“I’ve known Ange and Kevin a long time. I class them not only as work colleagues,but friends,” he said.

“The way that the Marinos have been playing ... none of these things are going to change. They’re just going to alter slightly with a slightly different touch from an Aussie. I’m looking forward to continuing the work that the Marinos have put in over the last five,six years and kind of bring in my own gold dust on top of it.”

Kewell has first-hand experience of Japanese football,not just from his playing days with the Socceroos but from last year,when he travelled there with Celtic for a friendly against Muscat’s Marinos in what was Brendan Rodgers’ first official match in charge of the Scottish club after returning as Postecoglou’s replacement.

Meanwhile,Postecoglou baulked at a question in his weekly Tottenham Hotspur press call about whether they consider themselves to be in the title race. Spurs are fifth on the Premier League ladder,six points off top spot,halfway through the season,with a trip to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Monday morning (AEDT).

“Define to me what a title race is,” he replied with a smirk.

“If I say no,you’d turn round to me and say,‘Come on Ange’. By definition,we are,aren’t we? So yes we are,and I’ve said all along that until the point where you’re not,why discount the possibility?

“We’ve gone through a really tough period and we’re hanging in there. We had four games when results went against us,but we’ve clawed our way back. We’re still in there. Our performances have been pretty consistent. With the conditions we’ve overcome,with the conditions we’ve made,we certainly feel we can finish the season stronger. We’ve got a platform here to kick on.”

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