IT will be events on the field that ultimately count towards whether or not Ange Postecoglou can win over the Celtic support, not the soundbites he gives to the media. But on both fronts, he has made a pretty good start.

As a journalist, you rather get the feeling that if you asked him the time, he would tell you he ‘isn’t a horologist, mate.’

As explained in the post-match debrief piece in these pages after the Midtjylland game at Celtic Park though, there doesn’t appear to be any sort of flippancy or sneering contempt for those who are venturing legitimate questions about injuries or the financial impact of an early European exit. Both enquiries were batted away by his insistence that he wasn’t a doctor, nor an accountant, as it goes.

Rather, he just doesn’t see those areas as his concern, or responsibility.

The trouble for the media with such an outlook is that we don’t often get access to the physios nor new chief executive Dominic McKay, and maybe in time he will be a bit more forthcoming with information that the fans would no doubt be interested in hearing, even if he isn’t particularly interested in it himself.

In other areas though, Postecoglou’s openness about subjects he does wish to discuss has been refreshing. He doesn’t come across as the type who would take kindly to being stage managed, and you can imagine he may cause one or two headaches for the Celtic PR department over the course of the season as he opens his mouth and lets his belly rumble.

Take his recent press conference answer over transfers, or the lack of them. There was no regard given for protecting the Celtic board, McKay, or even himself as he was brazenly honest about the club’s collective failings.

"We probably hesitated a couple of times and could have moved faster on some things,” Postecoglou said.

"That hasn't helped us. In normal circumstances these processes are fairly straightforward. Get a player, sign him, take him on a plane, take a photo and away he goes.

"That process is now taking two to three weeks. That's where we've got to move a little bit more precisely, understand there's going to be lag time and move a bit quicker.”

It would have been easy to simply blame the lack of signings ahead of the Champions League qualifying tie against FC Midtjylland on the pandemic or his late arrival as manager, but instead, he acknowledged that he and the board had to take some blame for not adapting to these new circumstances.

It will be hugely refreshing for the Celtic support to see their manager take on that responsibility, with the club seemingly on the defensive for much of last season, and unwilling to accept culpability for their own missteps over issues that had angered the fanbase. Whether that be the early Champions League exit, the woeful return from their summer signings, or the fiasco after the ill-fated trip to Dubai. It always seemed to be someone or something else to blame.

Heck, Postecoglou was even keen to take it on the chin after Celtic failed to beat Midtjylland on Tuesday night when nary another soul in Scotland was pointing the finger at him.

It wasn’t his fault surely that the slow dance with Eddie Howe that left Celtic chasing their tail resulted in him being given just a few weeks to work with his squad. A squad packed with eager young fringe players not quite ready for the top level, and a number of experienced players with their eyes on the exit, don’t forget.

Nor was it his fault that Nir Bitton took leave of his senses to get himself sent off moments after Celtic had underlined their dominance with new singing Liel Abada’s opening goal against the Danes.

I am struggling to remember if I have ever heard a manager say that they haven’t been doing a good enough job. Maybe the odd ‘both the players and I need to take a long, hard look at ourselves’, but never those explicit words. I have now.

“I don't think we will ever be as badly prepared as we were tonight and that's on me, going into such an important game,” he said after the Midtjylland game.

"It is on me. I’m the manager of the football club. I’m the one that takes that responsibility of providing support for the players and staff. If things aren’t happening it’s on me to make them happen.

“I haven’t done a great job so far to be honest, because with the disruptions we’ve had, we haven’t been able to bring the players in.”

The first instinct upon hearing that mea culpa was to think Postecoglou may have made a rod for his own back. Should things not go well on the park over the coming months, there will be plenty of people queuing up to blame him, so perhaps he shouldn’t invite the slings and arrows on himself when there is no need to.

However, it seems this is more a reflection on how unaffected by the notion of self-preservation Postecoglou is, and also perhaps of the footballing standards he holds himself to.

It is early days, of course, and who knows how things will turn out for Postecoglou and his Celtic team. More and more Celtic supporters though, through his conduct and the glimpses of a plan emerging within his team, seem ready to strap themselves in and allow Postecoglou to take them on a ride.

Will he ultimately be a successful Celtic manager? I don’t know, I’m not a fortune teller, mate.