Nick Montgomery, a coach renowned for his A-League championship victory, has allegedly agreed to the terms and conditions in order to take leadership of the Scottish Premiership club, Hibernian. This comes alongside whispers of another A-League title victor, ex-Melbourne Victory head man, Kevin Muscat, being tied to the job as manager of Rangers, presently held by Michael Beale.
On contrast to the situation at Rangers, Hibernian’s managerial position is unoccupied subsequent to the dismissal of Lee Johnson. As revealed last week by Socceroos coach Graham Arnold, he declined the opportunity to step in for Johnson, setting the stage for Central Coast Mariners leader, Montgomery, to hopefully oversee the operations of the team based in Edinburgh.
In the rumor mill, information from the Daily Record sheds light on the possibility of Hibs handing the Mariners $100,000 to activate the release clause in Montgomery’s contract—the former Scotland under-21 international who against all odds led the underrated Mariners to the A-League title in the previous season is said to have agreed to the position of the club’s new manager.
Inclusive in the reports, it was suggested that Montgomery would be joined at Hibs by his current Mariners assistant coach, Sergio Raimundo. Hibernian’s team already comprises Socceroos duo Martin Boyle and Jimmy Jeggo, along with Australia’s under-23 representative and former Central Coast defender, Lewis Miller.
Socceroos player, Boyle, stated from America’s Socceroos camp prior to the Sunday match against Mexico in Dallas, “You obviously hear the whispers around and you see social media. Whoever is appointed to the job, I’m sure they’ll do a great job and they’ll take it very seriously.”
A Mariners representative, when asked about Montgomery’s departure, responded with no confirmation, stating “nothing at the moment.” Socceroos legend, Robbie Slater believes Montgomery moving to Hibs would be “fantastic”, adding that “He’s done an unbelievable job at the Mariners and this is the next step for him, to coach professionally in Europe.”
While it’s highly probable for Montgomery’s career shift to occur, Muscat is said to be amongst the potential contenders, which include Jesse Marsch, Marcelo Bielsa and Ralph Hassenhuttl, to step in for Rangers manager Beale— who’s job retainment is challenged due to the recent 1-0 home defeat by his team against Scottish champions Celtic.
Muscat, a former Socceroos and Rangers defender, led the Yokohama F. Marinos to the championship of Japan’s top-flight league last year. The Marinos, previously managed by Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, stand strong in their title defence efforts as they trail the top position holders, Vissel Kobe, by only two points despite successive defeats. Slater suggests that “Musky would be a perfect fit for Rangers.”
