Almost 16 years on after that interview, Ange Postecoglou and Craig Foster have seemingly buried the hatchet as the Celtic manager also opened up on his reasons for quitting as Socceroos coach.
In 2006, Foster lashed Postecoglou, who was the head coach of the Australian under-20 team at the time, after he had failed to qualify for the U20 World Cup in Canada and even called for him to step aside from his role.
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But whatever tension had lingered between the two since has completely evaporated as the Celtic boss lavished Foster with praise for his role as an advocate for refugees.
Foster was the leading voice behind the successful campaign to release Hakeem al-Araibi, a footballer who was imprisoned in Thailand in 2018, and has more recently cast a spotlight on the 33 refugees holed up inside the Park Hotel in Melbourne.
“Just off the bat, Craig, great respect for what you’re doing over there, mate, in terms of the last couple of years with the refugees,” Postecoglou said on an interview Stan Sport FC.
“An unbelievable cause, an unbelievable effort from yourself, mate. Great respect.”
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Foster was grateful for Postecoglou’s comments, and also complimented the fanbase of Celtic, who he believed had a “really strong social justice streak.”
It was something that Postecoglou also felt strongly about, as Celtic’s roots are firmly embedded with supporting immigrants — something that struck a chord with him, given he was an immigrant from Greece when he arrived in Australia.
“Their whole background and why the actual club was formed, to feed poor Irish immigrants, there was a purpose behind this club that stayed with it right to this day,” Postecoglou said.
“For me, that resonates strongly being an immigrant in our own country.
“South Melbourne Hellas, Melbourne Croatia, Sydney Croatia, all these clubs were set up the same way.
“They weren’t set up solely to be football clubs, they were set up to help people adjust to life in a new land.”
For Postecoglou, he needed little time to adjusting to life in Scotland after moving over from Yokohama F. Marinos in Japan.
The vast majority of Celtic fans had little to no knowledge of the former Socceroos boss when it became apparent he would be taking up the Hoops post, with many up in arms at the time that the club had failed in its pursuit of Eddie Howe.
Fast forward to today, and it’s clear that Postecoglou has won over just about the entire fanbase.
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That accomplishment isn’t anything new to Postecoglou though, as he’s had to do his fair share of changing the doubters even in his home country.
So, how has he done it?
“It’s about trying to get people to believe in me,” Postecoglou said.
“It doesn’t matter how much knowledge I have … unless they actually believe in me as a person, none of that will work.
“I thin there wouldn’t be a manager in the world that doesn’t want to win football games or trophies.
“That’s not going to get people’s attention.
“What you need to try and sell is something beyond that.
“And that’s what I’ve always done.
“For me, it’s always been about the football: play a certain way and have certain values.”
That certain way of playing football has Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership and won them the Scottish League Cup.
Given the Hoops failed to win any silverware and finished the domestic season 25 points off of arch rivals and champions Rangers, it’s a remarkable turnaround led by Postecoglou.
Part of the Bhoys’ resurgence is undoubtedly the recruitment.
A vast range of players have arrived at Celtic Park this season from across the world and have all made instant impacts, with many thrust straight into the starting line-up.
Star forward Kyogo Furuhashi is one such player that has sparked the imagination of the Celtic faithful, with his relentless workrate and clinical finishing instantly endearing him to fans.
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When Furuhashi first signed, it was met with plenty of raised eyebrows, much like Postecoglou’s appointment.
But 16 goals in all competitions for the Hoops later, and it’s safe to say that Furuhashi has proven those initial doubters so very, very wrong.
Furuhashi is just one of many recent recruits that have wasted no time taking to life in the famous green and white shirt, and it all comes down to the clearest of pictures in Postecoglou’s mind about how players will fit into his intricate system of play.
“I could go into a shop with my wife and she’ll know exactly what to pick and buy, mate, I’ve got no idea,” Postecoglou said.
“When I go looking for players, I’m the same.
“When I see what I want, I picture them in my team and when they fit that picture, most of the time I think it works.
“It comes back to the first thing: I have absolute clarity about how I want my team to play.
“That makes it easier for the players because they’ve already got some of the things that I’m looking for, so their adjustment period becomes quicker.
“The players I’ve brought in have hit the ground running, and people are saying how quickly, well it’s because I already know they’ve got the attributes I’m looking for, the rest is them just understanding the game plan.”
Meanwhile, Postecoglou also opened up on his exit from the Socceroos ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia, despite leading the team to glory at the 2015 Asian Cup.
“I had this real clear vision about what I wanted to do as national team manager that I thought would go a long way to – not that I had all the answers – but helping us open some doors to finding some solutions for our game,” he said. “The reason I was obsessed with winning the Asian Cup was because I thought that could be a watershed moment for Australian football because I think winning is everything. I equated it to the Euros. When a nation wins the Euros, irrespective of how strong a nation – could be a Denmark or Greece – it’s a seminal moment in that country’s evolution because, all of a sudden, they feel like they’ve achieved something.
“I thought (that) would then give me the power and also allow me the opportunity and give us as a nation to stand up and say, ‘OK, this is who we are now’. I wanted us to be the Brazil or the Germany [of Asia] … and that was my starting point.
“I misread what happened, what the impact it would possibly have.
Postecoglou said he felt Australian football had “gone back into that cycle again of not understanding what it takes to become a really strong footballing nation” during the 2018 qualifying campaign.
“It wasn’t just about qualifying for World Cups, it was about having an identity, believing in something,” he said.
“That was going to be my benchmark – from now on, don’t accept anything less than winning the Asian Cup every time, qualifying for the World Cup and being the number one nation in Asia. And I couldn’t find that golden key to open that up.”
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