Former Rangers defender Kevin Muscat has blasted Ange Postecoglou's detractors for a lack of research and "pure laziness".
And the Aussie, who replaced him as Yokohama F. Marinos boss when Postecoglou joined Celtic in June, is so proud of his countryman.
Muscat has watched from afar as Postecoglou steered the Parkhead summer rebuild by himself.
And while he's six points behind going into the Premiership winter break the boss scooped the Premier Sports Cup this month, seeing off Hibs in the final to win his first piece of Scottish silverware.
Muscat reckons the critics have been silenced and said: "When Ange did arrive I said on some other platform that it was a predictable response.
"Some really high-profile people didn’t cover themselves in glory with their lack of knowledge, lack of research and pure laziness, really.
"His success is great to see and I think it’s good for the competition as well.
"Celtic seem to have steadied under Ange and he’s brought something totally different to what they’ve seen in recent years.
"Rangers have changed managers also, with Steven Gerrard going to Aston Villa and Giovanni van Bronckhorst coming in. I think that freshness from both sides of the city and the football that’s being played... it’s good for Scottish football."
And Muscat admits he inherited a good side from Postecoglou, who won Yokohama their first title for 15 years, when he took charge.
He said: "There are so many styles creeping into the game and obviously Ange was a catalyst four years ago. He flipped the conservative approach on its head and was really aggressive in the way he went about things.
"Since then, clubs and coaches have moved away from the 4-4-2 formation and the conservative approach.
"Japan has a wonderful, strong competition with three professional leagues. It’s somewhere I’ve really settled into, and I’m enjoying it.
"Over the years it’s been a conservative competition and their style of play has been conservative, however in the last four or five years, that has started to change.
"They’re a lot more adventurous now, we know how technical the individuals are and how technical the teams are."
