WIM Jansen, the first Celtic manager not to hail from the British Isles or Republic of Ireland, endured a dire start to his time in Scotland back in 1997.

Then Henrik Larsson, the little-known Swedish forward who he had previously worked with at Feyenoord and had brought in for just £650,000, came good for him and rattled in 46 goals.

The Dutchman recovered from opening league defeats to Hibernian and Dunfermline, led the Parkhead club to a League Cup and Premier Division double and stopped Rangers completing 10-In-A-Row thanks in no small part to Larsson’s heroics up front.

Can Kyogo Furuhashi, who has quickly endeared himself to the Glasgow club’s fans thanks to a classy strike in a 4-2 triumph over Jablonec and a hat-trick in a 6-0 rout of Dundee on his home debut last week, help Ange Postecoglou enjoy the same sort of success here?

The Greek-Australian has a mammoth task on his hands. The former Yokohama F Marino’s coach has to rebuild his squad and overcome a strong Ibrox side who dominated domestically last term. He has suffered disappointing losses to Midtjylland in a Champions League qualifier and Hearts in the cinch Premiership so far.

Yet, supporters are suddenly rather excited about what the coming months hold due to the immediate impact made by the Japanese internationalist who Postecoglou landed for £4.6m from J1 League outfit Vissel Kobe last month. 

Murdo MacLeod, the Celtic great who worked as Jansen’s assistant during the former European Cup winner’s single season in this country, was loath to draw parallels between Furuhashi and Larsson yesterday.

Still, MacLeod has, like so many onlookers, been enormously impressed with his performances and can fully understand the fans’ new-found optimism.

“It has been a difficult start so far this season and everyone was waiting for something to happen,” he said at the Kris Boyd Charity Golf Day at Turnberry. “It seemed to happen on Sunday with a new striker scoring a few goals and looking the part.
“I don't think you can start comparing him with anyone at the moment. I think we should let him be his own man just now. But it was so good to see him playing with a smile on his face all the time. His pace was frightening and he will cause problems for most teams.
“I think Dundee would have been shocked by the quality of Celtic and Furuhashi. They really seemed to struggle against the electric pace of Furahashi. There is no doubt he looked pretty special and every Celtic fan will be waiting to see if he can continue along the same lines.
“The way he got away from the defender for the first goal was something else. He has brought that freshness into the teams and that can run off on the other players. But I still think you've got to let him play at the moment.”
MacLeod continued: "We hoped the players we brought in back in 1997 would all turn out to be special and that's how it turned out. Obviously, Henrik got more and more special over the years.

“It's obvious the fans already love Kyogo. There are pictures of him celebrating with his arms stretched out and his tongue out on social media that look a bit familiar! He's enjoying scoring goals and what it has done is give the Celtic supporters a massive lift. There's a freshness on the park and a bit of pace."

So does MacLeod think the Jablonec and Dundee wins are the start of a turnaround in fortunes for Postecoglou and Celtic? He urged caution amid the mass outpouring of elation. He thinks much still depends on who departs and who comes in before the summer transfer window closes. But he can see definite signs of improvement. 

“You never know fully about a new manager until well into the season,” he said. “We have watched him get knocked out of the Champions League and then lose at Tynecastle. I know what that is like as we didn’t get off to the best of starts when trying to stop Rangers.

“But Sunday was hugely encouraging. I think the team was much more solid and they played at a better pace. It was a special display. In fact, it was something special from start to finish.

"It's fantastic for him (Postecoglou). If you look at the last two games, the subs he's been bringing on are top players, so that tells you he's got a strong squad and more will come in. It just shows you how quickly things can change. It is a big thing that they are suddenly scoring so many goals.
"But we have to wait and watch. Rangers had to lose a game at some point and they did, but it's still going to be tough. You're not going to get those 25 points back right away, you have to keep playing like they did against Dundee.

"They have to make Celtic Park a place where teams turning up never win. You have to make it a fortress again. That's step one.
"So many were talking about leaving, but when you see (Ryan) Christie playing like he did, he could be massive. But he could leave next week. And (Odsonne) Edouard could leave next week then suddenly you are thinking the new players have got to play well because you've lost two great players.

"Sunday was encouraging, but don't forget Celtic hammered Hamilton at the start of last season and everyone thought 10-In-A-Row was on. Things can change very quickly."
Edouard has attracted interest from Premier League clubs Brighton and Southampton and a multi-million pound move to England seems inevitable in the coming days. But MacLeod is confident Celtic can cope without him thanks to the arrival or Furuhashi. 

"I don't think there's a positive or a negative with Edouard,” he said. “We don't know if he's going down south. But if he does, Celtic have brought in another striker who is already scoring goals."

Murdo was speaking at The Kris Boyd Charity Golf Day at Turnberry. The Charity aims to raise awareness about Mental Health and fundraises for various causes.