Incoming Scotland boss Sebastien Pocognoli reckons there is a 'fire burning inside me' but he hates being compared to Diego Simeone.
The Belgian boss looks set to be announced as Steve Clarke's replacement in a shock move by SFA chiefs.
Ex-Union Saint-Gilloise and Monaco boss Pocognoli will be just the second foreign manager in Scotland's 154-year history after German Berti Vogts.
The 39-year-old former Belgium international played for West Brom and Brighton and won the Dutch title with AZ Alkmaar as a player before moving into coaching.
And, earlier this year, he gave an in-depth interview which indicated what the Tartan Army can expect after hailing his own achievements as 'special.'
Pocognoli said: "As a manager, I know very well what I have achieved and how special it is. I am the youngest title-winning coach ever in Belgium.
"I am not calm. There is a lot of fire burning inside me - the Latin blood in my veins undoubtedly has something to do with that. My grandfathers were Italian.
"But if I act nervous or agitated, it rubs off on my players. So I have to find a good balance between staying true to myself and keeping calm. Of course, it helps if the results are favourable.
"I know about the comparison with myself and Diego Simeone.
"Simeone is a good coach, but he is not my great role model. Atletico Madrid's playing style doesn’t appeal to me much either.
"At most, we share our Latin temperament. Look at the football my teams play and you will see that we play less on the counter-attack than they do and also try to start from possession.
"But when it comes to the aggression with which his team plays and defends for their lives, then I agree with him.
"I am very self-confident. I don't doubt easily. I do everything I can to prevent doubt from taking hold. I have built a structure around myself that allows me to have complete confidence in a good outcome on match day. That gives me peace of mind.
“I am strict and very committed, but I remain flexible and grant my players a lot of freedom.
"My idols as a player were Carles Puyol and Ronaldinho. The captain who sacrificed himself for the team and the artist. I would have loved to be like Ronaldinho, but I was not creative enough as a player like him.
"The most complete manager I worked with was certainly Louis van Gaal. He always wanted to win and pushed you to the limit. But no matter how tough he was on his players, he also protected them.
"Despite his stern demeanour, he was actually very humane in his interactions.”
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Pocognoli won 13 caps for his country, but missed out playing at the World Cup in 2014 with Belgium's golden generation.
And he's proud of his career.
He said: "My career may not have lasted very long, but I played in the most prestigious leagues and won trophies. I made it to the national team and although I didn't get that many caps, I am still satisfied.
"Perhaps I deserved more caps when we won the titlle at AZ. But anyway, a national coach makes choices. I have to accept that.
"With AZ, I became Dutch champion and played in the Champions League. At West Brom, I had a quintessential British coach in Tony Pulis, who focused mainly on set pieces and played kick and rush. I learned how to battle against relegation there.
"And with Brighton, I was promoted to the Premier League. All in all, I only played about fifty matches in England. It could have been more, but no one can take away from me that I faced Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola.
"I played every game for the World Cup qualifiers in 2014, but I wasn't included in the squad in Brazil. That was a huge disappointment.
"But the manager Marc Wilmots must have had his reasons.
"And as a coach, I use that to my advantage now - I can empathise with a player's disappointment. I will always try to find the right words for a guy like that because I didn't get them myself back then.
“Otherwise, I don't dwell on it anymore - my career is far behind me by now. I have no regrets. On the contrary, "I have made my family extraordinarily proud. Thanks to the character, passion, and perseverance from my upbringing, I got the most out of it."
