Danny Crainie refused to believe that former South Melbourne teammate Ange Postecoglou was the right man for the Celtic job last summer. He certainly does now. Postecoglou guided the Hoops to the Scottish Premiership and League Cup double in his first season in Scotland and nobody is more delighted than Crainie he decided to up sticks and travel halfway across the world to return Celtic back to the top of Scottish football.

Crainie, who himself spent four years at Celtic between 1979 and 1983, admits he was a touch sceptical over Postecoglou's appointment. Having watched on as Celtic blew an historic 10 In A Row he reckoned the club needed a managerial miracle to recover. He just didn't bargain on that miracle being one of his former South Melbourne teammates. The 60-year-old felt that his old club should have gone for a tried and tested football name but one year down the line he's delighted to have been proven wrong

He said: "I didn't think that Ange was what Celtic needed this time last year. I thought we would have to go for a household name but wow! Just wow! For a manager to come in and do what he has done and to have success on the back of it is astounding. Celtic was in turmoil after blowing the 10 and things did not look great at the start and he has just stuck to his style of play. As Ange said: 'I'll go down swinging and why should I change my style of play.'"

READ MORE: Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou reflects on one-year in charge at Parkhead

Crainie and Postecoglou played together for South Melbourne during the season 1986/87 in Australia and even back then the big Aussie was a brilliant teammate who had a habit of doing things differently. His inquisitive mind was something that earmarked him as a future manager as well as a player whom Crainie learned a lot from. The former left midfielder also joked that Postecoglou  - whose natural position was left-back - would do all of Crainie's running for him, comparing him to Kieran Tierney.

Crainie said: "I work with kids in residential care and we were over at Harmony Row football pitches in Govan as one of the kids attended a youth club. I was just standing watching them play and my phone pinged. It was my brother.

"He told me one of my old teammates was going to be the new Celtic manager. Right away I was shocked, thinking of maybe Roy Aitken, Murdo MacLeod or dare I say, Charlie Nicholas!

"My brother kept a scrapbook when I was over in Australia and he told me it was Ange. I thought he was kidding. I knew he had done well in Australia and Japan but becoming the new Celtic boss felt like it came completely out of the blue.

"Ange was a left-back and we played a 4-3-3 system and I was on the left side of the midfield. He would inevitably be tearing up past me down the wing and he would be strong and aggressive. He possessed a great left foot.

"Ange questioned everything even back then, always in a professional and respectful manner. He wanted to know why we were changing things and why it needed to be done. The whole team got educated in that sense because of Ange.

"John Margaritis was the manager in the 1986/87 season when I played for South Melbourne. He was a wonderful coach. Whenever he made a decision, Ange would always ask why he was doing it. Whenever you weren't pulling your weight Ange would tell you. For me, Celtic will always be my club and South Melbourne is Ange's club. He was a young Greek guy who went on to captain the team. He would tell you what it meant to him if we were getting beat.

"Ange knew all about Celtic though from the likes of Blairy, (Stevie Blair) Charlie (Charlie Egan) and myself as we were all massive Celtic fans. All he would hear at training and games was the three of us banging on about the Celtic results. I think he got fed up hearing about Celtic rather than South Melbourne, to be honest. I will definitely make a point of going to see Ange now that he's in Scotland as we got on really well as teammates - after all, I owe him as he did all my running for me!"

Craine insists that he has been completely captivated by Postecoglou's debut season at the managerial helm especially his public utterances to the media. Whilst he is loathed to compare managers and eras he admits that allied to Postecoglou's philosophy and the attacking style of play that he has instilled at the club, it's like watching Tommy Burns' side all over again. The only difference is Celtic are winning.

READ MORE: Bonded by Celtic: My best mate Ange Postecoglou and the South Melbourne Scots who helped shape him - Steve Blair Big Interview

Crainie said: "It is not just the success or the way Celtic are playing but it is Ange's interviews as well. I still remember when he called the media boys out for calling the league early. He wasn't being cheeky and he just asked if the title race was finished in December. He possesses a cracking sense of humour and knows how to conduct himself. He has handled it all magnificently.

"It is also the style of football that he has brought to Celtic. I don't like comparing managers and players but it is as close to Tommy Burns' - god rest him - Celtic team as you can get. It is an all-out attacking style although Tommy Burns probably had better players than Ange at his disposal with Pierre Van Hooijdonk, Andreas Thom, Jorge Cadete and Paolo di Canio.

"The last game of the season is a classic example of that as you could have forgiven the team for taking their foot off the gas because it didn't really matter. The 6-0 win over Motherwell was one of the best games Celtic have played. It was really good stuff."

One thing is for certain, Crainie is excited about the future of Celtic under Postecoglou.

He said: "The great thing is that Celtic are in the Champions League group stages now and we are not hedging our bets to see what European tournament we will be in next season. I think ideally the manager wants to do business early again as he did in January and if Celtic can add another couple of quality signings then who knows where Ange can take the club."