Ange's winning Celtic mentality forged on factory floor as boss quips 'you’ve dug up one stint I didn’t win silverware'

The good times keep rolling for Ange Postecoglou at Celtic.

The big Aussie is racking up the wins, stockpiling silverware and is edging closer by the week to securing legendary status in Glasgow’s East End. But there’s no chance he’s ever going to take all this for granted. Postecoglou’s CV is jam-packed with success and plaudits just about everywhere he's been. He’s got winner’s medals from just about every gig he’s walked into and the trophy count has continued in Scotland.

Yet it’s one of the few times he failed to win that sticks in his mind and helps him savour every second of the glory run he’s on right now. In fact, scrub that. It’s probably the one spell in his career Postecoglou doesn’t want to be reminded about. But it was still a vital stage in his journey. Postecoglou admits he looks around him at the moment and the view is pretty sweet. He’s at a huge club with a mammoth, passionate fan base. He gets hero worshipped on the streets and serenaded from the stands. In a thinly-veiled little jab about the Michael Beale lucky man chat that’s dominated this manager, he jokes he’s got the most money to spend than any one.

But it’s some contrast to where he’s been at times. Fourteen years ago next month, Postecoglou was starting from scratch again at ground zero.

He’s been a rising star with silverware to show for it at South Melbourne and spent a successful spell in charge of the Socceroos under 20s. A few sticky results and a famous bust up on television with pundit Craig Foster caused huge damage to his cred and he was back in Australia looking for a job after an impossible short stint in the lower leagues in Greece.

And he jumped at the first chance he got in his homeland – even when it looked a thankless task.