Ange Postecoglou has just celebrated lifting his third trophy in less than two seasons with Celtic, following Sunday’s Scottish League Cup victory over theRangers at Hamdpen. And with Celtic nine points clear in the Scottish Premiership title race, alongside a goal difference, which to all manner and means stretches that lead into double figures, it would take an unprecedented collapse for the Celtic boss not to win back-to-back titles.

Yet despite this success, and being three Scottish Cup wins away from possibly winning the sole domestic trophy that alluded him last season and with it a possible domestic treble, there have been some concerns amongst the Celtic support, no doubt still damaged by Brendan Rodgers midnight flit to the East Midlands, and some wishful thinking by those in the press who would perhaps prefer to see the Celtic manager seek alternative employment, that Ange Postecoglou may follow a similar road to more lucrative options down south or other more competitive leagues in Europe.

Yet as reported in Herald Scotland today Ange Postecoglou has stated he “couldn’t be happier” at Celtic and has advised some may be surprised (and perhaps others equally disappointed) as to how long he will stay in the Celtic hotseat.

“When people say ‘he’s going to go down the road or somewhere else with the first offer he gets’, it’s not how I’m wired, it’s not how I think,” the Celtic manager said.

“For me, what it’s about is just trying to leave a mark wherever I am. I have done that with every football club I have been at. I want to do that at this football club and that is all that consumes me. I don’t think about the next step or I need to go somewhere else or I need to do this or I need to consider other things.

“You don’t go through life oblivious to it. It is not healthy to put the blinkers up and not know what is going on because that tests your desire to keep doing what you’re doing. If people are talking about my future or are interested in my future I will sit there and listen.

“But it doesn’t mean I am going to jump at anything that comes my way. I am really passionate about what I do and the people close to me know what is most important to me, what drives me and what keeps me sort of happy in my role. I couldn’t be happier.

“I am still here even though people have been getting me out the door. I am hoping that over the course of time as long as I’m here, and I think you will be surprised how long I am here, I am just consumed by what I do. That is to try to make this football club the best it can be and enjoy every minute of it.

“Mate, the world of management, I am too old to be kidded on by anybody. Things change very quickly. How many managers last three years in their roles these days? You have either got to have extraordinary success or in rare circumstances, a club sticks by you. Apart from that, everyone doesn’t last that long.

“I am going into my third-year next year and I am going to keep doing what I am doing and not really worry about what other people see. Because I’ll tell you what the first thing people will say is I am not ambitious enough because I am not moving on.”

Postecoglou was heavily linked in the build-up to Sunday’s League Cup win with Leeds United. That is something the Celtic support have very much got used to over the course of the season as the EPL management casualty list led to Postecoglou being linked with jobs at Southampton (twice), Everton, Wolves and Brighton, before Javi Gracia’s appointment at Elland led to all vacancies ultimately being filled, with Ange Postecoglou remaining at Celtic and speculation slowing from a torrent to a mere trickle.

Postecoglou’s statement that he would not “jump at anything that comes my way” and his further admittance he has not given any thought to his future, will certainly offer some reassurance to the Celtic support who would as things stand happily see Postecoglou remain at the club as long as he sees fit.

As we brought to you on the Celtic Star yesterday, Ange Postecoglou is being viewed in some quarters of the Australian media as being in the midst of building a legacy at Celtic rather than considering any moves away from Celtic any time soon.

To do that, domestic success is of course an important facet. However, so too is progression in European football, preferably to a position which matches the historical stature of this football club in that environment.

With Champions League entry almost guaranteed if Celtic emerge as league winners each season, then there is a big enough challenge awaiting a Celtic manager right here at home rather than at the majority of clubs ‘down the road’, three quarters of which have no such access to any European competition, never mind Europe’s premier tournament.

Postecoglou has never struck as being a manager who traipsed half-way across the world because he wanted to dominate Scottish football. Instead, his aspirations always seemed levelled above that water line, and making his mark on European football seems more in keeping with those managerial aspirations. What better way to achieve such aims than by restoring the tired European reputation of a club who had hitherto appeared to oversee a managed decline in any such aspirations for far too long?

Perhaps Ange Postecoglou at long last has re-awakened ambitions within the Celtic boardroom as much as the support, with a brand of football he has already evidenced can work on the European stage.

If the backing for his up to now near unblemished recruitment record can continue at boardroom level, the sky is the limit for Ange Postecoglou and for Celtic. And to hear the manager may feel exactly the same way will be music to the ears of a Celtic support who have every faith this Celtic manager will stay and deliver.

Niall J