Kevin Muscat could be set for a return to former club Millwall, if the UK bookies are to be believed.
Millwall are looking for a new manager after sacking Gary Rowett this week, with the EFL Championship outfit currently 15th in the standings.
Rowett had been out at the helm for four years and he guided them to a top-half finish in every season prior to this term, though without a play-off berth show for it.
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Now, Millwall are trying to fill the void and A-Leagues legend Muscat is the favourite with Sky Bet to replace Rowett after missing out on the Rangers job to Philippe Clement in a two-horse race.
Former Rangers boss Michael Beale is the second-favourite in the market, while John Eustace is third-favourite after his Birmingham City axing.
Muscat – currently in charge of J1 League champions Yokohama F.Marinos – is no stranger to Millwall.
He spent two years playing for Millwall between 2003 and 2005 before returning to Australia for Melbourne Victory’s inaugural Isuzu UTE A-League season.
The 50-year-old captained Millwall to the FA Cup final for the first time in their history, but he missed the decider against Manchester United due to a knee injury suffered against Sunderland in the semi-final.
During his time at the Den, he also played alongside Socceroos legend Tim Cahill.
In management, former Melbourne Victory and now Yokohama F.Marinos boss Muscat has been following a path walked by his trailblazing mentor Ange Postecoglou.
But Muscat has been doing things his own way while tasting success since replacing Postecoglou in July 2021, having guided F.Marinos to the J1 League title last season.
A long-time assistant to Postecoglou at Victory in the Isuzu UTE A-League before replacing the Aussie trailblazer in Yokohama following his switch to Celtic in 2021, Muscat’s F.Marinos were crowned kings of Japan for the first time since 2019.
Muscat, who previously spent time with Sint-Truiden in Belgium, has the defending champions in contention for back-to-back J1 League titles – not even something Postecoglou achieved during his time there, having already became the first F.Marinos manager to win the Japanese Super Cup at the start of the year.
After taking over from now-Tottenham boss Postecoglou midway through 2021, the former Socceroo guided F.Marinos to a runners-up finish behind Kawasaki Frontale before ending their dominance the following campaign in his first full season.
This season, they are also just four points behind big-spending Vissel Kobe with five rounds remaining while juggling AFC Champions League commitments.
This is despite an off-season that saw F.Marinos decimated by key departures – 2022 J1 League MVP Tomoki Iwata (to Celtic), star winger Teruhito Nakagawa (FC Tokyo), first-choice goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka (Vancouver Whitecaps) and Leo Ceara (Cerezo Osaka). Marcos Junior (Sanfrecce Hiroshima) and Joel Chima Fujita (Sint-Truiden) also left during the season.
