Darren Stewart – capped four times for the Socceroos and a former NSL defender with Newcastle and APIA – has been involved in Asian football for the last 15 years as a player and a coach.

He says the popular Central Coast Mariners' supremo would do well in Asia club football because of his honesty and integrity. “Lawrie has done an outstanding job at every club he has been at.

“I feel he'll be involved either in the Australian national set-up or at at big club in Asia in the near future,” Stewart told goal.com.

“The biggest asset Lawrie has, besides his coaching abilities, is that he's a good man and very honest.”

Stewart left Australia in 1993 to join Johor in the Malaysian league where he played for seven seasons alongside Aussies such as Alan Davidson, Abbas Saad and Alistair Edwards.

After three seasons with Balesteir Central, Stewart retired and had a stint at Balesteir Khalso as an assistant coach.

The now-41-year-old coaches children in Singapore and Malaysia after turning down the chance to coach S-League side Geylang in 2006.

Stewart – who is an interested observer of the A-League and Socceroos – believes Pim Verbeek should be leaning on more experienced Socceroos for the crunch tie with Qatar.

“It's a tough ask to get a big name player back from Europe 48 hours before a match, and to expect them to be at their peak. I believe that it's the more experienced players like Kevin Muscat and John Alosi that we will look to to guide us through until we get the big guns back from overseas.

“I feel Australia will qualify even though it's a difficult group,” he added.
And he's full of praise for the A-League. “It's a full-time job now [playing football in Australia]. For myself, I had to work part-time as an electrician for a mining company when I played in the NSL.

“If you look at the clubs in the A-League now, there are full-time fitness trainers, doctors and physios. It is indeed a professional environment for the players.

“I've been to a couple of matches myself - the crowds are massive and all the stadiums' pitches are outstanding. The A-League is great for the growth of Australian football.”