The Hiddink Thread

[MefiX19 1,092]

Chelsea Football Club can confirm Guus Hiddink has been appointed first-team manager until the end of the season.

The owner and the Board welcome back a coach with a wealth of top-level experience and success, including his previous spell with the club in 2009 when we lifted the FA Cup.

Mr Abramovich and the Board believe that Guus has what it takes to get the best out of our talented squad.

Guus said: 'I am excited to return to Stamford Bridge. Chelsea is one of the biggest clubs in the world but is not where it should be at the moment. However, I am sure we can all turn this season around.

‘I am looking forward to working with the players and staff at this great club and especially renewing my wonderful relationship with the Chelsea fans.'

The Dutchman will be at Stamford Bridge for today’s match but Steve Holland will take control of team matters for the game alongside Eddie Newton, who will now take on the role of assistant first-team coach.

Steve has been an important and influential member of the coaching staff since 2009, while Eddie is Chelsea through and through, having served us as a player and a coach, re-joining the club in 2012 and helping us win the Champions League.

Guus took temporary charge of Chelsea in February 2009, losing just one league game as we recovered from a poor first half of the season to finish third in the Premier League, guaranteeing Champions League football for the next campaign and signing off in style thanks to a 2-1 FA Cup win over Everton at Wembley.

That role was combined with being coach of Russia, one of six international posts he has held during a coaching career which has spanned three decades.

Guus’s first managerial job was in his homeland with PSV, a club he had represented during a 15-year playing career. As coach, he lifted three league titles and the European Cup in 1988. Three more followed during a second stint there between 2002 and 2006, with the intervening years seeing him coach in Turkey and Spain as well as lead the Dutch, South Korean and Australian national teams.

As South Korea coach, he led them to a stunning third place at the 2002 World Cup on home soil, one place better than with the Netherlands four years earlier.

Having taken the Russian job in 2006, Guus led them to the semi-finals of Euro 2008 before taking the reins at Chelsea on a temporary basis in early 2009. A 2-1 win at Aston Villa in his first game set the tone for the remainder of the season, and it took a last-minute Andres Iniesta strike on a controversial night to deny the Blues a place in the Champions League final.

Guus’s first stay in west London ended well, however, with the whole of Stamford Bridge singing his name following our final home game of the season and the fans unveiling a huge ‘thank you’ banner at Wembley prior to the FA Cup final, in which we came from behind to win.

Since then, Guus has coached Turkey and the Netherlands, as well as spending 18 months at Anzhi Makhachkala in Russia, where he signed Willian from Shakhtar Donetsk.

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest-news/2015/12/hiddink-appointed-.html

[lucio 5,418]

Best of luck , hopefully our football will be enjoyable again

[Azul 1,615]

Welcome back Guus! I see him bringing us success. A flexible coach that understands the balance between defence and attack.

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

Welcome and I wish you the best of luck. He's got a hell of a task in front of him, hopefully he'll manage it properly.

All things considered I'd be happy with a top 10 finish and the FA Cup. No expectations for the CL.

[Special Juan 27,421]

Welcome back and good luck Guus.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

:blue scalf: Welcome Back! :blue scalf:

[Cosmin 2,484]

https://youtu.be/x9DRl67UgFY?t=1m58s

Maybe he can make Costa score like this

Welcome back, Guus!

[Heisenberg 1,824]

Cant do worse than Mourinho.

[Despiadado.Maleante 1,046]

If he has half a brain we will now improve.

[Cosmin 2,484]

Time to re-watch the 2008-2009 season review. I'm telling you, I have never ejoyed more Chelsea football than under Hiddink. I don't know if people forgot about it, but we were begging for him to stay back then.

[DYC. 7,542]

All in all, this is a clever appointment. His popularity is unquestionable, in and outside of the Chelsea community, and this will make it easier for fans in general to move on. It needs to be about Chelsea again and right now the club is a shambles. His cool and calm personality will at least leviate the mood surrounding the club and we can rule out new controversies.

That infamous new manager shock effect would come in handy. A strong streak is what the club needs right now and there's a busy period on the way.

Sunderland (H)

Watford (H)

Utd (A) (Van Gaal and Hiddink can't stand each other, I can imagine he'll especially will not want to lose this one. Better yet, he'll want to win)

Palace (A)

West Brom (H)

(With a home FA Cup match against Scunthorpe after Palace in between)

That's not a walk in the park but we'll have to hope for the best. It's possible. We need it to happen.

[Spike 12,049]

Hopefully he still has some of that down-under magic left.

Fuck Fabio Grosso.

[Tautvix 1,321]

This tag "interim" lets players to play for themselves and don't try to make coach get sacked lol

[chrismada9 1,948]

Guus to win the FA Cup again!!

... and the Champions League

[Styles 9,790]

Should have done this 2 months ago - ahh well, better late than never I suppose.

[didierforever 7,349]

best of luck managing the cunts.

[Milan 17,853]

Welcome back Guus! Last time the fans, us, sang to you we wanted you to stay. If we do that again in May, I will be massively happy.

[Clockwork 1,794]

I think top 4 is still possible. Extremely difficult? Yes.hopefully this season, will be a season of two halves; one really bad and one really good.

At inter Leonardo started his reign with 27 points out of 30. We could use something like that. So it is possible.