Former Leeds United and Sunderland striker turned Australian football expert Michael Bridges reckons Kevin Muscat will 'definitely' be interviewed by Rangers and has backed him to follow in the footsteps of Ange Postecoglou.

But he has told Rangers fans the former Aussie firebrand 'animal' has mellowed in his time as manager.

Rangers are on a hunt for a new boss after sacking Michale Beale at the weekend following a dismal start to their season, which culminated in a 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen at home.

Ex-Premier League star Bridges ended his career Down Under and is now a football pundit in Australia. And he believes Rangers will soon want to talk to the current Yokohama F.Marinos boss, who had a spell as a player at Ibrox in 2003 where he helped them win a treble.

Bridges said: "He's doing unbelievable things at Yokohama F. Marinos, he's followed Ange Postecoglou from Melbourne Victory. He went to Japan. He's continued the trend there.

"Obviously what Ange Postecoglou did at Celtic winning the treble last season and then going to the Premier League. There's a lot of Aussie coaches that have been given the green light where they're on the other clubs’ radars and boards are thinking, hang on, the Australian coaches have got so much to offer.

"So I wouldn't be surprised to see Muscat at Rangers. He'll definitely be getting interviewed for it, no doubt, or they'll be trying to get hold of him.

"It would be very interesting to see him go back to a club where he played his football. So he's also got the fans, they've seen him play, they know how much of an animal he was on the park.

"But I think they'll be very disappointed when they see him today, how placid he is now as a coach and how much of a nice guy he is now. But he did a great job for them.

"So watch this space. I wouldn't be surprised if we could see him in the Scottish Premiership."

However, Bridges reckons Rangers may have to wait because Muscat's Yokohama still have four games left to play in the J-League.and will take his lead from Spurs boss Postecoglou, who he succeeded in Japan.

He said: "This is why Ange Postecoglou was respected so well because he always finishes the project he started. Brendan Rodgers left Celtic to go to Leicester and the fans were absolutely fuming. So he's still got to win them back over there. Ange said, I'll see out this project, then I will take the next job.

"Ange is very close with Kevin I think if he speaks to him, the advice would be, see if you can hold off and finish the title and do what you've got to do before you make the decision to go.

"Can Rangers afford to hold on? Who knows. They're the big decisions you have to make in world football, but I'd like to think that he would see out the task at hand if he's going to follow suit and be mentored very well by Ange as he has done in the past.

"I think they'll be chatting on the telephone, I don't think you'll see Ange come out and publicly say, ‘Oh yeah, this is a great move. I wish him all the best’ because it's Rangers and then Ange's legacy at Celtic will be absolutely tarnished.

"So I think Ange is a very smart man. We know that. He'll be rooting for Kevin Muscat to get the job and come back over to the UK."