Blackburn: Brett Emerton has urged Guus Hiddink to stick with Australia following the World Cup and resist any approach from England about taking over from Sven-Goran Eriksson.
With the Football Association (FA) announcing earlier this week that Eriksson will leave his post as England's head coach at the end of the World Cup, the search for a successor has already begun in earnest and Hiddink is one of the favourites.
Hiddink, 59, is set to take Australia to their first World Cup since 1974 after guiding the Socceroos to Germany with a play-off victory over Uruguay last November.
The former Real Madrid coach, who led South Korea to the last four of the 2002 World Cup, is currently combining his Australia role with his position as manager of Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven, with whom he is under contract until 2007.
Hiddink's agent has confirmed he would be interested in talking to the FA about the England job, but Football Federation Australia are also seeking to persuade him to carry on with them until the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Blackburn star Emerton, a key figure in Hiddink's plans for Germany, said it would be a major boost for Australian football if the manager extended his contract.
He said: "I think very highly of Guus Hiddink, so if England were to get hold of him after the World Cup they will be very lucky. He has done an exceptional job for the Australian national team since he arrived and I can't speak highly enough of him. There is always a possibility that he will move on after the World Cup, though, because he is a great coach and I am sure he will be wanted by a lot of nations and clubs."
"But if we go to Germany and do well, then maybe he will be tempted to stay on with us. We definitely don't want to lose him and personally, I would like him to be our national team coach for a long time."
Bolton Wanderers manager Sam Allardyce, Middlesbrough's Steve McClaren and Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari are currently jockeying with Hiddink for the position of favourite with the English bookmakers.
However, should Hiddink ultimately secure the position of England manager, he will go with a resounding endorsement from Emerton.
Emerton added: "Guus is quite laid back, but at the same time he has an aura about him and he gets his message across really well. He is a good man-manager and knows how to get the best out of each and every player and what motivates them. He allows us to be creative and that is the Dutch mentality, but he is also very good tactically. There is no doubt about that. You just have to look at what he has done with South Korea, the Australia team and PSV to back that up."
The FFA are reported to have put together a package that would allow Hiddink to treble his salary under a new long-term deal, although they would be unable to match the money on offer from England.
Eriksson is currently the highest paid coach in international football on an annual after-tax salary worth more than Pound 4 million a year.
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