Hiddink returning to england... - Maybe a kop possibility?
Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 1:23 amBy JOHN EDWARDS and MATT LAWTON
Last updated at 11:40 PM on 14th January 2010
Guus Hiddink has put himself in the frame to replace Rafa Benitez as Liverpool manager but will first seek the approval of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
The Dutchman, who was a huge success during a four-month spell at Chelsea last year, is set to leave his job as coach of Russia and has told friends he would relish the challenge at Anfield.
Hiddink’s menacing presence in the wings came as Benitez suffered the devastating blow of losing three vital players to injury — Fernando Torres for six weeks, Steven Gerrard for a fortnight and Yossi Benayoun for a month.
Benitez is likely to survive the season despite the humiliating FA Cup loss to Reading on Wednesday. The home defeat sparked fury among Liverpool fans, who flooded radio phone-ins and internet forums with demands that he be sacked.
Hiddink, 63 and a veteran of three World Cups, is still to thrash out the terms of his departure from Russia but sources close to him have revealed he is desperate for a second opportunity in the Barclays Premier League. He will consult Abramovich, who has stopped funding his £6.25million-a-year salary as Russia coach, before making up his mind.
Hiddink said: ‘I have to speak to the federation president before making any decision on my future, but it is true that I would like to coach in England again. After all the support I’ve received from Roman Abramovich I owe it to them to discuss anything with them first.’
Just when Benitez thought things could not get worse, he was buffeted by a torrent of bad news on the injury front. Torres was found to have torn a cartilage in his right knee in the opening minutes on Wednesday, and Gerrard strained a hamstring and will miss the away games with Stoke and Wolves and the Anfield clash with Tottenham next Wednesday.
Torres can add Everton, Arsenal and Manchester City to the catalogue of key Premier League fixtures he will have to sit out, and there was a further setback when it was revealed that Benayoun had cracked a rib.
Benitez’s reputation, so long defended on Merseyside, now seems irreparably damaged.
Ronnie Whelan, a key member of Liverpool’s midfield in the 1980s, issued a withering condemnation.
He said: ‘I think he should have gone a long time ago. The whole club is struggling — the owners, the club’s in debt, the players are not good enough, the manager’s not good enough. I don’t know where they go.’
Torres also added to the pressure on the club’s owners by saying: ‘This season should have been the turning point for us, the chance to do something great. It is now the owners’ turn. They have to sign players, so that this does not happen again.
‘If we want to compete with Manchester United and Chelsea, we need a much, much more complete squad,’ he says in an interview to be published in Four Four Two magazine.
‘We need more genuinely first-class players, and we also cannot let our best players go.’
Club insiders denied rumours of a bust-up between Benitez and Gerrard at half time against Reading. The skipper had complained of a twinge in his hamstring and a dispute is believed to have evolved with another member of staff.
[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1243361/Guus-Hiddink-closes-embattled-Liverpool-boss-Rafael-Benitez-Chelsea-coach-admits-jump-Kop-
job.html?ITO=1490]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport....TO=1490[/url]
There are no direct quotes here claiming the Dutchman wants the Liverpool job. But at least it might answer the 'who'd want to be a manager of us' mantra.
Personally I've always rated him and think he'd be an ideal bloke to take over from Rafa.
Last updated at 11:40 PM on 14th January 2010
Guus Hiddink has put himself in the frame to replace Rafa Benitez as Liverpool manager but will first seek the approval of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich.
The Dutchman, who was a huge success during a four-month spell at Chelsea last year, is set to leave his job as coach of Russia and has told friends he would relish the challenge at Anfield.
Hiddink’s menacing presence in the wings came as Benitez suffered the devastating blow of losing three vital players to injury — Fernando Torres for six weeks, Steven Gerrard for a fortnight and Yossi Benayoun for a month.
Benitez is likely to survive the season despite the humiliating FA Cup loss to Reading on Wednesday. The home defeat sparked fury among Liverpool fans, who flooded radio phone-ins and internet forums with demands that he be sacked.
Hiddink, 63 and a veteran of three World Cups, is still to thrash out the terms of his departure from Russia but sources close to him have revealed he is desperate for a second opportunity in the Barclays Premier League. He will consult Abramovich, who has stopped funding his £6.25million-a-year salary as Russia coach, before making up his mind.
Hiddink said: ‘I have to speak to the federation president before making any decision on my future, but it is true that I would like to coach in England again. After all the support I’ve received from Roman Abramovich I owe it to them to discuss anything with them first.’
Just when Benitez thought things could not get worse, he was buffeted by a torrent of bad news on the injury front. Torres was found to have torn a cartilage in his right knee in the opening minutes on Wednesday, and Gerrard strained a hamstring and will miss the away games with Stoke and Wolves and the Anfield clash with Tottenham next Wednesday.
Torres can add Everton, Arsenal and Manchester City to the catalogue of key Premier League fixtures he will have to sit out, and there was a further setback when it was revealed that Benayoun had cracked a rib.
Benitez’s reputation, so long defended on Merseyside, now seems irreparably damaged.
Ronnie Whelan, a key member of Liverpool’s midfield in the 1980s, issued a withering condemnation.
He said: ‘I think he should have gone a long time ago. The whole club is struggling — the owners, the club’s in debt, the players are not good enough, the manager’s not good enough. I don’t know where they go.’
Torres also added to the pressure on the club’s owners by saying: ‘This season should have been the turning point for us, the chance to do something great. It is now the owners’ turn. They have to sign players, so that this does not happen again.
‘If we want to compete with Manchester United and Chelsea, we need a much, much more complete squad,’ he says in an interview to be published in Four Four Two magazine.
‘We need more genuinely first-class players, and we also cannot let our best players go.’
Club insiders denied rumours of a bust-up between Benitez and Gerrard at half time against Reading. The skipper had complained of a twinge in his hamstring and a dispute is believed to have evolved with another member of staff.
[url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1243361/Guus-Hiddink-closes-embattled-Liverpool-boss-Rafael-Benitez-Chelsea-coach-admits-jump-Kop-
job.html?ITO=1490]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport....TO=1490[/url]
There are no direct quotes here claiming the Dutchman wants the Liverpool job. But at least it might answer the 'who'd want to be a manager of us' mantra.
Personally I've always rated him and think he'd be an ideal bloke to take over from Rafa.
-all when you're down in luck and confidence.
