And what of the status of Michael McGuire, coach of the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the man who helmed the historic old club to its first NRL premiership in 43 years when he oversaw their grand final victory over the Bulldogs last October. Or Ric Charlesworth: cricketer, hockey star and champion coach, a man who won all there was to win on the hockey field while doubling up as a member of the Federal Parliament. All these men have achieved huge success and established themselves at the top of the tree in their various codes, enjoying the fame, adulation and rewards that accompany those achievements. Add to that list Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou, who might now claim to rule the domestic roost in just as great, if not more, a fashion as the abovementioned dominated their sports. Postecoglou is probably even more important influential in soccer right now than even the game's talisman Tim Cahill, its best known player, Frank Lowy, the billionaire property developer and shopping centre magnate whose money and political clout helped usher in an era of change in the soccer a decade ago, or David Gallop, the CEO whose decision to axe Holger Osieck paved the way for Postecoglou's appointment.

Postecoglou is lapping it up at the moment, but he is far too shrewd a professional to know that the adulation will last forever if it is not accompanied by results. But where he gains so much traction is that his support is not just confined to the administrators who hire and pay him. His backing comes from his players, all of whom acknowledge that he has coached and selected his squad in masterful style to bring Australia the Asian Cup. Most importantly, it comes from the public, who made their affection clear with visible banners in the stands during the past month depicting the coach with the legend "In Ange We Trust". Its a simple declaration of faith, but it conveys everything. The football public not just respects and admires what Postecoglou has done with the national team, but it trusts him to grow it, nurture it, develop it and be a custodian of what it represents for the game. For unlike most of his predecessors (who were foreign), Postecoglou "gets it" as far as Australian soccer is concerned, particularly the social, cultural and emotional position the game holds both for its traditional supporters and those newcomers who have been attracted to the support through the success of the A-League and the Socceroos.

He sees himself as much as a curator of the existing myths and stories as he regards himself as a creator of the new ones. He seems, instinctively, to find the right words. He is always careful publicly in never disrespecting the other codes - last week he went on a pilgrimage to Visy Park to see Mick Malthouse and the Carlton players and confessed to being a rusted on Bluebagger - and this affection for Australia's traditional powerful football codes is part of Postecoglou's appeal, both to newcomers and traditional fans. Contrary to what some believe, there is plenty of crossover between soccer fans who love Australian football and the rugby codes, and vice versa. Postecoglou, in sharing that affection, is not just bridging the gap, but he is also connecting on a broader level with the fans who are his greatest supporters. Of course, such influence and "power" is transient. The West Coast era faltered and Malthouse ended up back in Melbourne coaching Collingwood.

Lethal Leigh hung on for a few more years in Brisbane, but the Lions were on the decline not long after that marvellous threepeat. Clarkson is still in the ascendancy, and like Postecoglou, this is his time. The Socceroo boss is a romantic, but also a pragmatic realist. He was handed a five-year deal by the FFA when he succeeded Osieck, but admitted in November, during the lead-up to the friendly loss to Japan in Osaka in an Asian Cup warm-up match, that the length of his contract would not matter one jot if the Socceroos stuffed things up on home soil in the tournament proper. They didn't, and much of the credit goes to the coach who masterminded that success. It has bought him adulation, admiration and put him in an influential and dominant position. He is not the sort of man to squander the opportunities now afforded him but, as ever, it will be results that determine his ultimate fate.