The classy Ange Postecoglou Celtic gestures that make him stand out in cutthroat management game

The former Dundee boss came up against the Greek-Australian's Celtic side twice this season – losing 6-0 and 4-2 – and was later relieved of his Dens Park duties in February with the club sitting second bottom of the Premiership.

McPake, who took Dundee back into the top flight and won the 2020-21 Championship manager of the year award, says Postecoglou gave him the warmest of welcomes at Parkhead for the first of those meetings before indulging in a long chat after the second.

Most importantly, though, was the way Postecoglou spoke of the former Northern Ireland international after his sacking.

"When I lost my job at Dundee he spoke about me in glowing terms,” McPake recalls. “I really appreciated that.

"There is a tendency to focus on failure at times. As a society, we are a bit like that. Postecoglou was different – he was always looking for the positive with regards to myself.

"I have heard him talking about other young managers too so I am not saying I have any special kind of relationship with him but I am sure he is someone who, if you turned to him for advice, then he would do his best to help you.”

That is precisely what McPake experienced after both meetings with the Celtic boss.

"We had a great chat when I visited Celtic Park with Dundee back in August,” he said. “He is a nice man and he is a good guy. It was humbling the day as they beat us 6-0.

"Postecoglou pulled me aside and told me to forget this defeat and focus on my achievement of getting Dundee back into the Premiership and winning the Championship manager of the year award at such a young age.

"In the second game at Dens Park, when we lost 4-2 in November, I got a bit longer to chat with him as we were both waiting to do our respective press duties.

"He was interested in what Leigh Griffiths was up to and how he was doing. That started it off and it was the game before the international break so he asked me what we were going to do.

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"That was really humbling for me as he was the Celtic manager and I was the Dundee manager but he was taking a genuine interest in a so-called lesser club and their manager.

"I was touched by that and we spoke for a good 25-30 minutes. He told me to keep going and keep learning and keep believing in what I was doing.

"He mentioned to me that I had changed my system a couple of times in the game just to get away with a 4-2 which he thought was good.

"It was great for me as a manager that he noticed things like that so we spoke about stuff like that.

"He asked me what the training was going to be like during the international break and I got the chance to ask him what he would be doing despite having a lot of players on international duty and players preparing for the League Cup final.

"He spoke to me through the kind of things he was doing – it was a cracking chat between two football managers. It was just the respect that he showed me as a fellow boss and him being the Celtic manager and not really knowing me.

Ange Postecoglou won the title with Celtic as well as the League Cup

"I heard that he did that with all young managers and it is just a touch of class. He is just an impressive man.”

McPake believes that younger managers could be given a bigger helping hand by their peers in general despite football management being very much a sink-or-swim business.

"There are not many [people like Postecoglou] in football management because people tend to see it as you being up against a rival,” he said. “There is not enough help from manager to manager in my humble opinion.

"I must say, though, I have had great help from guys like Derek McInnes [Kilmarnock manager] and Tony Docherty [Kilmarnock assistant]. They have been fantastic with me.

"John Hughes [Dunfermline Athletic boss] and Malky Mackay [Ross County manager] are also outstanding people who called and picked the phone up when I needed it most.

"We need more people like Postecoglou, McInnes, Hughes and Mackay involved in the game. They are willing to help you and they also want to see you succeed."