The challenge for Muscat was to do it again, and do so with one arm effectively tied behind his back.
The departure of long-serving former Chelsea midfielder Oscar and Argentinian forward Mathias Sanchez, along with the injury that restricted Chinese national team star Wu Lei to 175 minutes in six appearances, robbed Shanghai Port of their front line from the 2024 campaign.
What’s next for Kevin Muscat?Credit: Getty Images
“Near enough, I think they were 80 per cent of our goals and assists,” Muscat said.
“It was a big chunk to lose all at the same time, so that was challenging. At the same time, it proves that the way we play and the way we go about things … it allows individuals to shine and express themselves without doubt, but it’s more about the collective, it’s more about the team.
“That’s filled me with a great sense of pride, to be honest, the way that the people who were written off for those reasons – [because of] the people that left this group – for them to reap the rewards as we have, it was a really sweet moment, to be honest.”
Muscat still speaks to his father, David, before every match. This time David flew into China for the game, along with Muscat’s son, James. For so long they have had to rely on pictures and stories about what it’s like, and that doesn’t do the Chinese football experience justice; now, they’ve seen him lift another championship with their own eyes, felt the emotions in real time and celebrated together.
When they returned to Shanghai with the trophy, the team was treated to a hero’s reception as hundreds of fans lined the arrivals hall to show their appreciation. Muscat is still a little blown away by it.
“You come in somewhere, and you’re asking people to trust you, and they go, ‘Well, we don’t really know you, mate. Like, you’ve been here five minutes’,” Muscat said. “And so you’re asking them not only for trust, but blind trust. That’s not easy for people to give. But from internally, the club, I felt that immediately. I felt that immediately from the fans and the playing group. And when that happens, it’s a pretty strong force.”
The welcome at the airport, and the entirety of this past weekend, reminded Muscat of something his former coach at Rangers, Walter Smith, once said to him, quoting the American poet Maya Angelou: people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
“No truer words can be said, because I could sense how we’ve made a lot of people feel, that they’ll never forget that moment on Saturday night,” he said.
Kevin Muscat with son James and father David.
Muscat is glad he stuck around and showed loyalty to those at the club who have been so loyal to him. Shanghai Port’s charge towards back-to-back titles played out amid negotiations between Muscat and Rangers, who wanted to appoint him as their manager. Having previously overlooked him, they were happy to wait for him to finish off the Chinese season and win the title before starting work in Glasgow, according to reports.
But just when it looked like a done deal, the move fell through and Rangers appointed Danny Röhl instead.
Muscat declined to go into detail about how or why his discussions with Rangers broke down, other than to say that all parties seem to be content with where things have landed.
“I had some real positive talks with some really good people, real professional people,” Muscat said.
Anthony Albanese with former Socceroo and Shanghai Port FC manager Kevin Muscat during a recent trip to China.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the people that I spoke with. The decision ended up where it ended up. It’s not really important who made what decision at what time. What’s important is I think everybody’s comfortable now, Rangers seem to have moved on and we’ve won the championship, so I think it’s best just left alone.”
Whatever the reason, Muscat has emerged with his reputation intact and a second Chinese title on his resume, a combination that may ultimately serve him better than taking the wrong job at the wrong moment.
At 52, he still has time. His coaching resume is rivalled only by Postecoglou; they are the only Australian coaches in the men’s game to have won titles in three countries, which suggests they have a methodology that works in different contexts. Muscat was also rated as an outside chance by English bookmakers for the vacant job at Wolverhampton Wanderers, another of his former clubs, which went to Rob Edwards. He deserves to be on radars across Europe, but that doesn’t mean he is, or will be.
Muscat is happy to leave the speculation to others. He signed a contract extension last year that ties him to Shanghai Port until the end of 2026, and he is genuinely happy there. In any case, there is work still to be done: the domestic season might be finished, but they returned to action in the AFC Champions League on Tuesday night, and have one more game before Christmas. That is the one competition where Muscat’s teams have struggled to make an impact, which gives him something else to aim for.
“I’ve got to plan for next season and make sure we get things right with pre-season and recruitment,” he said. “Then, naturally, I’ll take a break and we’ll see what happens. The reality is I don’t know what is next, so I’ll be just going about business as usual, mate.”
Muscat has worked in Europe before: in 2020, he became the first Australian to coach in a major league when he took charge of Belgian club Sint-Truidense V.V., but was sacked after six months. If he gets a second chance, he will have to hit the ground running – such is the brutality of the European managerial environment.
He also has to choose carefully, and go to a club where he is valued for what he offers, like he is at Shanghai Port. Postecoglou’s disastrous 39-day spell at Nottingham Forest is a textbook example of what can happen if a coach, playing group, ownership and supporters are not fully aligned.
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Muscat gets why people back home want him to hurry up and leave China, but they don’t have to bear the risk if it goes wrong.
“I can understand it,” he said. “What’s meant to be will be. I look at it and think to myself … well, if I’m in an environment where I’m happy, my family’s happy, I’m able to go about my business and it’s appreciated, I’m content.
“What I do know is that if I take my foot off the gas, it’ll be much harder for opportunities to arise. So I’ll just keep my head down, keep working hard, keep working to win trophies. If doors open, great. Time will tell what that looks like.”
