FA Cup - Hiddink departs with message

Eurosport - Fri, 19 Jun 15:24:00 2009

Guus Hiddink admitted Chelsea's riotous dance party after the FA Cup final was the perfect way to end his brief reign but the departing Blues manager wants his side's victory over Everton to signal a more sedate period at Stamford Bridge.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 FA Cup Chelsea players celebrate with Guus Hiddink - 0

Hiddink joined Chelsea's stars in a wild dressing room celebration at Wembley on Saturday, which saw even Roman Abramovich lose his inhibitions and throw a few shapes alongside Michael Essien, John Obi Mikel and company.

A first trophy for two years does that kind of thing to a club who had grown used to such occasions during Jose Mourinho's reign.

But, while Hiddink was delighted to savour every moment of a perfect farewell before resuming his role as Russia coach on a full-time basis, the Dutchman believes it is the Mourinho era that Abramovich must recreate if Chelsea are to enjoy more champagne-soaked celebrations in the future.

Since Mourinho was eased out after a bitter power struggle in September 2007, Chelsea have been through three managers and Abramovich is set to appoint a fourth, most likely Milan's Carlo Ancelotti, in the next week.

Hiddink believes that constant change has had a negative effect on the players and he wants Abramovich to stick with his new man for the good of the squad.

"We had a nice dance party with everyone participating, the players and the staff," Hiddink said. "We have a multi-cultural squad and you must see the African players; to see Essien break-dance is a joy.

"I did some good moves, the African way. At least that's what I was thinking!

"Roman danced with us. He is not a man of many words but he was in the middle of the party.

"It was emotional in the dressing room because we were aiming for this cup.

"We had this beautiful African dance, then I gathered the players and technical staff in another room because I won't get another opportunity now to speak to them.

"I gave a five minute speech to thank them in a rather emotional way for the way we have worked together in the last four months.

"Now I think stability is a big need for the club. They have had too many changes in the past years and they recognise that themselves.

"They need a long-term strategy so that they can build a team and keep up their high performance.

"The players know what they are capable of. This victory might be the foundation for the future. They have shown they can do it."

After falling behind to Louis Saha's 25 second opener, the fastest goal in FA Cup final history, Chelsea gradually overpowered Everton.

Didier Drogba equalised with a header from Florent Malouda's cross in the 21st minute and Frank Lampard gave Chelsea their fifth FA Cup when he drove a long-range shot past Tim Howard after 72 minutes.

Hiddink refused to rule out managing another Premier League club, or even Chelsea, in the future, but for now he will visit his father before focusing on leading Russia to the 2010 World Cup finals.

He will always have a place in the hearts of Chelsea's players and fans after one of the most successful caretaker manager spells of all-time.

When Hiddink replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari in February he took over a squad in danger of stagnating, but his direct, open approach produced a run of just one defeat in his 22 matches.

And were it not for some dubious decisions by referee Tom Henning Ovrebo in the Champions League semi-final second leg against Barcelona, Hiddink would have taken Chelsea to two finals.

He admitted that controversial defeat was the only disappointment of his time in England.

"It would have been even more perfect if we had been somewhere a few days ago playing in another big final," Hiddink said.

"That is the only regret I have. I would have loved to play Man Utd in the Champions League final, but it did not happen.

"I feel sadness to be leaving because the attitude from everyone was superb. On the other hand leaving with silverware gives a feeling of satisfaction.

"This is the best way. You can say goodbye easier with a cup."

AFP

Comment 47 - 66 of 66

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  1. Hiddink is a magician! Hope this isnt that last time we­ see him at the bridge. HIDDINK #1

    From magyar87, on Sat 20 Jun 12:09PM

  2. BLUE IS THE COLOUR FOOTBALL IS THE GAME WERE ALTOGTHER­ AND WINING IS ARE AIM SO CHERE ARE SONG THREW THE SUN­ AND RAIN CAUSE CHELSEA CHELSEA IS ARE NAME

    From KEITH, on Fri 19 Jun 1:28PM

  3. i am a manutd fan but i would say hiddink was a rite­ man for chelsea if he would come earlier then chelsea­ can lift more trophies but gud bye hiddink want to see­ u in english foot ball soon

    From msh, on Mon 1 Jun 5:21AM

  4. To John B. (Post #68) - Are you illiterate? I NEVER­ said Chelsea were bad. I hate them with a passion, but­ they're an excellent team. My­ "bellyaching" is in reference to how much­ praise Hiddink is getting for turning around one of the­ best squads in the world. It makes you Chelsea fans­ look dumb, because I bet just about any real Chelsea­ fan (and probably a lot of knowledgable neutral fans as­ well) could have come in and done the same thing­ Hiddink did: start with 3 strikers and attack. Or at­ least play Anelka and Drogba together. Everybody was­ saying that was what should have been done, and it was­ common sense. Like I said before, Hiddink's done a­ lot in the game, and this (turning Chelsea's season­ around) is really a pretty minor accomplishment on his­ resume because they have such a strong and deep squad.­ So how exactly is that construed as me saying Chelsea­ are bad?! You also said clearly I'm a Man United­ fan...you're wrong, and based on your post, clearly­ you're an idiot. Thank you, come again.

    From gene_hackman_stunt_double, on Sun 31 May 11:46PM

  5. amir you are moron

    From Robert T, on Sun 31 May 11:39PM

  6. A fair few posts from Gene Crapman stunt double here­ all belly aching about how bad Chelsea are. Yeah­ right!
    Clearly he's a man united fan (and I bet my­ house he ain't from Manchester and hedge my bets on­ the fact that he's never been to old trafford) so­ he should hang his head in shame that Man united put up­ such a poor performance in the CL final. They were­ truly an embarrassment to English football and are now­ an object of ridicule around the world. So much so that­ all the players want to leave. Ronaldo to madrid. Tevez­ to anyone who will pay his agent's pension.­ Berbaslob to...who cares. Scholes and Giggs to a­ retirement home somewhere. Rats leaving a sinking ship?­ Someone also commented that MU didn't care about­ the FA cup. If that was the case then why the blind­ panic when his youth team failed to overturn Everton in­ the first 60 minutes of normal time? Man U will­ struggle next year and if Ferguson continues with his­ strange selections maybe he'll be put out to­ pasture too. Definitely Chelsea/Liverpool next season.

    From John B, on Sun 31 May 8:05PM

  7. GUUS,WE REALLY APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORT IN CHELSEA,WE ARE­ HAPPY TO GET THIS CUP ,YOU ARE HIGHLY WELCOME TO­ CHELSEA AT ANYTIME,THOUGH WE WILL LIKE YOU TO STAE WITH­ US .THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPERB WORK.GOD BLESS YOU­ GUSS
    EDOMA FROM LAGOS,NIGERIA

    From Julia, on Sun 31 May 7:06PM

  8. colindapimp2002 get it right, I said man utd was not­ bothered about the fa cup, not the fans, most of the­ man utd fans were not happy about the team that was­ playing against Everton, however, the point was, that­ man utd won the league which most fans would prefer to­ the fa cup, and yet people were saying man utd fans­ were jealous of Chelsea fans after Chelsea won the fa­ cup, why on earth would utd fans be jealous of that,­ their team has just won the league for the third time­ in a row, and yes, man utd got it badly wrong in the­ final, but at least they made sure they got to the­ final by going for it against Arsenal.
    And if you keep­ an eye on my messages I have always said the the­ carling cup and the world whatever cup is nothing­ compared to the fa cup and that winning those inferior­ cups do not count for much, at this level.
    Chelsea did­ well to win, even though Everton had a much weaker­ squad, but how Chelsea fans can say they would have­ beaten utd had the ref done a better job does not make­ any sense, firstly utd would most likely have picked­ different players and played differently against­ Chelsea as they would not have been as concerned about­ the attacking force, remember Chelsea also played a­ very defensive line up against Barca, the main­ differnce being that man utds strong defence were­ pretty poor on the night.

    From clive V, on Sun 31 May 2:29PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Re 51: Chelsea top team cam 3rd!Beaten by Man Utd and­ liverpool? So even though Man Utd got beat using that­ logic we are still the best team in Europe? You won the­ FA Cup and well done,but Portsmoth won it last year and­ they were in the relagation zone at times.So calm your­ skin down,you have a long way to go to catch the still­ WORLD CHAMPIONS MANCHESTER UNITED!

    From TERRY K, on Sun 31 May 2:13PM

  10. Congs to all Chelsea team and fans. We deserved to win­ anyway. Guus Hindink has been a source of inspiration­ to both the team and we the fans. It's sad he has­ to leave at this moment because he his a man of his­ word. It's my prayer that the new manager can stay­ longer to build the team once again so that the coming­ seasons are for reaping silver ware. All the best Guus.­ from Tabs_2x2

    From tabs, on Sun 31 May 2:03PM

  11. Hiddink did well. I am happy for him, CFC and the hole­ CFC fans including soccer loving people in the whole­ wide world. Come to think of CFC, they gat what it take­ to be the world best. We, the fans of CFC are happy­ that we went home with one trophy at least for a job­ welldone this season despite robbing us off the­ Champions Leg final ticket.
    I know that most fans of­ other big clubs in the premiership does n't like us­ because we are always boostful and proud of our dear­ blues. Any place you hear of negative talk of CFC, I­ bet you that the person will either come from Arsenal,­ ManU or Liverpl. They can never see the good in the­ blues but that is their business. Am proud of the­ blues.
    Cheers guys- the blues for real
    Paul O.

    From emman, on Sun 31 May 1:37PM

  12. Hiddink did well. I am happy for him, CFC and the hole­ CFC fans including soccer loving people in the whole­ wide world. Come to think of CFC, they gat what it take­ to be the world best. We, the fans of CFC are happy­ that we went home with one trophy at least for a job­ welldone this season despite robbing us off the­ Champions Leg final ticket.
    I know that most fans of­ other big clubs in the premiership does n't like us­ because we are always boostful and proud of our dear­ blues. Any place you hear of negative talk of CFC, I­ bet you that the person will either come from Arsenal,­ ManU or Liverpl. They can never see the good in the­ blues but that is their business. Am proud of the­ blues.
    Cheers guys- the blues for real
    Paul O.

    From emman, on Sun 31 May 1:36PM

  13. Oh, and by the way, well said 'PAUL H'.

    A). As­ a Man U. T shirt says (back and front) "What's­ the only ship never to have docked in Liverpool?"­ And on the reverse: "The Premiership!"

    B).­ As a lover of good football(a life long Chelsea­ supporter), what happened to Man U. against Barcelona­ ... ???!

    C). Arsenal. You can't keep a club like­ The Gunners down for long, but they are ... stale, I­ think.

    I've lived with the anti "West London­ Glamour Boys" thing for 53 years. As the season­ closes, Chelsea present the threat for 2009/2010.

    From Rob, on Sun 31 May 1:10PM

  14. #51 you're right that united were rubbish against­ barca but chelsea are the top premier league team? you­ need to look at the table again as i think you'll­ find both liverpool and united finished above your lot.

    From Michael, on Sun 31 May 1:00PM

  15. to clive v comment 37
    OK so man u fans prefer the­ carling cup to the FA cup would they? What a load of­ BoŁ$%*cks. So when all you lot was jumping up and down­ talking about the treble you really wanted the­ premiership, champs league and the CARLING CUP. Well at­ least you got the premiership but hey no champions­ league. Yeah barca just about got by us but they­ destroyed man u you were made you look like a pub team­ even had your little ronaldo fouling people and acting­ like a grade A t**t as usual when he can't get his­ own way. Stop getting knocked out of competitions and­ then decide you don't want them no more,its a bit­ too late by then

    From colindapimp2002, on Sun 31 May 1:00PM

  16. go check through his track record,he has achieved great­ success with different teams and countries unlike the­ ''sirs'' of this world who are just­ local champions,refusing to take up challenges­ elsewhere because it will expose their gross­ incompetence.HIDDINK IS WORLD CLASS.

    From onyeka j, on Sun 31 May 12:56PM

  17. well said 51.chelsea till i die.

    From onyeka j, on Sun 31 May 12:50PM

  18. Thanks to 'The Tugboat Captain' (Thats what we­ call GH. in our house).

    Come 'HOME' to The­ Bridge someday, and all best wishes. Russia are very­ fortunate. Thanks again for settling our team, and­ getting them playing as well as we all know that they­ can.

    From Rob, on Sun 31 May 12:49PM

  19. next ime you want to play barca,hire a hiddink,lol

    From onyeka j, on Sun 31 May 12:48PM

  20. I love it when all of your petty jealousy over Chelsea­ comes out.
    We are the premier league top team.
    CFC will­ live forever.
    Be as jealous as you like, we don't­ care.
    Liverpool had ANOTHER trophieless season. Man u­ were made to look like a pub team against Barca. and­ Arsenal are not even worth talking about. nuff said.

    From PAUL H, on Sun 31 May 12:45PM
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