New Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou has been helped by Sir Alex Ferguson

Ange Postecoglou says inspirational meetings with Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola have given him an early insight into life in the Premier League. The two most successful managers in the competition’s history both crossed paths with the new Tottenham manager in far-flung corners of the globe.

Furthermore, they recognised enough of a kindred spirit to give up precious one-on-one time which helped shape the 57-year-old into the manager he is today. Guardiola, in particular, was so impressed that he is said to have recommended Postecoglou to Celtic owner Dermot Desmond two years after their meeting on Manchester City’s pre-season tour of Japan.

Then last month, with Postecoglou on his way to Spurs, Guardiola described him as “an exceptional manager who will do an incredible job”. Postecoglou, though, played down the strength of their relationship other than that brief encounter when he was Yokohama Marinos boss.

“It was very gracious of him but I spent about 20 minutes in his company,” the Australian said. “He was great. He was very generous. He has had an unbelievable influence on football for all of us involved.

“Whether I was consciously or unconsciously influenced by him, absolutely. An unbelievable manager but check my phone – he’s not in there under ‘Pep’!” However, it was meeting with former Manchester United boss Ferguson more than 20 years ago which first got Postecoglou thinking about what it would be like to manage in England.

Still cutting his teeth in football coaching, he was the manager of the South Melbourne side which competed with United in Brazil at the first ever Club World Cup in 2000. Quinton Fortune scored a brace in a 2-0 Red Devils win when the two teams met.

“I coached against Sir Alex Ferguson in 2000 in Brazil, we did a press conference together and he gave me 15 minutes of his time,” added the Aussie. “It was gold for me. I was 34 at the time and I was coaching a team from Australia.

“All the great managers in the world have that great trademark. When I came across Pep in Japan he was also generous with his time. There are people you eye from afar and plenty who, after I met them, I wish I hadn’t. But they are not one of them. You want them to be kind with your time and they both certainly were.”

Postecoglou added: “I don’t think there’s a shortcut to success. If people think it’s just a matter of plugging in something special and it happens, that’s not how it works. I’ve had to be faultless in my career to get to this point.

“That’s because no one’s going to rate an Australian manager, are they? So if I had any significant failures along the way I was never going to get here.”