Stein was immortal but Celtic's Postecoglou is irreplaceable

It was a day of celebration. Nobody does trophy presentation day like Celtic.

A 6-0 romp over Motherwell last season. A 5-0 swatting aside of Aberdeen this time around. Ange Postecoglou's team have got this trophy presentation business sorted.

It was most apt that the day started off in fine fettle when Martin O'Neill delivered the Scottish Premiership trophy onto the sponsor's plinth as he led the procession alongside Postecoglou and every member of the Hoops squad up the Celtic Way.

O'Neill set the standards for the modern-day Celtic certainly in the past two decades.

He knew exactly what he was doing when he threw the gauntlet down to Rangers by declaring their city rivals the benchmark in 2000-01.

Celtic have been the top dog ever since. In the past 22 years, the league flag has been Paradise bound 17 times.

Postecoglou's men kept up that tradition with a rampant 5-0 display that had the hallmark of class stamped all over it.

Two goals from Kyogo Furuhashi, a brace from Oh Hyeon-gyu and a header from Carl Starelt made it a most enjoyable romp for the champions. Kyogo also took his total to 33 for the season which saw him eclipse Moussa Dembele's haul of 32 during Brendan Rodgers' Invincible campaign in 2016-17. It was another milestone achieved in a campaign full of them.

READ MORE: Celtic duo Kyogo and Oh put on a show during trophy day

Speaking of milestones, the long-awaited Celtic's tifo was a sight to behold. This was also a day for paying homage to club legends past and present. The start of the match saw Postecoglou and his players emerge from the tunnel and the stunning display which greeted them involved every Celtic fan taking part.

It was a 360-degree display which included the face of legendary European Cup-winning manager Jock at one end of the stadium and the club's first boss Willie Maley at the other. Sandwiched in between were the words: "Stand on the shoulders of giants".

The display was organised by ultras group The Green Brigade, who raised £20,000. They themselves had captured the mood perfectly with a statement beforehand which read: "As we stand on the brink of another historic treble, we urge our current heroes to take inspiration from the giants of the past to write their own names into Celtic folklore."

Well, the tifo certainly did the trick as Postecoglou's men racked up 114 league goals for the campaign from 38 games which surpassed Stein's Lisbon Lions 1966-67 total of 111 league goals in 34 matches. One wonders what John Clark and Jim Craig made of it all as the duo were in attendance at the game.

Postecoglou's side fell just three goals short of eclipsing Maley's Celtic class of 1915-16 who banged in 117 league goals. However, they remain on course to stand on the shoulders of giants by lifting the treble next weekend.

If they do manage to defeat Inverness Caledonian Thistle in next Saturday's Scottish Cup final, they will write their own chapter in Celtic's illustrious history. An eighth domestic treble would create a new record. No team in world football has reeled off eight domestic clean sweeps.

It was Stein who famously said when he led Celtic to their first league triumph under him in 1966: “It is up to us, to everyone at Celtic Park, to build up our own legends. We don’t want to live with history, to be compared with legends from the past. We must make new legends.”

O'Neill also remarked during his managerial tenure at Celtic Park: “You can’t afford to rely on history – you have to make it.”

Postecoglou's team are standing on the shoulders of giants right enough. They just happen to be doing it their way. The 57-year-old will join an elite band of managers if he steers the good ship Celtic over the line in the Scottish Cup final. On that list are etched the names of Stein, O'Neill, Rodgers and Neil Lennon - Celtic's treble-winning managers to date.

The 5-0 destruction of Aberdeen on trophy day reminded Postecoglou of exactly why he is in the football business as he reminded everybody that Celtic were: "Champions again!"

"It is as much about life as it is about football," he continued. "It's a beautiful thing we do. Football is endless in what you can create and that is what I love about it.

"I just live for the beautiful moments in football. I love the wins. I hate losing and the beauty of football still drives me."

Not many managers are priviliged enough to provide beautiful moments in football for Celtic and their supporters.

Maley did. Stein did. O'Neill did. Rodgers did. Lennon did.

It was perhaps even more fitting that while the likes of Maley and Stein's faces were honoured in the tifo, Postecoglou himself chose to channel the words of another great Celtic man Tommy Burns during his victory speech as he said: "Champions again because of you. In the words of the immortal Tommy Burns, 'you are always there, always.'"

READ MORE: Celtic boss Postecoglou channels Tommy Burns after title win

As Stein once remarked to Billy McNeill: "Remember the people on the terracing. They’re important.” Like Maley, Stein and O'Neill before him, Postecoglou now represents Celtic. He represents what Burns famously referred to as "a community and a cause".

Nothing will prevent him or distract his focus from winning a world record eighth treble. Not even the swirling vortex of interest from English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur.

As Postecoglou told Sky Sports after the game: "I've been pretty straightforward (about the rumours), there's nothing cryptic in my messages. We've got one game to go. I'm not talking about next year until we win next week. That's our goal, we've got to win this cup.

"I'm not going to pass up the opportunity to do something special, to win a Treble. I know people have done it and greater things but I'm not going to look past that. I really want us to finish strong. It's not going to be an easy game, it's a cup final. We're determined to get it done."

If Celtic and Postecoglou do waltz off with the Scottish Cup in their next fixture, they will 'stand on the shoulders of giants'.

They will have penned their own chapter in the illustrious history of Celtic Football Club.

An eight-domestic treble? A world record? It would be a beautiful moment in football for Postecoglou and everybody connected with Celtic.

He lives for them...remember. The Italians have a wonderful phrase for it: "La vita e bella" - Life is beautiful.

Maley was incredible.

Stein was immortal.

O'Neill was inspirational.

Rodgers was invincible.

Lennon was indefatigable.

Postecoglou is irreplaceable.