Chelsea’s New Gaffer? Duck, Duck, Duck…Guus.

By: chris | February 10th, 2009

Sorry, had to.

Well, it certainly looks like Roman got his man; the man he’s seemingly wanted to spearhead the Chelsea revolution for so long. After Abramovich stumped up the cash to pay for Guus’ fat contract as Russia’s gaffer the Chelsea board asked permission to bring him into negotiations and Russian federation has given the go-ahead – all that’s left is the official announcement – for Hiddink to take over CSKA London ’til “the end of the year”.

Uh huh.

“This is an exceptional situation. If it was any other club aside from Chelsea my answer would be a straight ‘no’,” Hiddink said.

“Chelsea is different because I have good relations with the owner. I would like to help them in this situation if I could.

“This would be a full-time, day-to-day managerial job. But it would only be for the next two or three months, until the end of the season.”

“I’ve already done that (combining two jobs) a couple of years ago when I was coaching Australia and PSV (Eindhoven) so I’m familiar with the situation and what it takes.”

And lord knows the flight from Moscow to London is a far cry from the one shepherding Guus and Guus alone from Sydney to Eindhoven.

I doubt I’m the only one who scoffs at the “end of the year” promise. This is akin to the dance two young lovers destined to end up with each other as they silently fight the urges and date other people for years until fate and a paternity test intervene. They were born for each other. Guus is Roman’s “guy”: He wanted him for Russia, Guus has been linked with the Chelsea job since Mourinho’s departure and, should Guus get the absolute most out of the Blues from now til the end of the year, Russia will have a hard time telling Roman no when he’s paying half of Hiddink’s hefty salary.

Plus there’s that whole “logic” thing. As much as continuity behind the bench benefits the play on the pitch, Roman must realize four gaffers in two years might see Peter Kenyon wake up to a mess of transfer requests on his desk in the summer. This team is also in Guus’ wheelhouse: he has the capability to draw out every single ounce of potential from a massively underachieving squad. Oh, and have we mentioned Guus is already on the Abramovich Corp. payroll?

Abramovich may be criticized for having an itchy trigger finger – a valid criticism – but even he must realize this one’s for keeps. Destiny can only dance the dance for so long.