Ange Postecoglou reckons Scottish football is like a television boxset these days with punters desperate to tune in for the next episode.
It now looks like Succession when it comes to the drama across at Ibrox, but the big Aussie has had to rattle through a series of DIY SOS since his arrival in the summer.
Postecoglou is happy to build at his own pace though and he believes his Celtic story is starting to take shape.
The manager of the month award for October proves the critics are on board but while he might be cast in the role main character, the former Socceroos boss is adamant it’s more of an ensemble cast at Parkhead.
There were some grumbles in his early days he wanted to keep the existing backroom team on board, even if for the short time while he learned his lines.
But Postecoglou has watched these characters grow and he was determined to get his coaches in to the picture when he was presented with his gong yesterday.
The 55-year-old has quickly gelled with John Kennedy, Gavin Strachan, Stevie Woods and Stephen McManus and the manager wants them to have starring roles in the next thrilling instalment of Celtic’s season.
Postecoglou is getting used to Scottish football fans being streaming all the time and smiled, “It’s like how we watch TV these days. People binge a series in one night because we don’t want to wait a week for another episode.
“We used to do that in the old days. I have felt like people wanted to binge this season too. One bad result and it’s over. One good result and it’s done...”
The bigger picture is becoming clearer though with Celtic’s narrative shifting in recent weeks.
A run of seven wins in eight – including crucial away days at Aberdeen, Hibs and Ferencvaros – has got everyone’s attention.
Postecoglou takes the plaudits but credits his colleagues.
He said: “It’s working well and that’s why I wanted the guys in the photo. Unfortunately, Gavin Strachan had a family commitment and couldn’t make it.
“But that’s the main coaching staff with me in the photo, the ones who work alongside me, and they have been hugely important to me and what we want to build.
“There is the rest of the staff, the sports science team and the analysts and I have enjoyed working with them.
“I know people have been a little bit anxious about my wellbeing coming in on my own without a crew of people to support me.
“But I have never felt the need for that and I have enjoyed working with this group of people.
“I love the fact they want to embrace the direction that we want to take the team into.
“That sort of stuff energises me. I said when I walked through those doors that my first and most important task was to get people to believe in me, rather than my ideas and what I want to do.
“That’s what I have tried to do and if it wasn’t working then we wouldn’t be getting the results, or performances.
“Ultimately, the rest of the staff spend more time with the players than I do.
“It’s right that they get the recognition as much as I do.”
The script was set early on with Celtic. They were swashbuckling attackers but dodgy defenders.
It’s a storyline that's stuck – but it isn’t entirely true. Celtic are the top scorers in Scotland.
But – plot twist – they also have the meanest defence.
Postecoglou said: “I always look to certain indicators in terms of how the team is progressing.
“I feel we have been pretty consistent all along.
“There have been games, in Europe especially, where we have conceded goals, and there are others where we haven’t created as much as we’d like.
“But overall I have seen progress in those areas and I look at the key indicators.
“Are we playing our football? Are we scoring goals? Are we taking chances and stopping the opposition from creating them?
“When those things stack up, even if you have one or two bad results, you know that over the course of time these things will even themselves out, and results will follow.
“This is a good sign of our progress but we also need to keep at it.
“I still think there is more to come from us and the team.”
Postecoglou cut a relaxed figure at Lennoxtown and it was understandable with the international break giving him a rare minute or two to catch his breath.
But he’s already plotting for the next big episode on the horizon. The one where Celtic go to Hampden.
The Hoops face St Johnstone in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals next weekend and the manager knows his club belongs on the big stage.
Postecoglou said: “There is no doubt that this club has a history and tradition of success.
“That’s the bit I totally understand.
“When you go to Celtic, people will say, ‘Oh, you are expected to win every week’, but I don’t buy that.
“Nobody measures up to that. Not even the greatest managers win every game.
“But what is expected of you at a club like Celtic is that you bring success.
“Any opportunity we have to do that, whether it’s in the third or fourth month of my tenure or, hopefully, the tenth year, that can never be diminished.
“We have an opportunity to get to a final and to get to a stage where this club loves to be.
“We don’t want to pass up the opportunity to do that.”
