Guus Hiddink: To Stay at Chelsea for Longer Term?

(This entry was originally published on Friday, March 13th, 2009)

When good time comes, it comes in a flurry. That is what can be said about Guss Hiddink, the current manager of Russian national team and Chelsea. You already know that the Dutch football coach, who guided South Korea to reach the semi final of 2002 world cup, has recently joined English club Chelsea, following the departure of Luiz Felipe Scolari. Since he took over as Chelsea manager, on his second role as coach, Chelsea has reached FA Cup semi final and the Champions League quarter final and revitalized their premier league hope with 7 consecutive wins in all tournaments.

Now, some of the Chelsea players want Hiddink to stay at Stamford Bridge for a longer term. German star and current Chelsea player, Michael Ballack, has recently expressed that he wants Hiddink to stay at Chelsea for three years. Ballack thinks that the manager has made a big influence on the team within this short time. Goalkeeper Petr Cech is another Chelsea player who also want him to continue his job in a permanent basis.

Well, Guus Hiddink still claims that he would move to his job Russian job at the end of the current season. Vitaly Mutko, president of Russian Football Union, also wants Hiddink to stick to his coaching job with Russian national football team, as Mutko believes, Hiddink is a coach as well as an organizer who should not be a club man; but he has also hinted that everything can change.

As of now, it seems that Guus Hiddink would stick only to his permanent coaching job with Russian team at the end of this season, but I am not sure what would happen if Chelsea can win Champions League or Premier League this season. Will Hiddink be able to avoid a lucrative offer from Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich? Moreover, Abramovich has a great influence in Russian football and it would not be a very big deal for him to convince Russian football federation to allow Hiddink to carry on his managerial job with Russia and Chelsea.