Graeme Souness told Ange Postecoglou to use Celtic as his pathway to England long before he signed up at Spurs, according to the BBC's Chick Young.
Postecoglou won five out of six trophies in his two years at Parkhead, rapidly turning their fortunes around after Neil Lennon left the club in disarray. An impressive domestic Treble earned him his move to Tottenham where he is aiming to turnaround another club entrenched in turmoil.
The Australian had his doubters early on given his relatively low profile in the UK at the time, but he quickly proved them all wrong to earn a crack at the English Premier League. It was in those early days though that Young reveals he first met Rangers hero Souness, who had a few choice words of advice about his long-term future.
Young revealed on BBC Sportsound: "I had interviewed Ange a few times, but I wasn't really sure he was aware of who I was. And I was out for a meal with Graeme Souness. In an Italian restaurant in Glasgow. I can tell this story now.
"As we were leaving the restaurant, Graeme had had a couple of glasses of wine - he is not a boozing pal. I heard a voice, saying Chick, Chick'. And it was Ange, he had come away from his family at the table and was saying 'how are you'. A lovely man.
"So I said 'I've someone you might want to meet'. He had seen Souness going out so he said 'Oh Graeme'. So I brought Souness back and introduced him. So Ange was saying 'what a fabulous player you were, achievements, European Cups' all that stuff. And Graeme just tapped him on the shoulder and said 'just use this as a pathway to England'. I thought I was going to have a cardiac arrest! Ange just smiled. I thought 'what a ridiculous thing'. But what do you know."
READ NEXT