"Celtic have never worked with a manager having full say.
"I was assured I would be given full control of the side...and full control.
"I didn't want to be told that I would get full control as there is no use in getting full control if you are not able to get it.
"What I wanted to do was to prove to the people that I was capable of taking full control.
"I came on the basis of that and it wasn't long until I got that."
The wise words of legendary Celtic manager Jock Stein speaking about his return to the club as a boss in 1965.
If you know your history and all that...
Those words should have resonated last week when current Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou was asked about the January transfer window thus far.
Celtic made 12 signings in the summer window but the one that stood out most was the £4.6 million lashed out on Kyogo Furuhashi.
It's now looking like a shrewd and wise investment.
From that moment on the Celtic hierarchy knew they had a manager they could trust, who not only had a keen eye for a player but also did not need to work to any agent recommendations, old lists or potential football projects.
It was clear that Ange certainly wasn't singing from the same spreadsheet as the rest in Paradise.
Autonomy in transfer dealings is a luxury and a privilege afforded by few Celtic managers.
For the record, via this platform, I have stated before that the most successful periods in the club's history have tended to come when the manager has had as Stein famously said "full control", over football matters.
Funny that isn't it?
Jock Stein, Martin O'Neill, Brendan Rodgers...were all granted those privileges.
Therefore I watched and listened to Ange intently when he said these words last week.
They were Steinesque in their delivery.
"It was kind of essential. I think the club understood that when they appointed me, because, with the history and the way I want my teams to play, it's really important that we bring players in that suit the system.
"It's not just about signing talented players or players we may think have potential, it's where they can fit in. No one knows better than me, so having that sort of control and being able to make sure the characteristics we're looking for, both from the point of view of the player and also the person that we are trying to sign, has been vital.
"I've done that my whole career and for the most part I've had success in the players I bring in because I know what I am looking for."
For the avoidance of doubt:
Ange is now picking and choosing the players that come to Celtic.
Ange is Celtic's head of recruitment.
Ange is in charge of all football operations.
In short, Ange appears on the face of it to be in full control.
Whilst both transfer windows for Celtic have been deemed a success in terms of quantity.
Ange is now winning the war on quality.
In fact, such is the hyperbolic nature of football that this January transfer window has already been dubbed Celtic's most successful ever since 200/03 when FIFA made the summer and winter window system compulsory.
Take the arrivals earlier this month of Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi.
They had been linked for months but all three actually arrived on Hogmanay before the January window had officially opened.
It was another unprecedented piece of business.
Youngster Johnny Kenny arrived as one for the future from Irish football but Ange revealed that he was a player the club had been keeping tabs on for some time.
MK Dons midfielder Matt O’Riley was brought in at a cost of just £1.5 million.
Like Kyogo before them, Hatate, Maeda and O'Riley have all hit the ground running.
Hatate scored a stunning goal on only his second appearance against Hearts at Tynecastle.
Maeda netted on his Celtic debut after just five minutes against Hibs.
O'Riley has turned in two man-of-the-match performances to date against Hearts and Dundee United.
Ange has a keen eye for a player all right.
He is also top-notch at assessing whether they are the right characters for the club too.
Goalkeeper Joe Hart is certainly a case in point on that score.
As the Aussie said last week: "I think the key part is to sign players who embrace the fact they're going to learn something new and playing differently to what they're used to but, as long as they've got the characteristics I'm looking for and they're coachable, then it usually happens very quickly."
Proof of that if any were needed is that the first domestic trophy of the season - the League Cup - is already residing in the Paradise cabinet when Ange is still supposedly building his "beautiful house".
Celtic can go top of the league on Wednesday if they beat city rivals Rangers at Parkhead in the Glasgow derby.
It is astonishing when you consider the Hoops lost three and drew one of their opening seven Premiership games.
The men from Glasgow's East End are in a fight to the finish for the £40 million prize pot that awaits the title winners.
The club is also seen as a strong contender to lift the inaugural Europa Conference League.
Even the club's outgoings in the January transfer window have somehow made perfect sense with young Adam Montgomery sealing a loan deal to Aberdeen and Osaze Urhoghide heading to Belgium to join Belgian top-flight side K.V Oostende.
Both players can go away and gain invaluable first-team experience elsewhere in the hope that they can make some sort of impact on their return if they ever return that is.
That is no slight on either player's ability but at the moment it's difficult to see whether either would fit into Ange's system.
Simply put there are better players at the club currently occupying their positions.
So is this the best January transfer window ever for Celtic?
In the words of Penry Pooch the mild-mannered janitor in the 1970s cartoon Hong Kong Phooey - "could be!"
The reason is pure and simple - Ange Postecoglou.
Why hasn't Ange asked for or made any reference to bringing in a technical director, sporting director, head of recruitment, a director of football?
Call it what you will.
The answer is straightforward.
He clearly doesn't want or needs one.
Ange loves it all being on him.
He positively thrives on it.
Do you think the Celtic hierarchy would be scouring untapped markets in Japan for the likes of Kyogo, Hatate, Maeda, Ideguchi and unearthing gems like O'Riley if somebody was working over, under or in tandem with Ange?
I doubt it very much.
While we are at it, if Ange can also persuade the likes of Portuguese sensation Jota and on-loan Spurs star Cameron Carter-Vickers to exercise their option to buy come the summer and join Celtic then the Aussie will be carried shoulder high down London Road.
The Celtic faithful will believe they have finally found a new Messiah and miracle worker to boot.
So the question remains is this the best January transfer window ever for Celtic?
Sure it may have lacked a big name signing breezing through the famous glass doors like Craig Bellamy or Robbie Keane.
Tell you what it didn't lack though Celtic scrambling around at the eleventh hour trying to deals for on-loan players for the sake of it.
There will be no short-termism on Ange's watch just a carefully thought out long-term recruitment strategy aided and abetted by the likes of chief executive Michael Nicholson.
The best January transfer window ever for Celtic?
You better believe it has to rate as the best and then some.
Why?
It's all about the full control thing that Stein spoke about 57 years ago.
Full control?
I think Ange must have been "pretty clear" about that to the Celtic board even before accepting the job back in June.
You get the feeling that anything less than full control for Ange at Celtic would have been a deal-breaker.
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