Melbourne Victory favourite son Kevin Muscat gets the chance in a top job. Source: Getty Images
THE man at the centre of one of the most infamous images in A-League history returns to the dug-out with a suit instead of the armband.
But is Kevin Muscat, the Victory skipper whose sideline stoush with then Adelaide boss John Kosmina is part of A-League folklore, still the same man who polarised opinion during his two decades of professional football?
"I'm an emotional person," he told the Herald Sun on the weekend.
"But I've worked with the boss (Ange Postecoglou) and realised that was an area I needed to improve. I've sat alongside Ange for 18 months and learnt quite a lot about how he conducts himself."
Hot-headed. Temperamental. Brutal. Think of any synonym to go with those words and they were probably launched Kevin Muscat's way by opposing fans during a career that included 46 caps for the Socceroos, 122 appearances for Victory and 308 games abroad for Crystal Palace, Wolves, Rangers in Scotland and Millwall.
Fans of his club loved him. Others loathed him for his win-at-all-costs mentality and combative style.
You can guarantee there are no congratulations cards coming from the likes of Christophe Dugarry or Matty Holmes.
Muscat injured Dugarry in an international friendly against France in 2001, while Charlton Athletics' Holmes received £250,000 in a 2004 settlement after a 1998 tackle saw Holmes need four operations.
The rap sheet is lengthy and notorious, in a career that included 12 red cards. Even back in Australia, his reputation preceded him - in fact, he was the first A-League player to appear before the disciplinary tribunal in 2005.
While the Kosmina incident on the Etihad Stadium sideline is now immortalised with a trophy in their name when Victory play Adelaide, it epitomised the Victory skipper's passionate, but combustible nature.
His A-League career ended in suspension after an infamous, brutal tackle on Adrian Zahra in a Melbourne derby that earned the ire of Australian football. He returned to play out his career in the Asian Champions League, but was replaced as skipper by then.
But that was then, and this is now, where Melbourne Victory's inaugural captain is preparing for a match against the man he enjoyed two-time championship success with, Ernie Merrick, in his first game in the hot seat.
The club would not have anointed him to the top job if he was not ready, just because he is Victory through-and-through.
Club chairman Anthony Di Pietro said: "It was clear that we had a program in place and Kevin was by far the best-placed person to continue that on.
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"It wasn't a decision made with comfort or ease, it was a decision made because it was the right decision."
When at his best on the field, Muscat was underrated with the ball at his feet, a key member of Victory's all-conquering early years, a reliable penalty taker and an inspirational figurehead, who was a regular of the Socceroos' squad until Guus Hiddink took over.
There's plenty more strings to his bow than the incomparable defender he's been remembered as.
Filling Ange Postecoglou's boots is a big enough challenge in its own right, but as Muscat looks to build on the "identity" he moulded with the Socceroos coach over the last 18 months at Victory, he'll have the opportunity to showcase the other facets of his kitbag and show the world how a football bad boy can become a master mentor.
31 Oct, 2013
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Source: http://www.news.com.au/national/kevin-muscats-on-field-reputation-preceded-him-but-what-will-his-style-be-like-as-a-manager/story-e6frfkp9-1226750441315?from=public_rss
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