What would Rangers be getting in Muscat?

During a 19-year playing career that yielded 123 bookings and 12 red cards, Kevin Muscat was once branded the "most hated man in football".

Post-retirement, he revealed, external former Rangers manager Alex McLeish did not trust him to play in an Old Firm derby during his brief spell at Ibrox.

It is to the Australian's credit that he has since gone on to somewhat shake off his hot-head image in an impressive 13 years in management.

His glowing CV attracted Rangers two years ago, but he reportedly missed out on the job when the club opted for Philippe Clement instead.

Now, he is closing in on getting the job following Russell Martin's sacking.

Two years ago, with Muscat supposedly in the frame for the Rangers job, former Ibrox team-mate Neil McCann told BBC Scotland that the club would be getting someone with "presence" who "understands the league, the intensity, the rivalry and how to get the job done".

Muscat was then first-team boss at Yokohama F Marinos, where he won the 2022 J-League after taking over from Ange Postecoglou following his exit for Celtic.

He also succeeded Postecoglou at Melbourne Victory after a period working under the current Nottingham Forest head coach.

It was in Melbourne where Muscat's managerial career began, winning the A-League Championship twice in five-and-a-half years before his move to Japan.

Runners-up spots in the J-League in 2021 and 2023 bookended his 2022 triumph in Yokohama.

Muscat became a title winner in a third different country last year in China and he is on the verge of another with just four games remaining as his side sit top with a two-point lead.

Across his managerial tenures in Australia, Japan and China, his win rate stands at 54%, with his teams scoring an average of 1.9 goals per game while conceding 1.2.

His Shanghai Port side scored 96 times in a 30-game league-winning campaign last year.

Those numbers suggest this is a coach who can win while implementing a front-foot approach. How that translates to Scottish football is unclear, though.

It has not all been rosy in Muscat's managerial career. His only foray into Europe lasted just 14 games and six months with struggling Belgian side Sint-Truiden.

Muscat only won two of his 14 fixtures before he was sacked in December 2020 with the club in relegation trouble.

There was no real upturn in form following his exit, with the team going on to finish the campaign seven points outside of the relegation spots.

Muscat believed he would have turned things around with more time, adding that the way things ended were "disappointing and unfortunate".

It seemed whoever replaced Martin would have a hard time winning over the support following Gerrard's withdrawal.

However, it appears Muscat would be a popular appointment among the fans.

His reputation as a player suggests he is not be someone to be messed with, which is perhaps appealing to the support given their team's fragile displays this term.

But leading a side is about more than being able to deliver the hairdryer treatment and Muscat has shown he can win in three different countries.

A treble winner in his only season in Glasgow, he will also be well aware of the pressure and demands at Ibrox, although that did little to help Martin, who also had a brief spell at Rangers as a player.

Having enjoyed success in Australia and Japan, just like Postecoglou, Muscat's record reads eerily similar to the former Tottenham Hotspur boss' pre-Celtic CV.

If he comes close to replicating his countryman's trophy-laden reign at Parkhead, he will be remembered in Govan as fondly as his compatriot is in the east end of Glasgow.