Those drums were beating loudly just under a year ago, before the newly-appointed Celtic manager had even managed a game for the Scottish football giants.

Ange who?

What does a bloody Aussie know about football?

A lot of them probably thought they were right at the end of September. A 4-0 Europa League drubbing at home against German club Bayer Leverkusen capped a disastrous eight-game spell that yielded just two wins.

Pressure? The drum beats? Well, they were music to Postecoglou's ears.

"From challenging beginnings - people that know me know that I love that stuff at the beginning when it's all uphill and people doubt you. We've got through it pretty well," Postecoglou told Offsiders last weekend, in his typically understated fashion.

Pretty well.

You could say that.

Postecoglou, 56, could tonight (AEST) seal what would be among the greatest achievements by an Australian coach in any sport.

Celtic, six points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership with three games to go, host Hearts. A win will ensure its gap at the top of the league is all but unreachable given its vastly superior goal difference over second-placed Rangers.

It might not happen tonight. But only an extraordinary collapse can prevent it occurring over the final three matches of the campaign. Celtic's bitter rivals Rangers squandered their final chance to directly influence the outcome of the league last weekend in their 1-1 draw at Celtic Park, despite dominating the majority of that derby.

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It's hard to put into context for anyone that doesn't care about football just how big Postecoglou's impending achievement is.

People reckon AFL is a religion in Victoria.

But in Glasgow, where you're either green (Celtic) or blue (Rangers), it's not just a metaphor given the very nature of how both clubs were founded.

Postecoglou, barely known outside the shores of Australia and Japan, where he guided Yokohama F. Marinos to a stunning J-League title win in 2019 (without even knowing how to speak the language) walked into a broken club needing a massive rebuild. Celtic finished an embarrassing 25 points behind a Rangers side that didn't lose a league game in 2020-21. Celtic had won nine league titles on the bounce before its dramatic collapse going for No.10. He had to replace half the squad. Brought in some players from Japan no one in the UK had heard of. They're cult heroes now.

No one expected Postecoglou to turn things around this quickly.

Well, maybe one man did.

"My ambition was to be one of Australia's greatest coaches, because I grew up admiring the (Ron) Barassis, the Wayne Bennetts, all these other coaches that are held in high regard. That's what I wanted to be," he tells SEN.

"Irrespective of what I did in Australia, it always used to be - whether I won the national league - it was only the national league. The A-League was only the A-League, (winning) the Asian Cup or even qualifying for the World Cup was never enough.

"So I thought, 'I've got to go abroad and crack it there'. I did it in Japan, and it was, 'Yeah, but he hasn't done it in Europe'.

"There's always been this thing about me. For a while it was probably a healthy thing and it fuelled me to become better, but I also resigned myself to the fact that maybe the end-game is not about that goal of wanting to become something special in my country. It's just about me experiencing all of these things that I dreamt about.

"The bizarre thing for me when I finally landed in Scotland, people were saying, 'Are you aware of the size of Celtic? Are you aware of the magnitude'?

"I was going, 'Are you kidding me? Since I've been six years old I've known the size of Celtic'. It's one of those clubs in the world that everybody knows. It's one of those clubs you hold in a higher esteem than a lot of others. It's one of the most famous clubs in the world.

"My thinking was that the move across to Europe may have been at a lower level club or a different league and move my way up. To get the opportunity to do it at such a famous club and get that first opportunity, it was kind of mind-blowing in terms of the context of everything I'd thought about when I started this journey."

Postecoglou has always done things his own way.

There is no other way for him. His teams play football in his image. Brave. Bold. Attacking.

His Brisbane Roar side that went 36 games unbeaten in the A-League hasn't been touched since in terms of entertainment and verve on these shores.

The way his swashbuckling Celtic side has performed en route to what would be league title No.52 (closing the gap on Rangers to three) has afforded him legendary status among the club's fans.

Not that everyone has warmed to that, mind you.

George Michael's Last Christmas? Celtic fans aren't just giving their hearts to someone special nowadays. They're giving it to Postecoglou.

"My wife was horrified. My kids, they actually think that's how the Christmas song goes. They've never heard George Michael's version. It was horrifying for my wife to hear the two boys singing that song with my name in it at Christmas time," Postecoglou laughs.

"It's all a bit surreal. Before one of my recent games I had a knock on my door and (Celtic tragic, singer) Rod Stewart came in and gave me a hug. That goes to show you how my world's changed.

"The fans ... that part's been the most special bit. I've craved that sort of passion for my game that I know we have for other sports in (Australia). It was what was missing. I was such a driven person. I didn't feel like we had the same passion for the game that exists over (in Europe). I've got it in bucketloads over here. Our home games, every one of them there's 60,000 there, they don't stop singing. It is truly special. Truly unique. I think for anyone who loves sport, experiencing one game at Celtic Park is something you never forget."

Postecoglou, the son of Greek immigrants he says came to Australia "not to have a better life, but to give me the opportunity to have a better life" deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Australia's greatest coaches: Harry Hopman, Ric Charlesworth, Wayne Bennett, Jack Gibson, Jock McHale, Kevin Sheedy, Norma Plummer, Julie Fitzgerald, Rod Macqueen and Eddie Jones.

In my opinion, if Celtic wins the league, he is our greatest coach.

To continually push boundaries and comfort zones aside in the world game on stages of such magnitude is something that should make all Australians proud to call Ange ours.

And make no mistake. He's not finished here.

If he can repeat the dose with Celtic over the next year or two and even do well in the UEFA Champions League, which Celtic will qualify directly for with a league title, an English Premier League club will come calling.

And for Ange? Well, the bigger the challenge the better.