He's mentally stubborn with his way of thought, which is a good thing. He believes in what he believes in and nothing changes."
Tom Rogic: "His biggest strength for me was his motivational speeches. They were right up there with the best that I've heard."
Mile Jedinak: "You always knew with Ange that it was coming from the right place because he believed in us that much that when we let ourselves downm we shouldn't accept that. Knowing how hard and how long the journey has been for him to get to this point - he's come from the other side of the world and he's an Australian - you've got to support that, 100 per cent. He knows what the template looks like, it's then about allowing that to take its course."
Robbie Kruse: "He wasn't expecting everyone to play unbelievable every game. He just said 'you work hard, you work harder than your opponent, you give your best, you help your teammates.' His ability to get the best out of you was second to none."
Mat Ryan: "Ange when he first took over, his dream was to change the perception of the Australia football team, to become a footballing nation and to prove to the world that football can be played in a beautiful way in Australia."
Bailey Wright: "Inspiring. Gamechanger for me mentally and tactically, really. I've not experienced many people like him, I wouldn't really sit down and have a conversation with him too often."
Jackson Irvine: "He was the boss. He definitely was the boss. Sometimes once you've been in it a certain amount of time, you can start to become comfortable, but he never let that happen."
Massimo Luongo: "He is frightening because he's so distant from everyone, you don't really see much of him, and he doesn't lose his temper too often. But he can switch and do that if he has to."
Mark Milligan: "There's not a hell of a lot of times that we really feel the full force of Ange's anger at half-time. But when you do, you take note and you get better."
Mathew Leckie: "I think it helped that he was an Australian as well. I guess we were all pulling in the same direction."
Trent Sainsbury: "He really gets under your skin with what it means to be a Socceroo. It really gives you that love for the shirt."
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