Giving Celtic the cold shoulder and Postecoglou punditry sessions - Mark Bosnich Big Interview

Northern Irishman O'Neill wanted Bosnich to play in between the sticks for the Hoops as he headed up a Parkhead revolution back in 2000.

The then Manchester United goalkeeper met up with the manager for dinner in London but he could not be persuaded to come north of the border despite having fallen foul of Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford.

The 50-year-old can look back and laugh about it all now... but only just.

To be fair, the 17-times-capped former Socceroos star only missed out on winning the treble for the first time since 1969, playing in Old Firm derbies and potentially even a UEFA cup final.

Although he revealed he had also turned down the chance to join Rangers after being approached by one-time Red Devils assistant boss Archie Knox.

"I genuinely told Martin O'Neill it's too cold up there," Bosnich told The Celtic Way. "It was as simple as that. At the time I had fallen out with Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United.

"We won two trophies that season - the Premier League title, by a record points total which was only broken recently by Manchester City, and the Intercontinental Cup [World Club championship].

"As far as I was concerned I was going to stay at Old Trafford. I thought to myself 'I am going to stay here as I have done nothing wrong'.

"But I went to dinner with Martin O'Neill and my agent at the time and we had a great time in London. He is a great man, Martin O'Neill, and I have a lot of respect for him. He is a double European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest and has so much experience.

"I felt really bad because I knew deep down that I wasn't going to sign for Celtic. I just didn't want him to think that I was wasting his time because I wasn't. It was a great pleasure to meet him. Martin had no time to waste as he had Celtic's best interests at heart and I wanted to stay and fight for my place at Manchester United.

"I remember seeing Neil Lennon in a club the same night and I asked him if Martin had sent him down to convince me to sign for Celtic. In the end, Martin was proven right as they won the treble.

"I remember saying to him at the time 'it is too cold for me up in Scotland, I come from Australia so Manchester is as far north as I was ever going to go'.

"Subsequently, with the success they had under Martin, I should have joined Celtic at least on loan. It would have been a great experience and I would have had that under my belt and I would also have played in an Old Firm derby.

Martin O'Neill won the treble in 2000-01

"I went to watch one when I was a young kid at Manchester United and I thought 'wow, this is one of the most phenomenal atmospheres I have witnessed in any sport anywhere in the world'.

"I did send Martin a bottle of champagne when Celtic won the treble in 2001 and hopefully he got it. It was my way of saying congratulations to him. I was so privileged to come across him. I could have listened to him all night talking about the legendary manager that was Brian Clough.

"In the mid-1990s my ex-assistant manager at Manchester United Archie Knox was with Walter Smith at Rangers and they also approached me and asked me to join the club. I remember thinking that I had said no to Rangers before and if I said yes to Celtic that would have been it forever with Archie, he would never have spoken to me again!"

As the footballing fates would have it the O'Neill incident would not be the only time that Bosnich would get up close and personal with a Celtic manager.

Bosnich shared a Fox Sports TV studio with Ange Postecoglou as a pundit for many years and the duo formed a close-knit bond both on and off the screen.

The natural chemistry between the pair is still alive to this day.

While initially saying Postecoglou's Parkhead appointment was a risk, he knew his compatriot would be successful given time - he did, after all, transform the face of Australian soccer with Brisbane Roar.

"I worked with Ange Postecoglou as a pundit on a show called On The Box for three to four years," the former Manchester United, Aston Villa and Chelsea goalkeeper said.

"I was fortunate to spend a lot of time with him. Ange listened to a lot of things I was saying but I learned a lot from him more than I ever let on.

"I used to always say to him that he talked the talk but he walked the walk as well, especially when we were off-air. I used to tell him 'don't tell me, show me when you're a manager'. To be fair he has.

"Sitting next to him in the TV studios was great and when he went off to manage Brisbane Roar it was a great miss for us.

"I thought he was great on TV and I personally enjoyed the chats I had with him. I really did take more out of them than I would ever let on. He is a good man, he knows football backwards as well as being a student of the history of the game.

"I said that Celtic were taking a risk with Ange in the sense that I meant every appointment, every transfer is a risk as well. I believed that he would be a success from what I knew about him intimately from working alongside him and watching his teams play.

"I am talking specifically about Brisbane Roar where he really transcended the game and took it to a different level with the way that his team played. Nobody had ever played that type of style of football here in Australia before and it was a real pleasure going to watch their games every week.

"When Ange got the Celtic job I knew they had lost their way the season before but the fans appreciate good football as much as any fans in the world. Nobody expected him to hit the ground running and I thought that could possibly go in his favour and could stay under the radar at the beginning.

"He normally takes a little bit of time to get things going at his teams but I knew in Scotland he wouldn't get that time. He basically took all that in his stride and you saw the results of that with the success that he has had winning the League Cup and the league.

"The real turning point was that 3-0 game against Rangers in February where you could just feel it in the crowd. The Celtic fans saw for themselves that night that it really is an attractive way of playing football. There is an overwhelming opinion that you cannot play an out-and-out attacking style and expect to win trophies. Ange has broken down those barriers.

"Are you a good manager? What defines being a good manager? There is no doubt that Ange has improved players wherever he has gone and he gives his players the belief that they can be successful playing his type of football.

"It is not easy to play Ange's style of football. It takes great energy and concentration and ability. If you can marry entertaining fans with winning football then you have got the perfect recipe.

Bosnich likens Postecoglou's touching down in Glasgow's east end to Arsene Wenger's arrival in the English Premier League as Arsenal boss.

He reckons that, like Wenger, Postecoglou's system, style and philosophy of football can bring joyous rewards.

Bosnich insists that the Hoops boss is already a flag bearer for Australian coaches hoping to emulate his career path.

"I remember when Arsene Wenger came to Arsenal in the mid-1990s and one of the papers ran the headline 'Arsene who?'" Bosnich said. "He came from Japan too and the people that appointed him at the time knew exactly what he could do. I knew Ange would make his mark at Celtic in terms of the way football should be played.

"A lot of people who are respected within the game have traditionally set limits but Ange does not set limits and I know this because it takes one to know one.

Ex-Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

"Ange looks at limits as plateaus and if you reach one plateau you go on to the next one. He would have relished not only the challenge of bringing glory back to Celtic Football Club but also playing in a style that makes people go 'wow, this is really special... so why can't we imitate that as well?'

"The game is all about scoring goals. Scoring goals brings joy to all the fans and that is what Ange's game is based on. This is why we have enjoyed watching his teams play for so long. I really do believe that him doing so well at Celtic will help other Australian coaches get recognition.

"There is a little bit of an inferiority complex when it comes to coaches coming from the likes of America, Australia and other parts of the globe. Slowly but surely those barriers are being broken. Ange Postecoglou is really blazing that trail at Celtic.

"It is important that Australians have players and coaches to look up to. When I was growing up, I looked up to Craig Johnston and what he achieved at Liverpool.

"The little caveat to this is that Ange is by far our finest manager here in Australia. Celtic really do have the best. He is blazing a trail but the Australian managers around at the moment are not in Ange's league."

Bosnich is a firm believer in the football gods and he is well aware that had Celtic won 10-in-a-row under Neil Lennon then the Postecoglou era would never have gotten off the ground.

He is also aware that just over a year after Postecoglou's appointment the doubters have been well and truly won over.

He said: "Take yourself back 12 months and I remember many people were sceptical about the appointment. To come out and be strong about it you do risk having egg on your face afterwards.

"I believe in the football gods and when you look back at Celtic and the whole 10-in-a-row stuff. Had they won that title and achieved the 10 would Ange be the manager of the club now? I don't think there would have been a change of management but that's football, isn't it? It's all part of the intrigue and why we all love this game so much.

"The English Premier League is massive over in Australia and the Scottish Premiership is not as big but ever since Ange signed for Celtic everybody is tweeting about it and watching games.

"Even Celtic fans have been saying to me 'we have never seen you tweet or heard about you watchingd our games in your life'. My response is 'yeah, but Ange is there now'.

"Hee has raised the profile of Scottish football so much back home in Australia. His managerial appointment is a sliding doors moment in Celtic's history. I know where I would rather be if I was a Celtic supporter."

Bosnich may well have famously given former Celtic boss Martin O'Neill the cold shoulder treatment once but there will always be a warm welcome and hug for Ange Postecoglou.