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The Wicked of Oz shows he has a sunny side at last Ex-Ranger Kevin Muscat is living it up down under, discovers Rob Robertson
(The Herald Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)IT'S 10 o'clock on a sunny Melbourne morning and Kevin Muscat has just arrived for training. "A bit of a change from the weather in Scotland, I bet, " says the former Rangers full-back with a smile on his face as he sees my pasty Scottish face. "Melbourne isn't a bad place to live, is it?"
The Melbourne Victory captain has driven in from his home near the beach at St Kilda, which is one of the most exclusive parts of the city.
His family are loving their new outdoor lifestyle, which is a million miles away from the one he had in Glasgow with Rangers. "If I was back in Scotland I would be freezing just now, " said Muscat, who spent his childhood in Melbourne.
Despite temperatures hovering around 38C, Muscat leads from the front as he takes his team on a jog round the pitch.
Off the pitch he is an amiable soul, which is in stark contrast to his reputation as one of the hardest players in the game. Indeed, a look at his record shows why he has been dubbed The Wicked of Oz by some tabloids down under.
The Australian internationalist received his first red card in English football playing for Crystal Palace against Norwich after his foul on Darren Eadie sparked a 21-man brawl.
Two years later, Craig Bellamy needed 10 stitches in his knee and was ruled out for four months after a Muscat challenge. He also put Christophe Dugarry out of the game for two months with knee-ligament damage.
Charlton Athletic midfielder Matt Holmes won legal damages of about [GBP]250,000 against him following a tackle by the Australian which put the diminutive Englishman out of the game for good.
In Scotland, the Scottish Football Association refused to take action against him after an alleged elbow on Juan Jose Camacho when he played for Rangers against Livingston.
During his time with Millwall he was alleged to have butted Sheffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny in the tunnel at half-time.
So has he mellowed since he returned to Australia? Not a bit of it. Last October Sydney FC midfielder Terry McFlynn claimed Muscat should have been sent off for an offthe-ball punch to his stomach which left the Irishman prone on the running track. In November, Muscat was sent off after two bookings against Queensland Roar.
"If I wanted to go into a competitive environment and make friends I would have had to do something else, " said Muscat. "Maybe I overstep the mark sometimes but I take it on the chin and just get on with it."
He has returned to Melbourne from Millwall to find his homeland caught up in football fever. He was in Sydney to watch Australia beat Uruguay in a penalty shoot-out to win a place in Germany for the World Cup.
There is a newAustralian domestic league in operation and Melbourne Victory draw average crowds of about 15,000. Top players are moving down under, with the former Manchester United star, Dwight Yorke, playing for Sydney FC.
"Football has come a long way in Australia since I started out, " said Muscat. "There are a lot more youngsters playing the game than ever before and the facilities are a million times better than when I was young.
"In the past, if you were any good in Australia you had to go abroad to play your football. I would like to think the formation of our new domestic league will keep players here for longer."
Muscat has dropped out of the Australian national squad and admits he now only has a slim chance of making the World Cup. "I have missed the last couple of games and the last two training camps, so I'll be struggling to get back into the squad, which will be a big disappointment for me."
Muscat has better memories of his time in Scotland with Rangers, which is understandable, considering he won the treble with the Ibrox outfit. He was one of Alex McLeish's first signings and, despite playing football all over the world, the passion for the game in Glasgow is the greatest he has ever encountered.
"I loved Rangers and still look for their results, " he said. "It's been a difficult season for them and I can imagine the pressure the gaffer is under. It comes with the territory of being Rangers manager. We won the treble when I was there and I still have a lot of good friends in Glasgow.
"There are other rivalries across Europe like the Milan derby, but nothing is on a parwith an Old Firm game. They are really special."
After training, Muscat heads towards the Australian Open Tennis Championship to join friends in a corporate box. As he does, he is stopped occasionally and asked how he thinks Australia will do in the World Cup.
"Drawing Brazil, Croatia and Japan was never going to be easy for us but the fact we are there at all is great news. We have some quality players, such as Harry Kewell, who could be a real match-winner for us.
"Making the World Cup has given the game a huge boost in Australia. Melbourne may not have the rivalry that Celtic and Rangers creates but football is taking much more of a place in the sporting make-up of Australia, which can only be a good thing."
And with that Muscat is off into his friend's corporate box to enjoy the tennis and top up his suntan. Now that is something you could never do in Glasgow in January.
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