Ange Postecoglou's Celtic transfer poker face and his theory of building a beautiful house

It was a fantastic month for the Aussie who guided Celtic to five wins in six matches in all competitions as his men remained unbeaten and kept three clean sheets in the process.

Celtic also closed the gap on league leaders Rangers to just four points at the top of the Scottish Premiership and celebrated extending their European football adventure until after Christmas.

Ange addressed various media outlets via Celtic TV as he celebrated his first monthly managerial award as Celtic boss.

Here Tony Haggerty analyses what Ange said.

Ange on winning the award: "It was a good little period for us as we had been unsettled in the previous one and results and performances had been up and down so we had to get some consistency and gain some momentum.

"The whole group has been outstanding in the last sort of seven games that we have had in this period both domestically and in Europe and I have to give credit to all the players, coaching staff and the medical team because I have felt a lot more settled as we have been since the start of the season and that has been reflected in results. We have a strong foundation to kick on."

Ange is clearly deflecting any praise away from himself and shifting the credit to the players and his backroom staff. Whilst he may be delighted to have picked up the personal award he knows himself that it was a team effort in October which many critics said was shaping up to be a make or break time for him and his Celtic team. 

Ange on taking stock and reflecting on achievements so far:

"The award is great but it is a reflection of how the group is developing and it is really important that people don't think this has come on the back of something magical I am doing. It is the whole group that is working really hard and I have told the staff and the players to get the consistency that we have it shows throughout the organisation that we are heading in the right direction. We are just not at the stage where we can reflect yet and I have been consistent in saying that we are just at the beginnings of things in many respects. I really feel that we have only got settled in the last four or five-week period and that is the first step for us as a team. Reflection is well down the track for us and what is important is that I am seeing signs of growth and improvement and that has to be our focus and whatever we have done we just have to make sure that we keep performing to high levels at every opportunity."

The champagne corks most certainly aren't popping as the Aussie feels that absolutely nothing has been achieved yet and quite rightly so. Celtic may be ticking along nicely and stringing an impressive recent set of results but they are a million miles away from where he wants them to be. The caveat to that though is that he feels his men are going places but only until they reach their final destination will he allow himself to take stock and look back at a job well done or otherwise.

Ange on squad numbers:

READ MORE: Who tops Celtic power rankings as Kyogo drops from top spot? - every player's season rated

"I still want to bolster the depth and the quality of our squad. We had some injuries that affected us but this one we managed it a bit better but I would still like more opportunities to rest players if possible so we are avoiding some of the injuries we are getting at the moment. Bringing new players in is a constant for me and I work pretty methodically and I don't like to rush into things whether that be the current state of affairs or future affairs and that is why the summer transfer window was far too chaotic for me but I understand that was the situation I was put into and I don't want that to happen again in January or the future. That won't happen if we start working methodically and that will allow us to make business decisions without feeling the pressure of time or any other anxieties. When that happens you are more likely to get something wrong or do something in haste."

The Celtic manager is adamant that he won't be panicked or rushed into making signings and he is giving absolutely nothing away with regards to further raids on the Japanese market. Japanese stars Reo Hetate and Daizen Maeda have both been mentioned about joining Kyogo in Paradise in January but Ange most definitely has his poker face on when it comes to discussing potential transfer targets. The Aussie also fired a warning shot over the Celtic hierarchy's bow by cleverly urging them to conduct early business in January and be more organised when it comes to completing deals. One thing is for sure any new player coming into Celtic will have to be the right fit for Ange.

Ange on being settled in the job and in Scotland: 

"Settling into Celtic and Scotland has been really easy for me. I have hit the ground running here at 100 mph and I haven't had the chance to think about much else and get my head up and worry about too many things. I've got a great family support network with my wife and the club. Everybody around the club has let me focus on the things that are important and that has been creating an environment here that will hopefully give us the basis for success. There hasn't been too many distractions or things to take me away from that and that is important to me especially in these early stages because if I was unsettled within the organisation or outside in general that would affect my ability to perform the tasks I need to."

The Celtic supporters will be delighted that Ange seems to be 100 per cent focused on the job at hand. He also gives the impression that he is a 24/7 manager and rarely switches off.

Ange on the possibility of Steven Gerrard leaving the club for Aston Villa:

READ MORE: Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou reacts as Steven Gerrard looks set to swap Rangers for Aston Villa

"They are the kind of distractions that I avoid as that is what I am talking about. I have been laser-focused on here and I will continue to be and it hasn't been too difficult. People watch TV these days and they binge a series in one night because they don't want to wait another week for the next episode as we did in the old days. People wanted to binge on this season as well. One result and it was over or one result and it was done. I'm making everybody fully aware that we can't get distracted by anyone or anything as we are trying to build something here and when you try to build something and be successful you can't afford to be looking to what other people are doing. We have got to build our house and make it nice and beautiful and see how it stacks  up against the rest of the neighbourhood."

The Celtic faithful will have been cheering to the rafters after Ange gave his building a beautiful house analogy to the prospect of Glasgow rival and Rangers manager Steven Gerrard quitting for EPL outfit Aston Villa. It's obvious to everybody that he is not a nosey or noisy neighbour and is clearly uninterested in what is going on down Govan way. Ange has a successful Celtic team to rebuild and nothing but nothing will stop him or get in his way. He will give his all to achieve his stated aim of being a winning and successful Celtic manager. 

Ange on the progress of his team in the last four months: 

"There are so many variables that remain uncertain as we kind of looked as if we were on the right track and then we lost Callum McGregor and Kyogo Furuhashi for a period and we had to bring in players pretty quickly. I never put timelines on these things and you just have to be aware and stay in the moment and not look too far ahead or look too far back. Progress is not a linear thing and sometimes you think we are ahead of schedule and sometimes I think we aren't and we need to ramp things up. I do know that we are performing better than four weeks ago which is good."

Ange is clear that he lives for the moment and does not dwell in the past or look too far ahead. The loss of Callum McGregor and Kyogo to injury was a massive blow at the time but he is a realist and knows that these things happen. He does not do progress charts mid-way through a season and all he wants to do and is solely focused on is turning Celtic into a consistent machine that is churning out winning results every week.

Ange on the next period that could shape the season:

"It is pretty important and if you look at the last period we were almost perfect with six wins and a draw but we had to be and any slip-ups in one result would have seen us fall out of European contention and we wouldn't have moved up the table in the league.

"I am aware of how precarious the situation is and you might think we are on a good roll here and we could achieve something but what is important is that we keep improving our performances. One bad result in any of these competitions and you are making up for lost ground. We kind of set ourselves a task that we needed to be almost perfect through these seven games and we have made progress both domestically and in Europe. It was good to see the players and the staff rise to the occasion and meet that sort of challenge. This is a big football club with big expectations and that's where you measure it when the stakes are at their highest. We couldn't afford any slip-ups but I challenged the players and the staff and I am really pleased they came through it as they did."

The manager is blissfully aware of where Celtic are at in their development. The fact that Ange has secured European football after Christmas and has cut the gap at the top of the Premiership to just four points is not lost on him. However, it is still not enough and he wants more and will demand more. The Celtic faithful will enjoy the fact that Ange set the players a mini target for October. Players and managers need to be constantly challenged in their careers. For the first time since Ange arrived at Celtic, he challenged his men to complete a perfect month. His side yielded five wins and a draw. A test passed with flying colours but the Aussie is well aware that there is still room for improvement...if only by a fine margin.