His management style is "pretty epic" and he's fond of Canberra.
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Former Matildas coach Tom Sermanni ticks two boxes that would make him ideal to take over the reins of Canberra United.
United are on the prowl for a new W-league coach after The Canberra Times revealed the club decided not to renew Heather Garriock's contract last week.
Sermanni tops a list of names that have already been linked with the post, which Garriock will continue to fill until the end of the W-League season.
Other names that have been floated are Antoni Jagarinec, Njegosh Popovich, Alex Epakis and Ash Sykes.
Sermanni's currently the New Zealand women's coach, having previously been in charge of the Matildas for seven years.
During that time he coached former Canberra United stars Sally Shipard and Caitlin Munoz - both of whom gave Sermanni the tick of approval.
Shipard said she was still in mourning over Garriock's sacking, which will see the 37-year-old end her three years in charge after their final two W-League games.
But, while she's not part of the "football scene" anymore, she was full of praise for Sermanni, who was her Australia coach for most of her international career.
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Sermanni finished his playing career in Canberra and also took charge of the Canberra Cosmos during their brief stint in the now defunct National Soccer League.
"I do know that Tommy is rather fond of Canberra," Shipard said.
"His management style is pretty epic. He would still go down in my history as a footballer as the best [I've had]."
Munoz also rated Sermanni's coaching credentials, but was also hopeful a local candidate could be found.
Jagarinec, Popovich and Sykes fit that bill, with all three having been involved with United in some capacity.
Both Popovich and Sykes have been Canberra assistants, while Jagarinec was a team manager and he coached Belconnen United to seven championships in the Canberra women's premier league.
Epakis has also been a United assistant, under Garriock, and is head coach of Sydney University's men and women.
"[Sermanni would] be good for any team to have. He gave me my first opportunity to play for Australia and I learnt a lot from him," Munoz said.
"I can only see any team having him benefit from his knowledge and experience.
"I'd love to see local coaches get the opportunity to coach at that level.
"We've got some really good coaches here in Canberra that have, for whatever reason, not been given opportunities and it would be really good to see their efforts and their results that they always get be given that opportunity."
W-LEAGUE ROUND 12
Sunday: Canberra United v Adelaide United at McKellar Park, 4pm.