Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou admits he’s never had any issues with Rangers fans in the street.
And he’s impressed that they always declare their allegiance to him first.
The Aussie boss has made himself a hero at Parkhead and stands on the brink of claiming his first Premiership crown in his maiden season.
After fighting scepticism over his appointment, the 56-year-old has become acquainted with the Glasgow rivalry he was well aware of due to the fixture's interest back home.
His green and white colours have proven no issue, in fact, it has turned into a conversation starter with locals.
He said: “Everyone’s been fine whether it’s Rangers or other supporters.
“People do feel they need to declare their allegiance when they meet me, to show their colours, which I find pretty amusing.
“They come up and say: ‘Look I’m a Rangers supporter’, which they don’t have to do. But people have been respectful and I try to be the same. I haven’t had any negative interactions since I’ve been in Scotland.”
Postecoglou knew star trio Odsonne Edouard, Kris Ajer and Ryan Christie were leaving shortly after taking the job as gaffer.
The Hoops boss, crowned SFWA Manager of the Year, has revealed that he immediately held talks with the players when he arrived in Glasgow.
But despite learning of their desire to leave the club, Postecoglou had to use them before they were offloaded. Edouard joined Crystal Palace, Ajer moved to Brentford, while Christie signed for Bournemouth.
And the Celtic manager admits it was a difficult situation to deal with because he couldn’t sign immediate replacements.
He said: “I said to them: ‘Let’s be up front and honest about this - I’m not going to take it personally that I’ve arrived and people want to leave.’
“Those decisions were probably made a lot earlier and with Odsonne, Kristoffer and Ryan, it was pretty clear they weren’t going to be part of the plans this season.
“But I told them while they were with us, I was going to use them as if they were. The tricky part was I knew we wouldn’t get replacements before they had gone.
“Most of our recruiting came after that or just before they left. If the recruiting had already been done or we had bought players, dealing with it would have been easier. But it was a juggling act.”
