Ange Postecoglou has arrived in Scotland to finally take over as Celtic manager, and the new Hoops boss insists he's 'super happy' to finally bring an end to a hectic few weeks in his storied career.
After agreeing to replace Neil Lennon at Parkhead, Postecoglou was forced to quarantine in London for 10 days after leaving Japanese side Yokohama F. Marinos, but now he's touched down in Glasgow and is wasting no time at all.
The 55-year-old was pictured with the club's new chief executive Dominic McKay earlier today, and he's made his first extended comments since officially reaching his desired destination.
Speaking via the official Celtic website, Postecoglou said: "It’s great to be here.
“It’s been a tough three weeks to get here but I’m super happy to be here now.
"It’s been a bit of a whirlwind and I knew it wouldn’t sink in that I’m the new Celtic manager until I got here. Now I can get cracking and start working.
"I got to meet everyone and put everything in place that we need to. It’s been fantastic.
"I already had some familiarity with it but it’s a great set-up. The people here are fantastic and I’m looking forward to working with everyone. Everyone keeps warning me about the weather but it all looks pretty beautiful at the moment.”
“I’m not a fan of Zoom even though it’s been our existence for 18 months so I was keen to get up here as soon as possible.
“I had to do quarantine and make sure we followed all the protocols but being here now is exactly where I wanted to be.
“Ultimately, people want to get to know me.
"It’s one thing to have ideas and talk about what you want to do but people need to meet me and understand me as a person as much as a manager. You can’t do that unless you meet people in person and we’ll start that process now.”
Celtic's first pre-season friendly is against Sheffield Wednesday on July 7, before facing Charlton three days later, and then Bristol City and Preston North End the following week.
Of course, the Postecoglou 's first real test will come when the Hoops face Danish cracks FC Midtjylland in the second qualifying round of the Champions League on July 20.
