BRISTOL. Mid-July. A balmy summer’s evening was the backdrop as a cobbled together Celtic team played out a goalless draw in a friendly to open Bristol City’s new training ground.

At the time, it seemed as though the new Celtic manager, Ange Postecoglou, had an insurmountable task to shape his squad into something resembling a functioning unit, never mind one that could seriously challenge for the league title this season.

A host of wantaway players sat at the side of the pitch as a slew of youngsters took their place on the field. Two of those who did play, Mikey Johnston and Karamoko Dembele, picked up serious injuries which would curtail their seasons. From the brand spanking new pavilion, Celtic looked a serious work in progress, to put it charitably.

And yet, as newly-appointed captain Callum McGregor emerged from the changing room after the game, he had an unmistakable spring in his step. Even with the bare bones of a squad they had, he could see the path new manager Ange Postecoglou had already set them on, and was certain the football he was committed to playing would bring them success.

The only question was whether they could recruit and integrate the volume of quality players required to carry out his game-plan, a question that Postecoglou managed to address by the end of that summer window, and answer emphatically by the end of January.

Many managers have been called ‘The Special One’, but few since Jose Mourinho coined the phrase – to describe himself in typically modest fashion – have truly lived up to the moniker. It may be too early to bestow such a title upon Postecoglou in terms of what he has achieved at Celtic, though with the League Cup already tucked into the trophy cabinet and the Premiership and Scottish Cup still very much live possibilities, it may yet be one he earns.

Inside the club though, it was evident there may well be something brewing from the very first time Postecoglou opened his mouth. McGregor knew it even before that night in Bristol.

Reflecting on those early impressions of his new manager, McGregor was asked when he first thought Postecoglou might be able to achieve something special at the club.

“When we first met him,” McGregor replied.

“You could see his ideas and you could see what he was trying to do.

“He always spoke about wanting us to play a certain style. He wouldn’t change, and we had to adapt and get to that level very quickly.

“You could see it in him straight away that he was desperate to do well and he had the credentials to do well.

“When you get your recruitment spot on as well then that helps, because you’ve then got good players that can come in and play that style of football.

“From pretty early on in the season, maybe the Dundee game at home where we scored six and played pretty well that day, you could start to see the cogs coming together.

“All the way through, even when had little dips, you could still see that the structure was there and you could still see the idea was there.

“It’s been pretty positive right from day one.”

Results may not have been positive right from the outset, but they didn’t take long in catching up to the performances, with supporters lapping up the attacking brand of high-intensity football served up by their new manager.

McGregor has played in many Celtic teams before that have been easy on the eye, and he rates Postecoglou’s Celtic up there with any of them when it comes to the aesthetically pleasing nature of their football.

“The level of football we’ve played has been very, very high, and certainly right up there with some of the most attractive football that we’ve played,” he said. “Certainly what I’ve played at this club as well.

“It just leaves us in a good place, and the beauty of it is that the manager is asking us if we can get even better, keep improving our football.

“He’s not going to let us rest on what we’ve achieved so far. We’re going to keep pushing and keep trying to get better.

“He says it all the time that every game is an opportunity to get even better and show even more.”

A concept that seemed a million miles away back in July was that of healthy competition for starting places in the Celtic starting XI, but the level of debate among fans on Postecoglou’s strongest team for the trip to Ibrox on Sunday is indicative of the strength in depth that is now at his disposal.

“When you speak to the manager that is the type of squad that he wants,” McGregor said.

“He wants competition for places, two or three players for every position that could start the game.

“When you make changes, you are bringing on guys of the same quality, if not even better.

“That’s the type of squad he wanted to build when he came in and credit to him, he’s did it in a really short space of time.

“What that then does for the players is that it makes us super sharp, because we all know we have to play well to get in the team and that just drives the whole standard of the thing.

“We just keep going, keep working hard, and keep trying to get better.”

If they can do that, then perhaps a truly special season is in the offing after all.