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Guus Hiddink could be persuaded to stay on, says Matt
Hughes
The Times Deputy Football Correspondent analyses Guus Hiddink's first
press conference at Stamford Bridge and the challenges he faces. Ben Smith
asks the questions.
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Guus Hiddink believes Chelsea can still challenge
for honours on three fronts Photo Getty Images
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- What was your overall impression of Hiddink's first press
conference?
- He was very relaxed. He's been there, seen it and done it all before.
He was very keen to stress that he is only there until the end of the
season. It wasn't as if he was getting his excuses in early, but he was
hedging his bets in terms of what he thinks he can achieve in such a short
period of time.
- Hiddink refused to concede the title, but do you really believe he thinks
Chelsea can overhaul Manchester United and Liverpool?
- He's very realistic. It doesn't look like United are going to drop the
points even if Chelsea go on an unbeaten run until the end of the season,
so his priority has to be to get Chelsea into the Champions League next
season.
Trophies are a bonus. The Champions League is obviously the one Roman
Abramovich really wants, but given their current form they can't really
expect to win that. Hiddink will just be hoping to get past Juventus and
then he'll take it from there. He was keen to stress that he was taking
this one game at a time.
- How much of a challenge will Hiddink have in bringing this Chelsea squad
back together?
That's the key for him and it's the first challenge he will have to overcome.
He's a big hitter who has been in four World Cups and won trophies all
over the world. So he brings an instant respect with him.
You only have to have seen Didier Drogba at Watford last week; he was
really putting it in and throwing himself around in a way he simply didn't
under Luiz Felipe Scolari.
It will be interesting to see if he has that effect on Michael Ballack
and the other underachievers in the squad.
- With Hiddink stressing that he would only stay until the end of the
season, are Chelsea already making moves to recruit a permanent replacement?
- There are two scenarios to look at here. One is that he is a success
and Chelsea lean on him and get him to stay, which is certainly possible
where Roman Abramovich is concerned - he normally gets his way.
The second option is that Hiddink leaves and they move to recruit someone
like Frank Rijkaard, who is available and could take the job if he doesn't
go to AC Milan. He's also close to Hiddink which may help smooth the way
for his appointment in the summer.
- Despite what Hiddink has said this morning, you could still see him
staying permanently?
It's definitely possible. The thing that won't change is the link-up with
the Russian national side. But if he wins the Champions League and everyone
wants him to stay, it's a pretty hard job to walk away from.
You can't rule anything out at Chelsea. Ten days ago you wouldn't have
thought Scolari would be sacked. So as we have seen before, anything is
possible.
Timesonline.co.uk,
February 20, 2009
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