Seven elite traits separate Kevin Muscat from the pack as Rangers manager in waiting's ally goes public
Shanghai Port's head of performance King believes Muscat would be a top manager anywhere in the world.
Kevin Muscat is a winner like countryman Ange Postecoglou, according to Aussie coach Greg King, who has worked with both of them.
And current Shanghai Port head of performance King believes Muscat would be a top manager anywhere in the world.
Former Ibrox defender Muscat is the strong favourite to become Russell Martin's successor as Rangers close in on their new manager, although Shanghai have four matches left in the Chinese Super League, where they are two points clear at the top.
King is one of three Australian coaches who followed Muscat to China and is a key member of his backroom team, which includes Ross Aloisi, Greg King and Vincenzo Ierardo.
Last season, Muscat became the first ever manager to win titles in Australia, Japan and China and also broke the record for the number of goals his team scored in the Chinese Super League.
King worked with former Celtic boss and Nottingham Forest manager Postecoglou and Muscat at Yokohama Marinos - where Muscat succeeded the ex-Spurs boss and followed him to China.
And he has no doubt there are similarities between them, after indicating how Muscat works.
Speaking to A League's official website, he said: "I’ve been really lucky with the last two managers I’ve worked with, Ange and Kevin, because they really push and drive those high standards. Kevin has a relentless pursuit of being excellent. He is a winner.
"If he thinks someone in the squad or coaching team is taking it easy or a shortcut, he’d be onto it.
"At set times, we have some discussions – whether it’s sports science, in regards to conditioning players or injury prevention or how certain metrics affect performance. He has a good feel for that side of it. Definitely, I feel he has a lot of faith in me to control that area.
"Sometimes it’s harder on me because I have to keep pushing the players and that’s difficult too because generally I’m pushing them to do a lot of things they don’t want to do. But we also have the added benefit that most of the players enjoy the football we’re playing and they can see the correlation.
"Previously, there was still a bit of a feeling that if you play high-possession football, you run less. But the last eight years, that’s changed.
"Players know and they can see the best teams in the world, yes, they score a lot of goals and have a lot of possession, but they work hard. There’s a lot of pressing and high-speed transitions.
"When they see the results, Kevin’s really good at giving them feedback. It’s putting it all together to give the player a lot of positive feedback on how important it is.
"He has a genuine care for players, staff, the way we play football, the club and club’s image, integrity. A good mixture of both.
"It makes for an environment where you feel you’re part of something that’s really special and you’re going to be a winner. You have to keep trying to be the best at what you do.”
Shanghai Port assistant Vincenzo Ierardo said: "How good is he? Kev could be in the English Premier League now. He could end up anywhere – in Saudi Arabia, the Premier League, Scottish Premiership, or Europe. Somewhere at a big club.
"Everything I’ve said there sums up what type of manager I believe he is. He gets the best out of people, but he demands a lot. He’s not rude in the way he does it."