Premier League's 'dirtiest player ever' is now manager with titles in three different countries

A Premier League veteran once dubbed England's dirtiest player of all time has since moved into coaching and recently added a third league title to his trophy cabinet

More than two decades after achieving infamy intimidating Premier League attackers, Kevin Muscat is cleaning up his act as a coach.

The former Wolves and Crystal Palace defender is regarded by many to be arguably the 'dirtiest Premier League player of all time'. But Muscat appears to have turned a new leaf and is now hoovering up silverware after recently clinching the crown in a third domestic league.

The 51-year-old arrived at Shanghai Port last December and led the club to Chinese Super League glory in his first season in charge. The Red Eagles - who are captained by ex-Chelsea and Brazil playmaker Oscar - beat local rivals Shanghai Shenhua to the title by a single point, marking Muscat's third league title in six years across three different countries.

That's after the retired enforcer led Melbourne Victory to two A-League titles across his six-year stint at the helm (in 2015 and 2018). He then took Japanese outfit Yokohama F. Marinos - Ange Postecoglou's former employers - to the J1 League title in 2022 before adding the Chinese crown to his credentials.

If Muscat's playing career is anything to go by, it appears the tough love approach can work wonders as a manager. Peter Crouch once put into context just how intimidated he was by his former First Division foe.

"Kevin Muscat scared me," revealed the former Premier League hitman on his podcast back in 2018. "You know people say, 'I'm going to break your legs'? When he would say it, you genuinely believed him."

Crouch, 43, was starting to make waves at QPR and Portsmouth while Muscat sought to lift Wolves out of England's second tier at the turn of the century. And it checks out that the up-and-comer should have had fear struck into him by such an intimidating presence.

The ex-England forward - who would go on to star for Tottenham, Liverpool and Stoke City in the Premier League - scored just once in four outings against Muscat's teams. Crouch scored the opener at Molineux on the opening day of the 2001/02 Championship (or First Division) campaign, only for Wolves to come from two goals down to draw.

Muscat received 123 yellow cards and was sent off 12 times over the course of his 12-year playing career. The Crawley-born defender - who represented Australia on 46 occasions - was renowned for having little regard when it came to stacking up cautions.

But that brutal approach to his game need not suggest he's not a shrewd tactical mind after winning league trophies with three of the four clubs he's coached. Belgian club Sint-Truidense are the anomaly in that regard, with Muscat fired after just six months in charge.

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