Chelsea's much needed Dutch of class

Guus Hiddink breezed into Cobham this week tasked with the unenviable task of trying to rescue a proud football club from its slide further into the realms of pulp fiction. Hiddink, it is hoped, will re-unify a dressing room rumoured to be ruptured and, in an interesting re-dressing of Chelsea's more lofty prior ambitions, is expected to be keep Chelsea merely "in a position to compete for trophies" .

Perhaps the greatest quality that Hiddink could bring to Chelsea would be to re-connect them with the idea of humility. Since Roman Abramovich's roubles transformed the club overnight, Chelsea have seemingly made more enemies than friends. The meetings with Anders Frisk in the referee's room in Barcelona & Ashley Cole in a Mayfair hotel were symptomatic of the perception that Chelsea were insatiable in their desire to buy, pressure or bully their way to success. However, if ever a man could act as a unifying force, it is Hiddink. The man who brought South Korea together in 2002 and Australia so close to eliminating the eventual world champions in 2006, is a footballing everyman. The respect he has throughout the game has seen him given the licence to combine the Russia and Chelsea jobs, as he did with Australia and PSV prior to Germany.

Whilst Mourinho was arrogant, Grant too stoic and Scolari increasingly paranoid in post-match press conferences, Hiddink could just have the desired blend of personality and footballing style to appease increasing anti-Chelsea anymosity and Abramovich's desire for "sexy" football in equal measure. Indeed, Hiddink is almost Abramovich's last chance. James Lawton, in the Independent, states that Hiddink can re-invent Chelsea into a football club, rather than their increasing appearance as a "rich man's indulgence". Hiddink made the first step today, opening up Stamford Bridge for fans to watch his first training session in charge in a shrewd PR move. Where the last step lands Chelsea will depend on whether Abramovich decides Chelsea need Hiddink beyond May, and what the implications of Hiddink's departure would be for his homeland.