Is Kevin Muscat the best choice to become the next coach of the Socceroos? It's a question I've been mulling over for some time. Watching him during Saturday night's "Big Blue" has brought me closer to a conclusion. Well he might be, and it wasn't that long ago I could never imagine myself saying that.

If the next national coach is to be decided by popular vote, then clearly Muscat has no chance. A playing career defined by his finesse at the dark arts makes sure of that. Win-at-all-costs doesn't begin to describe Muscat's on-field behaviour, and his list of enemies has endured. Witness the loud boos every time he was shown on the big screen at Allianz Stadium. Not many are prepared to forgive and forget.

Muscat, of course, was much more than a thug on the playing field. From the time Ernie Merrick gave him his first-grade debut as a 16-year-old at Sunshine George Cross, to the time he played his last A-League game for Melbourne Victory under the same coach, Muscat amassed 522 games as a professional, including spells in England and Scotland. At 20 years and 340 days, his remains the longest career of any player in Australian history, and it goes without saying it wouldn't have lasted so long if he hadn't had genuine ability.

What the duration of that career also gave him was a marathon apprenticeship for his ultimate calling. To become a coach. Muscat was always a leader, whether he had the armband or not, and the late Eddie Thomson never doubted he would follow him into the Socceroos dugout one day. Maybe Thommo will be proved right. Depending on how things unfold over the next 12 months, that day might not be too far away.