The defender made 62 appearances in three seasons for the Hoops

Christopher Jullien arrived at Celtic with big expectations after making a name for himself in France and Germany with Toulouse and SC Freiburg.

The former France under-20 international cost the club a reported £7m in 2019 which at the time made him the second most expensive player behind Odsonne Edourard (£9m). He experienced the high of a Scottish treble in his first season at Parkhead and made 28 league appearances in a solid first campaign as Neil Lennon’s side reigned supreme on the domestic stage.

His second and third season, however, were clouded by a Rangers title triumph, injuries and a fall from grace as the Frenchman slipped down the pecking order and became a peripheral player in the team.

Jullien worked under both Lennon and Ange Postecoglou, who are renowned for having success in Scottish football while incorporating two contrasting styles both on and off the pitch. But how does the 32-year-old compare the two?

“A second father to me”

Christopher Jullien was welcomed to Celtic by Neil Lennon and praises the former boss for his man management skills and his relationship with the group. He explains, via The Celtic Way: “I think Neil (Lennon) was a bit closer to his players.

“Ange was a little less close to his players, but his way of playing, the way he coached, was really good.

“He made me learn some stuff, some crazy stuff about the position, everything about the pitch, how we wanted to play, how we want to attack and how we want to defend. I learned so much from Ange Postecoglou. But Lennon, after the first day we talked about things, He became kind of like a second father to me.

“They were just two different managers, and I really think that at the end of the day, both of them had some good stuff. That’s why they were managers of Celtic, you know? They were two really good managers.”

Jullien was a consistent starter and a strong performer under Lennon but after Rangers’ title win in 2021 he had to get used to a whole new style of play under Postecoglou.

‘We just didn’t click’

Christopher Jullien revealed in 2023 that he never fully saw eye to eye with Ange Postecoglou despite respecting his qualities as a manager and his brand of football.

“I came back from France and I could see the coach was trying to implement new ideas. But I couldn’t take part. As he’s said, he doesn’t stop! He started on his way and never looked back. I had some conversations at the beginning about how he sees the game. It was fascinating. I can say he is one of the best trainers I have witnessed. But the man himself, we just didn’t click,” Jullien explained.

“Sometimes my teammates would say why not go and see him? And I’m like ‘Man, what do you want me to say? The team is winning every game three or four-zero, you’re winning everything’. He was a really good coach but as a man we didn’t have that link. I understand that management is difficult. It’s not just 11 players and keeping everyone involved is hard because players can be impatient, emotional.”

Jullien was rarely ever selected by Postecoglou whose preferred pairing was Carl Starfelt and Cameron Carter-Vickers for most of his tenure. However, he admitted he was disappointed in Postecoglou for claiming he would rotate the team but not fulfilling his promise.

He explained: “I played just once. It was a cup game against a second division team and I felt I could have had more time but afterwards I said ‘thanks coach’. Before the season finished, I went to see him, not to ask to play, but to see how he found me in training and my level. After we finished the meeting, he said: ‘If we are champions I will probably give you some minutes’. It didn’t happen. It felt like he’d told me something and done the contrary.”

Jullien left Celtic to join Montpellier in 2022 and racked up 50 appearances for the Ligue 1 side before sustaining an ACL injury. He’s yet to play this term for a team sitting bottom of Ligue 1.