ANGE POSTECOGLOU has spent a decent chunk of this season responding to barbs from elsewhere about the size of Celtic’s budget and the financial advantage they enjoy over their rivals, points that have been raised by competitors in response to their inability to keep pace with his Celtic side.

The relative riches he now has at his disposal, and the winning run that he currently has his team on, are all a far cry from his rather humbler beginnings in management as he earned his stripes at Whittlesea Zebras (now known as Moreland Zebras) some 14 years ago.

Postecoglou may now have Celtic on a 13-game winning run, having lost just one domestic match all season, but when he took over the Zebras they hadn’t won a single game and were rock bottom of the Victoria Premier League.

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The turnaround that he managed to inspire was modest, to say the least. Though, still, a great deal better than what had gone before. Postecoglou won two of his 16 games in charge, and while that wasn’t enough to stave off relegation, he did more than enough during his time at the club to leave a lasting impression, and to catch the eye of clubs further up the food chain than the Zebras.

In particular, his eye for a player and his ability to develop those he inherited were already evident qualities, and ones that Celtic supporters will certainly recognise.

Having tasted life at both ends of the footballing spectrum, it only makes him all the more grateful for the station he has now reached.

“You’re going a long way back there, mate!” Postecoglou said.

“You’ve dug up the one little stint where I didn’t win any silverware!

“It’s fair to say I started on the factory floor. When people talk about me at the moment, they see where I am, at a fantastic football club, with great resources, where I have the biggest spend of any football club [in the country]…I’ve been at the bottom of the food chain.

“I worked my way up, so I know about every level of the game. It’s kept me sort of grounded and on the course I’ve been on.

“It’s this game of football. Everything you get along the way, you need to earn it. You need to work hard.

“That was back then and I was young and it was pretty much a semi-professional team and they had their problems. It didn’t mean I was any less passionate than I am now about what I wanted to achieve.

“There’s nothing wrong with that. Sometimes, particularly in today’s world, people want to skip things, you have players who want to become managers straight away.

“I kind of like the fact I’ve done it at every level. I am where I am because of hard work and the success achieved along the way.

“All I’ve done, wherever I have been, is I’ve tried to make an impact. If, when it comes to the times to go through those doors at the end that you are always welcomed back, that means you have been appreciated.

“It doesn’t always involve success. For the most part I’ve managed to have that, but even when I haven’t, I think people will know I tried to do the best I can for their club.

“I’ve maintained relationships with all the clubs I’ve been at and kept in touch with the people involved.

“We all worked hard and stuck together. It was about trying to make things the best they could possibly be.”

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It is difficult to argue that his presence hasn’t allowed Celtic to be exactly that. Postecoglou may enjoy advantages over his competitors, but with that comes its own pressures.

As Michael Beale is finding out at Rangers, even an impressive win record against the best of the rest can be disregarded in Glasgow if you slip up against your biggest rivals, and particularly if you are playing second fiddle to them in the Premiership standings.

Given he is currently on the right side of that particular duel, it is fair to say that Postecoglou isn’t exactly wilting under the expectations that he now carries on his shoulders, and when considering his modest managerial origins, why he is more than happy to live with those pressures.

“It was a different kind of pressure there to here, but I have never really seen it as pressure,” he said.

“I’ve been in this job 26 years and the only time I’ve really felt unhappy or stressed was in the eight or nine months I didn’t have a job.

“For me, that’s why you have to make the most of it and make the most of all the experiences you have in the game.

“You want to be involved in competing for trophies because when you are not involved, I missed it all.”