Australian and former MasterChef judge George Calombaris has opened up about his close friendship with Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou.
Calombaris is a die-hard Melbourne Victory fan and was infamously caught up in an altercation at the 2016-17 A-League Men grand final.
The 43-year-old has endured a difficult few years but has found an unlikely ally in the form of Postecoglou.
The former Socceroos coach crossed paths with Calombaris years ago and they have since struck up a firm friendship.
"I remember I needed to do a school project on someone and I picked Ange Postecoglou. There’s this picture of little George and Ange Postecoglou, he used to have this moustache at one point in his career, and funnily enough how the world travels, we’ve become really good friends," Calombaris told the Football From A to Z podcast.
"We share a lot of conversations together about our own struggles we’ve had in our lives and how we’ve each dealt with them.
"Even though we’re both Aussies, in a way the unfortunate thing in Australia is we’re still looked at as not being really Aussie.
"We share a lot of deep conversations about how to navigate through that and stick to what our beliefs are. It doesn’t matter if it’s food or football, they need to be the same."
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Postecoglou has defied skeptics and a shaky start to find some early success in charge of Scottish giants Celtic.
The Hoops have lost just one of their past 11 games in all competitions with the Australian coach able to implement an attacking style and fend off any questions from the media in typically fiery fashion.
"I’m a massive Ange fan and I listen to him a lot, we talk a lot and I listen to his press conferences," Calombaris said.
"There’s a lot that I love that about....it’s nice to hear someone that’s just honest, authentic. He’s not got a media manager in his ear telling him what to say or be and he’s being very authentic to what he’s wanted to do in football."