Steven Naismith couldn't speak highly enough about Ange Postecoglou as he lifted the lid on his first meeting with the former Celtic boss.
Naismith was in the Hearts dugout on a temporary basis when Postecoglou was still fighting for every honour within Scottish football and shared a wholesome story of how the Greek-Aussie offered him words of advice even when Celtic's eyes were on winning the league that day.
"The way he plays was different and it gets you intrigued," the Heart of Midlothian head coach stated.
"You definitely learn from that. My experience of Ange was when I was caretaker with Hearts. We played Celtic on the day they could win the league and he didn't really need to give me much time of day, but he did. He made a point of it before the game and was very complimentary.
"He had never met me. He probably asked a few people around at Celtic who had worked with me at Scotland. After the game, again he was very complimentary.
"He just said if he could ever help, he will be in contact. Then he texted me randomly out of the blue. He didn't need to give me that time of day, he never knew if I would become the manager here or not. For a young coach, that's invaluable to get somebody of his experience to lean on. Fortunately, I have done that since then."
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Hearts host Postecoglou's, Tottenham Hotspur, at Tynecastle Park on Wednesday night, with the Edinburgh club getting the opportunity to face strong English Premier League opposition.
Asked if Postecoglou was a good ambassador for Scottish football, having endeared himself to supporters both north and south of the border, Naismith replied: "In general, yes. He's got the players' backs and the managers' backs. I think he has a good understanding of the game.
"He's got loads of knowledge and experience. The biggest thing that comes to mind for me is his calmness.
"At the start with Celtic, he was getting hounded by everybody but there was a calmness there and that helped him to be successful in Scotland - and also in the tougher moments with Spurs.
"I think he appreciated what the product is in Scotland. Not everybody appreciates what it is but it does have a lot of talent in it."
