Former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill believes that Ange Postecoglou can lead the club to a European trophy.

O’Neill took the Hoops to their first European final in 33 years in 2003 as his team narrowly lost out to FC Porto.

Celtic had automatic entry into the Champions League this season but results didn’t pan out as they had hoped, finishing bottom of Group F with two points.

Postecoglou’s team will have taken great experience from the competition with many of the team having never played in Europe’s elite club competition.

However, speaking ahead of his autobiography launch the former Republic of Ireland boss admitted that he believes Postecoglou could deliver European success for the club.

“Could Celtic win the Europa League under Ange? Absolutely, definitely,” said O’Neill speaking to the Scottish Sun. 

“Obviously Rangers led the way on that last season by reaching the final.

“Some of their results were absolutely terrific along the way.

“They showed that it’s possible again.

“And if Celtic think domestically they are stronger than Rangers then there is no reason to suggest they can’t do it.

“Genuinely, I thought Rangers getting to the UEFA final was a fantastic achievement, really brilliant.

“They got as close as anybody – us in 2003 and Walter’s team in 2008.

“They were a goalkeeping save away even before the penalties – when the question being asked now would be could another Scottish team go and do it again.

“But if we’re talking specifically about the Europa League – the UEFA Cup – then Celtic could absolutely win it. No doubt.”

The Hoops will want to be back in the Champions League on a consistent basis but there is always that dropout to the Europa League option which teams have if they miss out on the last 16 of the tournament and progress further in Europe after Christmas.

Postecoglou’s side never wavered in their footballing philosophy and for the most part gave a good account of themselves against most teams. However, O’Neill does think that the Celtic boss may tweak a few things to suit European matches better.

“From Celtic’s viewpoint, I don’t think anybody wants Ange to change his philosophy on the game.

“Absolutely not, because it’s been really exciting and his team plays great stuff.

“But that doesn’t mean he can’t make tactical adjustments when playing in European football.

“I’m sure that consciously or subconsciously, that’s what he’ll do. Honestly, I think he will do that.

“This was his first year in the competition and it’s all been pretty new to the team.

“But they had opportunities in every match, big important moments which did not go their way.

“Had they scored the opening goal against Real Madrid at home, who knows what could have happened.

“And there were other different moments in other games.

“So I’m sure they can learn from that and use that experience next season if they are there again.

“If it’s roughly the same side, with maybe a couple of additions, then those experiences will only stand them in good stead.

“They might just need that phenomenal element of just a wee bit of luck along the way.”

To prove that the team has used this experience as a learning curve they must get back to the Champions League which they can do by winning the league title once again to avoid qualifiers.