According to sources in Prague, Lavicka, 45, is "99% certain" of taking up an offer from the sky blues after the A-League club dumped the under-performing Kosmina.

This followed a disastrous season in which Sydney failed to reach the finals for the first time in its A-League history and a rift between Socceroo hero John Aloisi and Kosmina reached a new low.

Lavicka may be relatively low profile, but he's held the position of coach of the  Czech U/21s and Sparta Prague is one of the most successful clubs in the country.  

Lavicka was sacked by Sparta chairman Daniel Kretinsky following a defeat to Liberec last October in the league.

In the same month, the club also exited from the UEFA Cup in the first round against Dinamo Zagreb on the away goals rule.

Like Sydney, Sparta has seen a revolving door with Lavicka the fifth coach leaving the club in less than four years under Kretínský's chairmanship.

And like the sky blues, Sparta started the league well but fell in a hole with that 3-0 loss to Liberec and a derby day 4-1 thrashing by rivals Slavia Prague.

Another Czech, ex-Zenit St Petersburg boss Vlastimil Petrzela, was tipped as a contender for the Sydney hotseat, but Lavicka is now understood to be a front-runner for the post.

Petrzela was in charge at Zenit when Sydney's new Russian owner David Trakovenko was in charge there and is understood to still be close to the Russian moneyman.

However Petrzela is also a former manager at Sparta Prague and may have been the linkman between Trakovenko and Lavicka.