Australia boss Graham Arnold reckons his old rival Ange Postecoglou’s “win at all costs” mentality has Celtic on the road to success.
And he insists the 56-year-old is blazing a trail for previously untried Aussie coaches in the UK with his early success at Parkhead.
Postecoglou has been praised for the swashbuckling style of football he’s brought to the Premiership backed by his signings including Kyogo Furuhashi, Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi from the J-League as well as loan star Jota from Benfica.
And Arnold is convinced his shrewd eye for a bargain was forged in the salary-capped realms of the A-League.
The Socceroos boss was a fierce rival when in charge of Central Coast Mariners while Postecoglou was managing Brisbane Roar and Melbourne Victory a decade ago.
But he has a burning respect for the Parkhead boss and said: He told the Go Radio Show: “We were competitors for a long time in club land here in Australia and I’ve known Ange for a long time.
"He is doing a fantastic job at Celtic and is doing Australia proud on the coaching front.
“He’s one of the first Australians to coach in the UK and is making a great pathway for a lot of coaches here.
“A lot are undervalued because we work in a salary-capped system where you have to be real diligent with the money you spend.
“You get restricted in a squad number of 23 players and that teaches you to really work hard on your recruitment policies and Ange is doing a fantastic job with that at Celtic.
“He’s a winner, that’s one of the strengths of the Australian mentality - win at all costs.
“Having that and passing it down to the players, no excuses, you are playing on the same size pitch as the opposition, the weather, conditions, it’s all about belief and getting the best out of every player and a sense of the style of play you want and getting that across to the players.
“Most of all getting the players to buy into that. Once you do that and get that, you reap the rewards.”
Arnold added: “One thing about Ange is that it’s 24/7 football. His attention to detail is what he’s all about. He has a passion for the game and doesn’t listen to outside noise.
“He has his way and it’s proving a great way.
“He throws a lot of belief into the players and gets them on board. For me that’s one of the big things in football these days - getting players to buy into your philosophy and into the style.
“Once that happens the players then play with more energy, freedom and confidence and the results follow.”
