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When it comes, we should say goodbye Guus
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Photo chelsea.vitalfootball.co.uk
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Don't get me wrong, I'd love Guus Hiddink to stay as manager
of Chelsea. It's just not going to happen. As fans, we should accept that
and respect Hiddink's word.
When Chelsea signed Guus Hiddink, they were in a mess. Phil Scolari had
done an excellent job of running down a trophy-winning team. Chelsea used
to be the fittest team in Europe. Then they were conceding cheap goals
in the last 15 minutes because they didn't have any more stamina by then.
Scolari had one gameplan, it was soon found out. When his plan A didn't
work, he didn't have a plan B.
Chelsea's League form was in a slump just as the team was sliding down
the table. They'd qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League,
but were facing a difficult tie against Juventus. In the F.A. Cup they
had already had to replay against Southend. That's when Chelsea decided
that enough was enough (on the back of a home 0-0 to Hull) and thanked
Scolari for his services.
And Guus Hiddink was drafted in. The results have been spectacular: Chelsea
are in the F.A. Cup final, the Champions League semi-final. The League
is beyond us having drawn last night. But the turnaround in League form
has been better than expected. When Scolari left, our season promised
little. Now it still has much to play for.
But it was always made very clear that Hiddink would do this job to help
out a friend (Roman Abramovich), until the end of the season only, and
in a job sharing with his primary commitment: that of the Russian national
coach. Time and time again, Hiddink has been asked whether he could contemplate
staying on. He has always said no.
The press has been keen to speculate. Apparently Hiddink is having too
much fun as Chelsea coach. He's involved in identifying transfers, and
he's also placed a few backroom staff. Surely this is an indication that
he'll stay on. In addition, many suggest that Roman will make him an offer
he can't refuse.
That much is speculation. What is not, however, is Hiddink's unstinting
commitment to keeping his promise to the Russian football federation.
It was always a favour on Russian football's part to lend Chelsea Hiddink
for a period during which Russia had only 2 qualifying games against easy
opposition. Hiddink could combine both roles during this period. Indeed,
given that he won both Russia games and has a good win ratio at Chelsea,
he has managed just that.
But Russian qualification for the World Cup will depend on a series of
games this Autumn which would simply not be compatible with managing Chelsea.
That's why Hiddink has been unwavering in saying that he would leave Chelsea
at the end of May. He'll already be bowing out on a high: the F.A. Cup
final is May 30th, Hiddink will be there. If Hiddink somehow engineers
Chelsea's way past Barcelona, the Champions League final will be on May
27th. Surely if he won a trophy, Hiddink couldn't possibly leave? No,
is what he says. He'll leave, no matter what.
Chelsea suits have also been resolute on the matter. Bruce Buck declared
that Chelsea were looking for a new coach. Apparently Hiddink is not involved
in this process. "It's up to the board, the people who make that
final decision in this club. Even if I would have some ideas or thoughts,
then I would have addressed myself to the persons who have to make decisions.
But not so far."
This week, when asked how could leave, Hiddink replied. "We're getting
very sentimental now. It's a tough business, even if there are human sentiments.
I love working here - that's no secret - and some players talk about that,
but you have to think about what was first in this relationship."
And, much as we would like Hiddink to stay (and welcome if he did), we
should simply respect that decision. It is in Hiddink's honour that he
wants to keep his promise made to Russian football.
Hiddink is at an age where there is little left for him to accomplish
as a manager. Scolari won the World Cup with Brazil. As the saying goes,
anyone can win the World Cup with Brazil. Hiddink has taken 3 unfavoured
national sides and help them exceed expectations by far. As a club manager
he's been pretty good in Holland and Spain. He's not motivated by the
money he could earn at Chelsea, nor the easy glory. No, what he wants
to do is to finish his job as Russia coach.
As a manager, Hiddink is clearly up at the very top. He out-Rafa'd BenÎtez
in the Champions League. He's restored motivation and drive to players
who looked disorientated after a disastrous Scolari era, in particular
restoring confidence and devastation to Didier Drogba. His football is
considerably more attractive than what we've seen in many a year. And
he's obtained the right results.
Hiddink is also recognised as a nice bloke. He hasn't been involved in
any cheap polemics with anyone. Whilst Rafa and Fergus are bitch-slapping
each other via the medium of the press conference (with the crucial difference
that the Liverpool man is right), nobody has a bad word to say for, or
about Hiddink.
But perhaps the most honourable thing one can say about Hiddink is that
he's sticking to his word. The Russian football federation lent us Hiddink,
we are grateful to them for the favour. But we also owe it to them to
return their coach at the end of the loan period. And not make it difficult
either for them or for Hiddink by placing him in an awkward position.
The easier option for the man (and the lucrative one) would, of course,
be to stay on at Chelsea. He'd be instantly welcomed by the Chelsea fans,
and we are sure that Roman would be helpful finding Hiddink's replacement
as Russian coach. But that would mean breaking his promise and going back
on his word. Hiddink doesn't want that and he has said nothing that indicates
that he could change his mind.
The club understands this, and is saying nothing to the contrary. In the
press, Hiddink is always referred to as the 'temporary coach'. The official
line is always faithfully reported: he will leave at the end of the season.
And us fans should respect and support that. It speaks volumes about the
man that he places such importance on keeping that promise.
When Roman took over Chelsea, Gianfranco Zola had already agreed to leave
for Cagliari. Roman tried to tempt him back. Then he tried to buy him
back from Cagliari. When that didn't work (according to the legend), Roman
offered to buy the whole club to liberate Zola from the contract. But
Zola pleaded with Chelsea: he'd promised Cagliari and didn't want to break
that. No Chelsea fan thinks badly of Zola for that, on the contrary, it's
all in his honour.
And the same has to be said of Hiddink. He came help us out. He's done
well so far, and could do even better. We owe it to the man to make his
departure as pain free as possible by letting him go at the end of the
season, in conformity with his own wishes.
Dailymail.co.uk,
23rd April 2009
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