Ange Postecoglou's road to Parkhead is now well known with Celtic fans fully versed on the Aussie’s success in his homeland and in Japan.
But what they might not know is his journey started long before he hit the big time Down Under.
Postecoglou reckons he was destined for a career in the dugout – after becoming a boss when he was just 12.
The Australian Greek took charge of his school team way before he could grow his trademark stubble and even landed his first trophy when he was still in short trousers.
It was the start of a path that took him to the Socceroos hotseat after successful spells in charge of A League outfits Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory, with a World Cup on the way to title glory in Japan.
But there was also a little-known six-month spell back in the old country, with Greek Third Division side Panachaiki, where he had to deal with a fanatical support and the odd priest giving him pelters in the street.
The experiences have helped shape Postecoglou and allowed him to handle the intense heat of managing in Glasgow.
A packed Parkhead is a far cry from the Year 7 team at Prahran High School in Melbourne as Postecoglou lifted the lid on the making of him as a manager.
The 56-year-old said: “Looking back it seems crazy, to me more than anyone else.
“I don’t know why people were listening to a 12-year-old but there must have been something about me that made them.
“It’s quite bizarre when you think about it but it’s probably why I have always felt more of a coach. I struggled with my playing career as I just felt my destiny was to be a manager.
“That was the space where I always felt most comfortable.
“I would have been annoying as a 12-year-old coach. I’m sure that I would have annoyed a lot of people! But that’s when the coaching career started.
“There hadn’t been a soccer team before and we put a group together.
“We had a music teacher who said he would take the team but there wasn’t any coaching or training.
“He would sit and mark his homework while we all just had a kickabout.
“After the first few sessions I took control. It sounds bizarre because I was so young.
“But for some reason I took control of the whole thing and people listened. I didn’t just pretend to be the coach.
“I picked the team, we had sessions and I told everyone what to do.
“Looking back I think I got power hungry!”
Even back then Postecoglou knew how to run a dressing room. He added: “I was a player, coach and captain and one of my closest mates – we’re still friends to this day – wanted to bring me down a peg or two.
“He decided that the team would have a vote to see if I should continue as captain.
“We had the vote and it ended up being unanimous.
“I said to my mate, ‘How could it be unanimous if you called the vote in the first place?’
“And he said, ‘I voted for you too. You’re the best person for the job but I just wanted to see if other people would vote for you’.
“I was running the show and to this day I don’t understand why anyone listened to me. I wasn’t anything special!
“My mates still say to me, ‘Why were we listening to you back then?’ But we ended up winning the Under-12s state championship at South Melbourne’s ground.”
Potecoglou has been winning ever since – apart from a frantic six months in Greece when he was appointed by Aussie businessman Con Makris, who had bought over the Patras minnows.
It didn’t go to plan as he even had a run-in with the local clergy.
But the Mediterranean mayhem lit a torch he still carries today. Postecoglou said: “I loved the chaos of Greece. I love Greek football and how you go from one extreme to the other so quickly.
“The same people who wanted to carry you on their shoulders after a win would be having a go at you outside the bus seven days later.
“I could see their faces – it was exactly the same people.
“But I loved that. It sort of lit a fire inside me at the time and since then, things have gone well.
“That time in Greece just showed me that I love being around passionate football people.
“I remember once we lost a game and I was crossing the street the next day.
“The local priest stopped me. He started questioning my substitutions in the game and that summed it up.
“The whole city was enraptured by their team and I loved that.
“It just showed me that I was comfortable in that sort of environment.
“There was nothing I needed to fear. Working under that scrutiny wasn’t going to change me or give me stress. Greece showed me that was the type of environment that I did want to be in.
“Before I came to Celtic, people weren’t warning me as such but they tried to prepare me for what I was going to face.
“But what they didn’t realise is that this is exactly what I want. This is where I want to be, where I have always wanted to be.
“That part of it wasn’t daunting for me at all.
“I still use some of the methods I worked on and put into practice during that time in Greece.
“That was a tricky time – and probably the only time in my career where there was a little bit of uncertainty
“But I just found the experience really rejuvenating in terms of my career and my beliefs. It really helped me.”
