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HIDDINK ON COLE
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Guus Hiddink Photo guardian.co.uk
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Temporary coach Guus Hiddink has been further discussing
events surrounding Ashley Cole this week, adding that Paulo Ferreira's
injury did not influence his decision to select the England man for duty
this afternoon.
Cole was detained by police in the early hours of Thursday morning, but
trained with the squad on Friday and travelled to Coventry for today's
FA Cup clash.
Hiddink explained that he had strong words with his left-back, but would
have involved him in his squad anyway had cover Ferreira not been ruled
out for the rest of the campaign after rupturing a cruciate ligament.
'I have thought about this, what is the proper decision for the club,
but no. Paulo was badly injured but it has no influence on the decision,'
said the Dutchman.
'It would have been a poor decision if I judged that, and we can play
others in this [position]. Malouda could play in this position, even Riccy
Carvalho could play over there, so it was not of any influence on this
decision.'
Regarding Cole, whose form this season has been some of the best since
he arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2006, Hiddink added:
'I had a firm talk with him because we have many things ahead in the upcoming
weeks.
'You have to take some incidents as an advantage. I think the team and
Ashley must always react on those situations, it must strengthen them
to go for their targets. There are two knockout games coming up and they
must show their strength, starting Saturday.'
The 62-year-old was even able to smile as he contemplated Cole's physical
and mental states, and explained the decision for the defender not to
train on Thursday.
'Mentally he was a little out of order but physically he is in good shape,
there is no problem. I don't know how the beds are in the police cells.
'Sometimes you have to have a little laugh about it, but once more he
made his apologies and didn't suffer too much physically. I have seen
him training and he was okay. When we heard the news then we said "You
stay", because it was not a usual night.'
Having been in coaching since 1982, Hiddink has seen plenty of similar
stories in his time, and insists this is not an English issue. Such behaviour
will however, have consequences.
'I can tell you stories of Dutch players as well, which I wont do. It's
not Dutch, Spanish or Russian - anywhere in the world. Maybe there are
one or two countries I think, but I don't know, maybe Korea is a little
different in this, but even then I don't know. It is not depending on
which passport you have.
'If you drink too much then it is having a setback on your condition.
When they have dinner and a glass of wine or something that's not damaging,
that's normal. In this, they have responsibility. We try to work hard
and improve on every aspect of the game. Physically you can harm yourself
and then you harm the team as well.
'I cannot and will not control their private life. I think they must be
intelligent people to have success in a big club or in football. I am
not a police officer to control that, nor am I a father figure. I want
to have an open, direct relation so I can speak to them very directly.'
Now, the attention will finally turn to football, and the prospect of
making the last four of the FA Cup this afternoon. It will be a welcome
change of focus.
Chelseafc.com,
07 Mar 2009
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