Ange Postecoglou has revealed at one stage he thought his chances of a top European job had gone due to club’s perceptions of Australian managers.
Several weeks ago, the 55-year old became the new manager of Celtic, and during the early stages of his links to the club, many fans were shocked to hear that he was a candidate.
On this side of the world, Ange and Australian football is very much an unknown quantity, leading to doubts kicking in for supporters.
As quoted by Sun Sport, the new Celtic boss admitted that before the Hoops job, he thought his chances of a big European job had gone, purely down to this perception and his successes in Australia and Japan.
“My achievements were swiped away pretty easily because of the fact that they were on the other side of the world.
“It was disheartening. You thought, ‘Well, that would have been a great opportunity to create something special again.’
“The fact that people couldn’t see past geography to do that… I got to the point where I didn’t want to waste my time anymore.
“I was happy to wait for the right opportunity if it came along, and if it didn’t, I’d continue doing what I was doing until I finished.
“It shouldn’t matter where you come from – just be judged on achievements, be judged on your record.
“Even in Australia, I had issues with that. With people not understanding what I was about.
“I’m trying to get away from this notion that because you come from a certain place, or you grew up in a certain place, or you work in a certain place, that makes you somehow lesser than somebody else.
“I hope that one day people just see me as a successful manager and purely just look at my record.
“And not keep highlighting the fact that it’s extraordinary just because of where I come from.”
Whilst fans had their doubts at first, the majority seem to have been won over because of the early impression that Ange has made in his short time in Scotland so far.
From his performances in press conferences/interviews to video footage released on the training grounds, fans have begun to build up the excitement of what Postecoglou can do going into next season.
Hopefully, we get to see more signs of that when the first team head off to Wales next week, as pre-season preparations continue.
