You might have stumbled across the vision online – Aussie soccer coach Ange Postecoglou, Celtic’s new favourite son, whipping the frenzied crowd at Hampden Park into … well … further frenzy, after the club secured another Scottish League Cup final win over the arch enemy Rangers recently.

And to think, just 18 months before, many of those in the grandstand, now cheering, crying, hugging, pumping their fists, leading the scenes of pure ecstasy, had been the ones on their computers or smart phones, tucked away in dark corners, trolling the bejesus out of the club’s newly appointed manager.

“Aye, who’s this bloke? Some nuff-nuff nobody from Australia? Do they even play football Downunder”? The social media commentary was as widespread as it was condescending, with diehard fans screeching their concerns, even their resentment, over the unheralded appointment.

But now, with the Celtic Park trophy cabinet brimming with new silverware, Postecoglou is a local hero. “Ange who” has become “He who should be ordained”, not the naughty boy they feared, but the Messiah, the saviour of their proud and famous football club.

If he isn’t already, Postecoglou is fast becoming Australian football’s most potent export.

It can’t be coincidence that success follows the passionate but measured manager wherever he goes.

Over the past decade, Postecoglou has won A-League finals, an Asian Cup with the Socceroos, he’s led Yokohama F. Marinos to a J-League title in Japan, and now he’s sweeping all before him with Celtic in the Scotland Premier League.

Is it possibly time people stopped underestimating him?

“No – he wouldn’t want that,” Matt McKay, former Socceroo midfielder and Brisbane Roar legend chimed in. “I think that’s one of the key reasons Ange has been so successful – he just loves proving people wrong.”

McKay knows the Celtic boss well. He first encountered Postecoglou, a one-time Socceroo defender himself (1986-88) moved to Brisbane to coach The Roar in 2009. Postecoglou thought so highly of McKay that he appointed the tenacious Brisbane Grammar Old Boy club captain, later drafting him into the national squad when he took over the reins of the Socceroos in time for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Fittingly, it was McKay’s opinion that Postecoglou canvassed when he was offered the Celtic coaching job in early 2021.

McKay had played in Scotland for Rangers, Celtic’s arch enemy, so he understood what Postecoglou was signing up for. “You reckon I should take the job?” the coach asked, with uncharacteristic uncertainty.

McKay’s response was as immediate as it was firm. “Are you bloody kidding? Of course you should. It’s a sensational opportunity.”

Postecoglou hasn’t glanced back or sideways since, his eyes firmly fixed on reinstating Celtic as Scotland’s premier football club.

Not for the first time in his career, he’d been handed something resembling a basket case. The previous season, Rangers had won the Scottish Premier League by an embarrassing 25 points – Rangers first, daylight second. One team of “the old firm” was largely “in-firm”, and the Celtic fans were filthy. Losing to any club by that margin was uncomfortable, to lose to Rangers in that fashion was unthinkable.

As he’s prone to do, Postecoglou arrived in Glasgow with his own people and his own plans, and in trademark fashion, set about righting the ship. And of course, proving the doubters wrong.

His immediate success – three titles in the space of 18 months – does not surprise McKay in the slightest.

“Ange is a very smart bloke as well as very good coach,” the 272-game Brisbane Roar legend surmised.

“He has an intimate understanding of the game, and always manages to get the best out of his people, regardless of whether he’s coaching a club team or an international side. He takes in genuine interest in them personally, without ever suffocating anybody.

“Ange also has the courage of his convictions – he’s not afraid to make wholesale changes to the playing roster, like he did at the Roar in 2009-10. At the time, there were plenty who questioned his approach, moving on big name, experienced players, but it proved to be a masterstroke.”

A number of years ago, I interviewed the then Brisbane Roar mentor for a book I was writing about professional sport, specifically, the challenges young athletes faced in the glare of the public spotlight.

In amongst the home spun wisdom that Postecoglou served up, there was one comment relating to team culture that resonated strongly.

“To develop a winning team culture, you want people in your squad who are playing for the name on the front of the shirt, not the name on the back,” he said, quickly following up with a warning of what generally happened when priorities were in inverse proportion.

“Sure you need individual brilliance, but the moment you have players putting their own interests before the broader interests of the playing group, you’re on a slippery slope to the bottom.”

I suspect most coaches have their own version of the same sentiment, but the imagery was powerful.

It’s clear to me from Postecoglou’s insightful and eloquent contributions as a panellist on the ABC “Offsiders” program a few years back that Ange is not just an elite coach, he’s a keen student of human behaviour.

The specifics and timing of his longer term plan, the next stop on his global coaching journey, remains unclear. There’s a strong suggestion of unfinished business with Celtic, despite his considerable and rapid local success. On Postecoglou’s watch, the club has yet to prove itself on the international stage – a decent showing in the UEFA Champions League for instance remains an unticked box on his coaching resume.

Then of course there’s the lure of “a bait” to the “big show”, the English Premier League. Postecoglou’s name has already been linked to a couple of current underperformers – with a few more trophies in the cabinet at the Celtic Football Club, who knows, an invitation to the EPL might be forthcoming.

Matt McKay, currently on a year-long caravanning trip around Australia with his young family, is one of many looking on with interest, waiting to see his long time coach’s next move.

For benefit of his current and future opponents, one thing remains certain. Underestimate Ange Postecoglou at your own peril.

Nothing satisfies him more than proving the sceptics wrong.