Lou Macari only ever had one manager in his seven-year spell at Celtic - the legendary Jock Stein.

The now 73-year-old signed professional forms for Celtic in 1966 when he was just 16. He picked up wages of £15 per week.

Macari was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding Hoops reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included the likes of Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain and Davie Hay.

Diminutive and talented, Macari scored 91 goals in two seasons for the reserves and in 1971 replaced Lisbon Lion Willie Wallace in the starting line-up for the replay of the Scottish Cup final. He scored in a 2–1 win over Rangers.

For Macari, nobody can hold a candle to the man that guided Celtic to their greatest-ever club triumph by lifting the European Cup in 1967. He admits that he owes a huge debt to Stein for his teachings in football - and life in general.

"In football I was guided by the best man ever at Celtic - Jock Stein," Macari told The Celtic Way. "There is no argument, Stein was the best man I could come across along with Sean Fallon and the other three backroom staff. I want to say that as nowadays it is a cast of hundreds [behind the scenes].

READ MORE: Ange Postecoglou, Jock Stein and Ferenc Puskas - The Celtic through-line that binds football royalty

"I wish I could do something on camera imitating Stein and showing the public how he operated. It would be an eye-opener for everybody. Nobody is able to grasp what this man was like. Nobody would be able to grasp how powerful he was, how big a figure he was, how influential he was and how knowledgeable he was - about everything. You could hold a conversation with Jock Stein about any subject.

"Kenny Dalglish, Danny McGrain, Davie Hay and myself - as well as all those people that not only played for Celtic but played a long time in football - all owe it to that man.

"Now I'm doing this homelessness project and I wish I could bump into somebody that's got half the charisma, half the everything that Stein had. I would grab him and pay them any amount of money to help solve all the problems we've got.

"He had an answer for everything, starting with Celtic beating Inter Milan in the European Cup final. He continued from there."

Macari got the chance to emulate Stein when he took over the reins as Celtic boss in October 1993. It was the football manager's job he had always coveted but, within six months, the dream role became a nightmare.

Despite defeating Rangers 2–1 at Ibrox in his first match, his time at Parkhead was unsuccessful. The club was going through a transitional period with the old frugal board about to be ousted by a takeover led by Fergus McCann in March 1994.

READ MORE: Jock Brown on plugging Celtic dressing room leaks, saving a fortune on Larsson, Jansen mistakes and debates with McCann - The Big Interview

When McCann gained full control, Macari knew that the writing was on the wall for him.

Macari said: "That's gone now but everybody probably forgets what it was like. It was day-to-day chaos. Utter chaos. There were some players in some camp and other players in another camp. Some players liked me, some players didn't. You can't succeed like that. I was never going to succeed, never.

"I had one board and then another board. The second board didn't want me there. Instead of paying me up and sending me on my way back to London they made me stay there to try and force me out because at the time the club didn't have any money. It was chaotic and I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Macari, though, is a big fan of the current Hoops manager Ange Postecoglou. He has watched on with interest as the Aussie had forged a side that has lifted the Scottish Premiership and League Cup double in his first season and could well scoop the domestic treble in his second campaign.

However, Macari is adamant that Postecoglou has his eyes on the bigger prize of making Celtic a competitive force in Europe once again just as Stein did all those years ago.

"He is doing great and good luck to him," he said. "I'm certain that the next thing Postecoglou is trying to achieve is to do a lot better in Europe with the club That's his next goal, isn't it? To make Celtic a force again in European football.

"I think Ange wants to conquer the European scene. In the time he's been at Celtic, he's getting a little bit closer to being able to handle it. I don't think it's there just yet but people have got to be patient and give him the opportunity to try to achieve that."

READ THE FULL BIG INTERVIEW WITH LOU MACARI HERE