STEVEN Lowy and David Gallop are adamant the FFA congressional crisis won’t be a roadblock to appointing a new coach of the Socceroos.

Football Federation Australia failed to force through its controversial new congress model by FIFA’s deadline, which means football’s world governing body could decide to install a normalisation committee to run FFA.

Meanwhile, Australia are set to learn who they will face at the 2018 World Cup in the final draw from 2am on Saturday, but the Socceroos are still without a coach after Ange Postecoglou’s deparature.

FFA is currently no closer to finding a boss, with new Everton manager Sam Allardyce among foreigners understood, according to AAP, to have contacted Gallop directly and Sydney FC’s Graham Arnold still leading the local contenders.



But FFA chairman Lowy said the ongoing FFA crisis won’t change the process to appointing a new coach for Australia.

“I don’t think it’s disruptive at all,” Lowy told Fox Sports News.

“David (Gallop) and his team will move along. The sun will shine tomorrow. FFA will come back to work. The FFA management team will get on with the job.

“As David said numerous times in the last week or so; he’s putting together a process. It’ll be a thorough process and he’ll just get on with it.”

Gallop made clear the governing body will not wait until the governance chaos is resolved before appointing a panel to choose Ange Postecoglou’s successor.

“No, the process is not going to be rushed,” Gallop said.

“We’ve got a bit of time, we don’t play until March.

“We’ll roll the process out, we’ll make sure we’re taking on board the views of the right people, and if it takes us a while to make an appointment it won’t make much difference.

“We want to get the right person.”

The right people, Gallop said, is a panel of experts.

However, six months out from the World Cup, he said its members were yet to be identified.

“We want to look at a panel of people,” Gallop said.

Sam Allardyce. Source: AFP

“We’ll obviously look to take on board football expertise and make sure we’ve got the field covered because, as I said last week, there are big advantages to having an Australian coach.

“The depth of knowledge of interest in Australian football has obviously been a big part of the Ange era, but it doesn’t guarantee that next time we’ll be able to go to an Australian.

“We need to have a look globally and make sure we get the right person for the job.”

A number of big-name foreign coaches and Australian managers - including Ante Milicic, Arnold and Kevin Muscat - have been linked with the Socceroos job.

However, Muscat admitted that both he and 10th-placed Melbourne Victory haven’t been at their “best” so far in the A-League this season.

He said: “Collectively, everybody has got more to give. I don’t think any of us, myself included, is at our best.”

Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat. Source: AAP

Stand-in Australian boss Milicic isn’t even sure whether he will be there in Russia for the 2018 World Cup.

The assistant to departed coach Postecoglou has become a crucial linkman between the national team’s qualification effort and the World Cup next year. Milicic is representing Australia at the World Cup draw after Postecoglou’s shock resignation last week.

His hiring was one of Postecoglou’s first acts as coach, and the former Melbourne Heart and Western Sydney assistant stood alongside the head coach in Brazil.

He is ready and willing to continue his work under the next full-time coach but given head coaches are usually offered hire-and-fire privileges, Milicic is not counting on being in Russia next June.

“I’d love to be there,” he told AAP.

Ante Milicic talks with Ange Postecoglou. Source: Getty Images

“At the same time not much surprises me in football these days.” Postecoglou’s departure has brought uncertainty to everyone in the Socceroos’ football department.

But Milicic sees a synchronicity with the last tournament, when Holger Osieck was dumped nine months before the 2014 event.

“For the last World Cup in Brazil, I came late into it. The former coach and assistant qualified and didn’t get to go,” he said.

“I finished my commitments with the Wanderers and I got there late with Ange. “This time, I was part of the whole journey and everyone worked terribly hard to make sure we got there and got there in the right way.” Milicic is also an outside candidate for the vacant position. FFA is considering both long-term and short-term, foreign and local coaches to succeed Postecoglou.

If they want a coach to provide continuity to Postecoglou’s reign, Milicic is the obvious option.

The former NSL winner and Johnny Warren medallist wouldn’t confirm if he was a candidate for the position, putting the ball in FFA’s court. “It’s not my question ... I work for FFA,” he said.

“I’ve been given the assignment to do the Olyroos in January which is exciting. “FFA is going through their process and I’ll do what’s in front of me.”



