He coaches the best side in Europe. And he’s firming as top choice to lead Matildas

In any case, Montemurro is feeling the heat after Lyon dropped their first game of the season, losing on penalties to Stade de Reims in the Coupe de France over the weekend – just the second time in 19 matches in all competitions that they have failed to win.

Even though it was only one result, such is the status of the club, the pressure immediately ramped up on him; Lyon rarely lose domestic matches in France and have won the Division 1 Feminine title in 17 of the last 18 seasons.

Few, if any details have leaked about FA’s process or wishlist since Gustavsson’s exit, the day after their disastrous Olympic campaign concluded in Paris. But FA chief executive James Johnson said last month that “we know who we want” as the next Matildas coach, and that it was simply a matter of waiting until that coach was “available”.

There are no major tournaments for the Matildas in 2025, which means FA can bide its time and wait for Montemurro to perhaps step down at the end of the season in June, a much more palatable time for him to depart from the club’s perspective – or, if Lyon’s fortunes worsened, for him to get sacked.

“We’d like to be able to make the appointment prior to the SheBelieves Cup, but we want to make sure that we have the right coach in place. And if that takes some extra time, we’ll take it,” Johnson said.

In the interim, other options are being whittled away.

Highly rated Young Matildas coach Leah Blayney – probably the best up-and-coming coach in the women’s game in Australia – was last week announced as an assistant coach to Japan’s senior women’s national team.

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And now the former England captain Casey Stoney, who has also been touted as a suitable choice for the Matildas, has been taken off the board. Sacked by US National Women’s Soccer League club San Diego Wave mid-last year, Stoney was announced on Tuesday morning (AEDT) as the new head coach of Canada.

“It was such an extensive process we went through,” Stoney said. “I had my doubts at first, but the more time I spent with … the leadership at the Canadian association, the senior players that were involved, I wanted to be involved with an organisation that was led with real principles and values, the more I learned … the more I became very engrossed in the project and determined that I wanted to be a part of it.”