Translated material
Battle for the fan
Now Chelsea is looking for a coach who will bring success to the team. First on the list of the lucky ones in world football is Russian national team coach Guus Hiddink. For some reason, in England there is no doubt that even he will not resist the temptation to head one of the richest clubs in the world.
On the eve of the Champions League final, film crews from some British television channels who arrived in Moscow took the opportunity to visit the Russian national team training. The British were not interested in the team that beat them on the way to the final tournament of the European Championship. There was only one question for its head coach, Guus Hiddink: whether he would miss the chance to lead Chelsea again, “after all, this is such an interesting job.” “I already have an interesting job,” Hiddink replied, and, turning around, nodded towards the field, which the Russian team players were leaving after training. The Dutchman refused to talk more on this topic.
He is generally not very willing to talk about his future now. Hiddink's contract expires after the final part of the European Championship, and the team is now not 100% sure that he will remain in this interesting job. After that sensational story when RFU President Vitaly Mutko persuaded Hiddink to sign just a letter of intent, although he was sure that he was signing a full-fledged contract, Gus was very offended when he realized that he had become a pawn in hardware games. But if Hiddink had signed a real agreement a month ago, there would not even be talk now about a possible departure to Chelsea.
Now Hiddink has postponed all negotiations about his new contract until the end of June. Although he always mentions in passing that he is not going to take back his word to continue working in Russia until the 2010 World Cup. But he gave the floor to RFU President Vitaly Mutko. And he may continue the conversation with another head of the Russian Football Union.
In this situation, it was not only the head coach of the Russian national team who found himself at a crossroads. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich also faces a difficult choice. His National Football Academy Foundation pays for the services of the Dutch coach and his staff in Russia. If something happens, he should invite Hiddink to Stamford Bridge. This is exactly the situation where social responsibility collides with personal interests. And another question is who will win this final for an individual fan: Chelsea or the Russian national team.