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Hiddink: I am definitely leaving
Chelsea's hopes of keeping Guus Hiddink have
been dashed by the man himself.
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CHELSEA FOR NOW: Hiddink may be posing with
the Chelsea crest now, but it's not something he will be doing for
long, with his tenure expiring at the end of the season. PICTURE:
AFP
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The Dutch coach once again reiterated his plan to stand
down as Chelsea boss at the end of the season.
'A lot of people are trying to persuade me to stay at Chelsea, but I won't
change my decision. I'm leaving in May,' he said.
Hiddink was appointed on an interim basis by the Blues following the dismissal
of Luiz Felipe Scolari in February.
His short-term deal is set to expire in May, when he will turn his sole
focus back to guiding Russia to the 2010 World Cup.
The former PSV and South Korea boss has always insisted that he never
had any intention of combining the two roles for a prolonged period of
time.
That still remains the case and despite numerous pleas for him to extend
his time at Stamford Bridge, Hiddink insists he will walk away once his
current deal expires.
And it appears the club are also taking a short-term view to Hiddink's
tenure.
Long-term
Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said they would only look at their
managerial situation at the end of the season.
'We're concentrating on Guus being with us until the end of the season,
and then we'll look at the long-term process,' Kenyon said, after side-stepping
questions about whether Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had met with AC
Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti.
Kenyon, at a news conference to announce a four-match, nine-day summer
US tour, added they would not discuss whether Hiddink could remain with
the Blues beyond May.
'All the focus is for him to come in the interim period and complete his
task, but there are no plans for him to stay any longer,' Kenyon said.
'I think he and we wanted to just really concentrate on this three-month
period, which is critical. We're still in all the competitions. He's completely
focused on that.'
Whoever comes in next season, Kenyon did signal that Chelsea were in position
to add players during the off-season transfer market to compete with Manchester
United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Kenyon had said last month that any restructuring would be funded by sales.
Chelsea said on 13 Feb that it lost £65.7 million ($144 million)
last season.
'We're in a great financial state,' Kenyon said. 'I think we'll see some
transfer activity in the summer, because that's an important way of moving
the team forward. It's business as usual.'
Preparation
It is unlikely Hiddink will be at the helm when Chelsea embark on their
US tour in July, which Kenyon said would be good preparation for either
the Community Shield on 9 Aug or the start of the Premier League season
on 15 Aug.
While Hiddink is keen to give his full attention to his commitments with
the Russian national side, he has hinted that he could find himself out
of work in November should he fail to lead his adopted country to the
World Cup finals.
'We will do everything and even more to qualify for the World Cup,' he
said.
'But, if not, the Russian Football Union would surely want
to elaborate a new strategy for the development of football in the country.
And in that case they'll need another man, not me.
'If this happens I'm ready to leave in November, or decide whether we
will work together in the future or not.
'This is the talk we had. It doesn't have any relation to Chelsea.'
That may be so, but should he enjoy success with the Blues,
there is little doubt they will swoop in should things go awry for Hiddink
and Russia.
Тне Electric New Paper, March
27, 2009
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