THE next Socceroos coach, whether it's next month or after next year's World Cup, should be an Australian.

Certainly that's the way I would be going.

If this year's brilliant A-League competition proved anything, it's that our home-grown coaches are the future of the code and we must fight to keep them.

Graham Arnold, Ange Postecoglou and Tony Popovic have served apprenticeships and are crucial to where we go as a football nation.

And we don't want our best and brightest minds developing the game at Asian clubs because there is so much work to be done here first.

Whether the Socceroos qualify for Brazil or not, the alarm bells are ringing at national level.

Whoever gets the job after Holger Osieck has a massive job to do. He has to overhaul our entire system, from youth teams right up to the senior outfit. It has to be someone who knows how to build a club from the ground up.

If you look at Guus Hiddink, Pim Verbeek and now Osieck, you have to ask what legacy have they left for Australian football. They were employed to coach a football team - Australia- not build a sustainable future for our code. Unlike Arnie, Ange, Poppa and Frank Farina, they don't have a vested interest in Australia's long-term success.

Hiddink took charge before the Uruguay game in 2005 and got us to the World Cup, but he was only here for a relatively short space of time.

Verbeek and Osieck have done nothing for the future. They have taken the same players from 2006 in a bid to qualify for World Cups knowing they can then say job done and goodbye.

The Socceroos have been hurtling towards the football cliff for some time and it's scary to think what might happen after the World Cup, if we make it.

It's a problem compounded by the fact we have the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia and some of our older players are saying they would like to use that tournament as a swansong.

Because we have neglected development for instant gratification for so long, there is now a desperate need to bring through a new generation of players. But where are they?

We need our best coaches here to find them and develop them, because the process starts at junior level and runs through to the A-League.

If players leave, that's natural. If there are no coaches, who develops the next wave? That's the vicious cycle Aussie football finds itself in at present.

I would love to see someone stay and build a dynasty here like Alex Ferguson has done at Manchester United. Old Trafford has become a production line of talent, with Fergie setting a culture and philosophy that carries through generations.

Imagine if Arnold did that at the Mariners or Popovic did that at the Wanderers.

It would mean our young players coming through get taught to play football the right way - get brought into a team ethos - and when they leave for the bigger leagues, the new generation is developed in the same way. That's what builds consistency and strong grass roots.

That's also where we have fallen down since 2006.

Financial pressures will make keeping coaches in Australia more difficult, but that has to be our goal. Arnie and I were at the forefront of a revolution here, opening the door for other Aussies to head to leagues in Europe. The signs are there now that Aussie coaches are starting to attract interest from overseas.

To counter that, there needs to be an incentive for them to stay and a pathway to the Socceroos job. Once the national team falls off the football cliff, we need strong men with a love for Australian football to rebuild it.

Originally published as Next Socceroos coach should be Aussie