Ange Postecoglou never doubted he would get success at Celtic and understood it would have to come quickly.
But the Premier Sports Cup-winning boss hopes their Hampden success on Sunday will furnish his newly-assembled squad with further belief and resilience.
Postecoglou’s marquee signing, Kyogo Furuhashi, delivered at Hampden with a brilliantly-taken double as Celtic came from behind to beat Hibernian 2-1 and claim their first trophy since the delayed 2020 Scottish Cup.
Postecoglou took over a club in the midst of a major transition in June and had to deal with transfer delays and a string of injuries, the latest to David Turnbull during the first half against Hibs.
But he relished the challenge and understood the expectations.
“When I took on this role, whilst no-one knew of me, I certainly knew what I was undertaking and particularly after last year,” he said.
“This football club cannot go two or three years without success and I knew that, me accepting this position, that was the expectation.
“And I wanted that. I wouldn’t have accepted the role if I didn’t want that responsibility.
“I wanted to get there as soon as possible because that’s what the expectation of any Celtic manager is.”
Postecoglou opened his reign with a Champions League exit and three consecutive away defeats in the cinch Premiership but he quickly got his team playing football that got the fans on his side.
“Without sounding arrogant, I have never doubted myself or wavered in my own self-belief about what I could do,” the former Australia head coach said.
“I understood when I took this role… I mean all of you were probably running a book on how long I would last. A few of you probably had December but that’s out the window. Which is fair enough, but that doesn’t affect me.
“It’s not arrogance but I am really passionate about what I do. I have been passionate since I can remember as a little kid, and I have got a real certainty about the way I want to do things.
“And with that, the more obstacles put in my path, I guess the more I lean in against it.
“That’s the bit I love, that’s what gets me going. When it’s smooth, I get really irritated. I have moved on in every job I have had after having success because I felt, well, what’s the next challenge?
“The difficulties this year, the challenges so far – and there’s many more to come – I love that. That’s what I love to do.”
Postecoglou admitted he had tried hard to sell the supporters some hope when he first arrived in difficult circumstances.
He added: “Success turns that hope into something more tangible now – OK, maybe this team can do some special things. The players, the staff, everyone involved, will feed on that.
“It’s the manner in which you do it that counts just as much as the success itself, because this football club has had a lot of success over many years. But a lot of the time it has been the dominant team.
“We weren’t the dominant team at the start of this year. Very few people would have thought we could have had any kind of success, particularly this early.
“So to do that, overcoming what we have, definitely builds belief and resilience.”
