Le Guen, who played for France on 17 occasions and led French club Lyon to three successive titles from 2003-2005, managed African side Cameroon at the 2010 World Cup here in South Africa.

However Cameroon performed disastrously at the tournament and did not pick up a single point in any of its group games against Holland, Denmark and Japan.

But after FFA boss Frank Lowy confirmed Australia had approached one of the other managers at this World Cup about taking over from the departing Pim Verbeek, speculation has become rife that man is Le Guen - who quit as Cameroon manager immediately after the team was eliminated.

Sportsbet has installed Le Guen, who also had a miserable 10-month stint in charge of Scottish giants Glasgow Rangers in 2006/07, a $2.88 favourite to become the next Socceroos' boss.

"There have been whispers about Le Guen for a while and now that he has quit as Cameroon's manager says to us he's the front-runner to replace Pim Verbeek," said Sportsbet.com.au's Haydn Lane.

"(But) Le Guen aside, it's really anyone's guess who is best-placed to lead the Socceroos, as shown by the wide betting market."

SPORTSBET.COM.AU MARKET ON NEXT PERMANENT SOCCEROOS MANAGER

$2.88 Paul Le Guen
$8 Johan Neeskens
$8 Phileppe Troussier
$9 Leo Beenhakker
$9 Ricki Herbert
$11 Philip Cocu
$11 Marco Van Basten
$12 Sven Goran Eriksson
$13 Ruud Gullit
$19 Jose Pekerman
$19 Frank Rijkaard
$21 Vitezslav Lavicka
$21 Ernie Merrick
$23 Graham Arnold
$23 Foppe De Haan
$26 Nevio Scala
$51 Raymond Domenech
$101 Guus Hiddink
$101 Terry Venables
$101 Mark Bosnich
$101 Robbie Slater
$1001 Gary Ablett (senior or junior)
Note: Does not apply to any interim manager who receives the position

2010 World Cup Winner
$4.50 Brazil
$5.50 Argentina
$6 Spain
$7.50 Holland
$11 England
$12 Germany
$17 Uruguay
$19 Portugal
$34 Paraguay
$41 USA