Tottenham-linked Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou has explained why the period when people doubt him the most is actually when he is at his most dangerous as a football manager.
The 57-year-old has been linked with a move to Spurs, as well as other clubs across Europe, following another impressive silverware-laden season with the Scottish side. Most of all it is the style of football that Postecoglou has brought to Celtic that saw him strongly considered by both Brighton and Chelsea before Tottenham begun to take a serious look at him.
Some Spurs fans remain unconvinced by his potential appointment and his background in Australian and Japanese football. In an interview for Stan Sport back in Australia earlier this season, Postecoglou admitted that he relished that early period at Celtic when he was doubted, even if the initial results took some time to match the performances.
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"It's a crucial period and you need a bit of luck. It's a bit when people underestimate you and I always use that as a weapon for myself. I say to myself ok there's no one here who really is going to give me any credibility in terms of opposition and in terms of the people I'm facing up against," he said.
"As long as I get the people within the group to believe in what I'm going to do and get the club behind me then I'll take advantage of the fact that the opposition and other teams I'm competing against will dismiss us or dismiss me as a bit of an non-entity.
"That early period is important, but I don't see it as important for me. It's more about how important it is for other people to believe in me, particularly the ones I'm working with. Beyond the methodology and ideology and everything else I'm working with, you've got to believe in me as a person.
"You're walking into a room, and what it's like in a dressing room, and when you're talking to a group of people, particularly athletes, you can lose them quite quickly. That's irrespective of what you bring in. I've sat with people who have got unbelievable resumes and experience and you sit with them and you're fairly underwhelmed when you walk away."
He added: "I know that first impression is going to be important and I was really determined to show people that we're going to play football a certain way and it's not going to take five years to do it.
"Celtic is not a club where you can have a five-year plan. It's a club that had won nine in a row, went into its 10th season with the biggest of expectations and walked away without a trophy.
"I couldn't go a year without another trophy because of that sort of trust deficit. I needed everyone to buy in and to turn things around quickly. We did that. First of all with our football because the results weren't there but they're an educated fanbase. They could see something. The seeds were there. That helped me in the early stages."
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