Muscat poised to replace Postecoglou as coach in Japan’s top flight

Former Melbourne Victory boss Kevin Muscat is set to give Australian coaching another international boost with a move to Japan’s top division, replacing ex-Socceroo mentor Ange Postecoglou at Yokohama Marinos.

Sources with knowledge of Muscat’s plans say that he has been lined up to replace Postecoglou, who quit Yokohama to take over at Scottish Premiership giants Glasgow Celtic.

There has been no confirmation of Muscat’s appointment, but it’s expected Muscat will not take charge until the J-League resumes after a brief break for the Tokyo Olympics.

Kevin Muscat.Credit: SIPA USA

Muscat has been actively searching for a fresh coaching opportunity since he parted company with Belgian club Sint Truiden in December last year.

For the past six months he has been living in the UK, latterly working as a pundit for Optus at the European Football Championships.

In an interview with The Age and Sydney Morning Herald a fortnight ago he had made it clear that he was keen to get back into the coaching hot seat as soon as possible, not ruling out the possibility of a return to the A-League if no overseas options were available.

“I felt I was doing a reasonable job in Belgium, but it is a cut-throat game in this part of the world and you don’t always get the time you might like,” he said.

“But you have to learn from the experience, I am a much better coach for the experience and can take that with me wherever I go next.”

According to well-placed sources, City Football Group - owners of Sunday’s grand final favourites Melbourne City and Victory’s cross city rivals - were involved in the interviews as they own 20 per cent of the Marinos.

The ex-Socceroo captain had taken over at Victory in late 2013 when Postecoglou, who had been in charge for a season, quit the Victorian club to take on the national team job in October of that year.

He followed in his mentor’s footsteps at AAMI Park and led Victory to two championships and three grand finals in a six-year stint, as well as success in an FFA Cup Final.

Yokohama won the Japanese title under Postecoglou and currently lie second on the J-League table albeit a whopping 15 points behind runaway leaders Kawasaki, although they do have four games in hand.