THE strong bond that Ange Postecoglou has forged with the members of his squad since arriving at Celtic in June has helped him to enjoy some noteworthy successes during the first six months of his reign.

Would the Parkhead outfit have put their erratic early-season form behind them, qualified for the Europa League group stages and lifted the Premier Sports Cup if there had been any sort of disconnect? It is doubtful.

Yet, Postecoglou has worked as a coach for 25 years now and is well aware the relationship between the manager and the chief executive at a club is every bit as significant as that between the manager and the players.

“It is crucial,” he said. “In some situations, it is even more important. Whatever vision I have for the club and the kind of team that I want us to be, that has to be supported. I cannot do it on my own. No manager can do it on their own.”

The Greek-Australian has been indebted for the backing which he has received from Michael Nicholson, who has been interim Celtic chief executive since Dominic McKay departed in September, in Scotland.

He was delighted when he learned the 45-year-old had been appointed to the high-profile position on a full-time basis last week.   

Postecoglou is keen to make several quality additions to his squad during the January transfer window and is optimistic that, with Nicholson in situ, he will be able to land the targets he has identified and build on the progress which has been made to date.

He saw how his colleague helped to get the signings of Liel Abada (£3.5m from Maccab Petah Tikva), Cameron Carter-Vickers (loan from Spurs), Kyogo Furuhashi (£4.6m from Vissel Kobe), Georgios Giakoumakis (£2.5m from VVV-Venlo), Joe Hart (£1m from Spurs) , Jota (loan from Benfica), Josip Juranovic (£2.5m from Legia Warsaw), James McCarthy (free transfer from Crystal Palace) and Carl Starfelt (£4m from Rubin Kazan) over the line in the last window.

“I rely on other people in the club in key roles such as Michael or Chris MacKay (finance director) to get these deals done and support my vision,” he said.  If we are not aligned, or if there is a difference of opinion there, it can make my job awfully hard.

“From the moment I arrived, Michael, even though he wasn’t CEO, was involved in a lot of deals when we got players in. I really felt comfortable working with him, really supported by him and that’s crucial for us.”

Little is known about Nicholson other than he is a solicitor by profession, was previously a partner with law firm Harper Macleod and has worked as both company secretary and head of legal and football affairs since joining Celtic back in 2013.

Postecoglou has seen first hand that he possesses strong opinions on the best way forward for the Parkhead club which he is not afraid to air and is committed to helping them enjoy both on and off-field success in the years to come.

“I don’t want to speak on Michael’s behalf,” he said. “But when he needs to be, he’s got real firm views on what is best for this football club. And he won’t be shy in saying them.

“But I think the main thing about anyone in a key role is just to be yourself, to be authentic. I think people will appreciate that. That’s what Michael is. He loves this football club, he wants the best for it.

“He’s very much his own man and he will do it his way. But supporters will appreciate that because the main thing about him is that he will do what is right by this club.”

Postecoglou fully expects that Nicholson will disagree with him at some stage in the months to come as they continue their efforts to return Celtic to the forefront of the Scottish game and make the Parkhead club competitive at the highest level in Europe once again.

However, the former Australia and Yokohama F Marinos manager believes that having a full and frank exchange of views when required will only be healthy and will ultimately benefit the Glasgow giants.  

“Our visions are aligned,” he said. “But it’s not always the way and there may be times in the future where, whatever my vision is, it’s at odds with Michael. You know, if there is reasoning behind it, then I am comfortable with that as well. That’s the key.  

“I have good and open discussions with Michael and for both of us it’s about this football club. It’s not about ourselves, personally. It’s about what we think is going to be the right fit for this club.”

Postecoglou feels that working behind the scenes at Celtic during both good times and bad will prove invaluable to Nicholson – who was involved when the Glasgow giants won four consecutive domestic trebles and when their bid to complete 10-In-A-Row ended in failure and disappointment - in his new role.

“He’s been here for quite a while, he’s seen a lot of success, he worked through the challenges of last year, he’s been involved in this,” he said. “So he’s seen the full spectrum of what this football club is and that experience is brilliant for him to take forward.”