Source: Telegraph
Chelsea's rush for Guus Hiddink shames English FA
If ever there was an advertisement for the need to get on with building the National Football Centre at Burton these past few days have served up enough exhibits. [LNB]Exhibit A: Portsmouth, Sunday. Every overseas name from Sven-Goran Eriksson to even Avram Grant gets linked with the Portsmouth job after Tony Adams is shipped out. Adams, like Paul Ince when rushed out of Blackburn Rovers, could prove a decent manager, if given time and, most importantly, a proper grounding in the coaching game. No Burton. No chance. [LNB]Exhibit B: Chelsea, Monday. Guus Hiddink prepares to take care of the Blues in succession to Luiz Felipe Scolari. Among all the names linked to the Bridge post, not one was English. Something is clearly rotten in the state of English coaching. [LNB]Exhibit C: England, Tuesday. The FA officials gathering in the Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium here in Seville to watch Fabio Capello put John Terry, Gabriel Agbonlahor and David Beckham through their paces, an esteemed Italian ringmaster in charge of sharpening the claws of English lions. [LNB]Added together, the three exhibits highlight one of the flaws of the English game. One day a major English club position, even the national one, will fall vacant and the queue will be headed by well-qualified, well-respected sons of the Mersey, and the Thames and the Tyne. Until that day, the FA should be embarrassed about their coaching system. [LNB]The identity of some of those filling the headlines should make Soho Square squirm. First Scolari, now Hiddink. If Slaven Bilic ever appears in a Premier League technical area, that would complete the full set of those who have wrecked England's recent summer dreams. The architects of English downfall ride through the game like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. [LNB]Soho Square have taken some remedial steps. Encouraged by the FA and the League Managers Association, Capello plans to put on a coaching seminar for local enthusiasts eager to learn, young coaches like Martin Keown and Paul Davis. The FA chairman, Lord Triesman, is also organising a group to write the first proper coaching manual. [LNB]While contributing to that, Capello could also mention to Triesman about Coverciano, the Italian federation's university of football near Florence where recently-retired players embark on courses that eventually lead to coaching assignments. [LNB]The English are ingenues in comparison, arguing first over whether an English Coverciano was needed and then where it should be sited. Burton still lies fallow, and still major roles are landed by foreign managers. [LNB]Until the day when Chelsea can call upon a high-class, home-grown manager, they will inevitably look abroad. Of course, Roman Abramovich should never have fallen out with Jose Mourinho, but one cannot question the quality of the coach he has now turned to. Hiddink is a fine choice by Chelsea, probably the only choice. [LNB]Abramovich trusts and admires the Dutchman, and this is the key. Scolari never really had a chance once it became clear that funds would not be forthcoming. Other managers such as Aston Villa's Martin O'Neill, who enjoys a good relationship with the club's owner, Randy Lerner, were able to invest. [LNB]Scolari had Abramovich with the coffers shut. Now they should open if Hiddink, as expected, stays longer than the interim period. It is hard to imagine the Dutchman walking away, returning to Russia, if there is the possibility of success at Chelsea. [LNB]Hiddink boasts all the coaching skills to prosper at Chelsea. From Holland to South Korea, PSV Eindhoven to Russia, Hiddink has steered teams to semi-finals. His teams tend to be attractive, as witnessed most recently by his Russian side at Euro 2008 with attacking full-backs and interchanging forwards like two current London residents, Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko. [LNB]Chelsea will be worth watching under Hiddink but he must be allowed to clear out all the dead wood, the disinterested divas, and he must be given funds. [LNB]Hiddink's main issue will be with the English media. Scolari coped well with the bear-pit press conferences, primarily because they were tea parties compared with inquisitions experienced while coach of Brazil. [LNB]Hiddink will not appreciate the questioning of his tactics, nor any paparazzi stalking him off-duty. If anyone should be chasing Hiddink it is Triesman, picking his brains and acquiring knowledge to be used at Burton – when it ever gets built. [LNB]
