There are worse sets of coattails to ride on, if you’re a budding Australian coach, than those belonging to Ange Postecoglou. Kevin Muscat has done it twice: in 2013, he succeeded him as coach of Melbourne Victory when Postecoglou took charge of the Socceroos, and then again in 2021 at Yokohama F. Marinos after his move to Celtic, eventually guiding both clubs to league titles.

He is aware of how that looks. Muscat’s knockers – and there are more than a few of those, due to his brutal physicality and chequered disciplinary record as a player – can easily dismiss those achievements because in both instances, there were........

© The Sydney Morning Herald