By Michael Cockerill
Is Kevin Muscat the best choice to become the next coach of the Socceroos? It's a question I've been mulling over for some time. Watching him during Saturday night's "Big Blue" has brought me closer to a conclusion. Well he might be, and it wasn't that long ago I could never imagine myself saying that.
If the next national coach is to be decided by popular vote, then clearly Muscat has no chance. A playing career defined by his finesse at the dark arts makes sure of that. Win-at-all-costs doesn't begin to describe Muscat's on-field behaviour, and his list of enemies has endured. Witness the loud boos every time he was shown on the big screen at Allianz Stadium. Not many are prepared to forgive and forget.
Muscat, of course, was much more than a thug on the playing field. From the time Ernie Merrick gave him his first-grade debut as a 16-year-old at Sunshine George Cross, to the time he played his last A-League game for Melbourne Victory under the same coach, Muscat amassed 522 games as a professional, including spells in England and Scotland. At 20 years and 340 days, his remains the longest career of any player in Australian history, and it goes without saying it wouldn't have lasted so long if he hadn't had genuine ability.
What the duration of that career also gave him was a marathon apprenticeship for his ultimate calling. To become a coach. Muscat was always a leader, whether he had the armband or not, and the late Eddie Thomson never doubted he would follow him into the Socceroos dugout one day. Maybe Thommo will be proved right. Depending on how things unfold over the next 12 months, that day might not be too far away.
Postecoglou's replacement?: Kevin Muscat could be the man for the Socceroos job.Credit: Getty Images
First things first, the chair has to be vacated. So here's the maths. Let's dream Australia win the 2017 Confederations Cup, and the 2018 World Cup. That gives Ange Postecoglou a maximum of 21 games left in charge (including play-offs but excluding friendlies). If worst comes to worst and the Socceroos fail to get out of the group stage in either the qualifiers for Russia or the Confederations Cup, Postecoglou could be out the door after just eight more matches. If you think Postecoglou is going to hang around after either scenario, you don't know the nature of the man.
Contenders: Wanderers coach Tony Popovic, Victory coach Kevin Muscat and Roar coach John Aloisi.Credit: Robert Cianflone
So if you're the FFA – especially the football committee headed by Joseph Healy – then you must start contemplating the alternatives. It's conceivable we'll need a new national coach by this time next year. So who?
Frank Lowy's decision to honour his pledge and replace Holger Osieck with a homegrown coach has reaped enormous dividends. Postecoglou's rejuvenation of the Socceroos means there is no need to look outside the country for his replacement. It doesn't mean they won't be big boots to fill, but it does mean the path has now been set. By so many measures, Australian coaching is poised to enter a golden age. It's incumbent on the FFA to embrace that.
Muscat, John Aloisi and Tony Popovic are the most obvious shortlist. All three former Socceroos teammates are gathering experience in the A-League. Muscat and Popovic have fleshed out their knowledge thanks to the Asian Champions League. Popovic is the most experienced, and arguably the most successful thanks to the epic ACL success in 2014. But not by much. In truth, there's little between the three most likely candidates. Yet for me, Muscat just edges ahead.
Perhaps it's because there's a lot of Postecoglou in him. No surprise there, he spent an invaluable period as his assistant in 2012-13, and they go way back to the South Melbourne days. Postecoglou has slowly worn down the rough edges, and if you look hard enough you can see a mellowing, a maturing, in Muscat's behaviour, and demeanour. There's still way too much blue language from the technical area – and that's something which can't be tolerated on the international stage – but at least the path is heading in the right direction.
Man-management, media management and a clear vision are arguably the most important requirements of the national coach. The on-field coaching is, of course, important, and the way Muscat sets up his Melbourne Victory teams suggests he would take a similar front-foot approach to the Socceroos. But it's what's wrapped around the team which matters most, and Muscat has broad enough shoulders to embrace that. Pressure? He thrives on it. And he loves to prove people wrong.