Guus Hiddink will assess his options with Chelsea only
after Russia's Euro 2008 qualification campaign has been completed.
The Russia coach speaks regularly with Roman Abramovich and would be a
leading candidate to come in and work alongside new Chelsea manager, Avram
Grant, should the Premier League or UEFA take a hard line over the Israeli's
coaching qualifications.
Abramovich is an admirer of Hiddink, who would fit within a footballing
structure at Chelsea which has a strong Dutch flavour. Piet de Visser
has worked as a scout while the sight yesterday of Holland coach Marco
van Basten at Old Trafford for Chelsea's 2-0 defeat against Manchester
United is also certain to prompt speculation.
Holland are presently involved in a battle with Romania and Bulgaria to
gain qualification from Group G for Euro 2008.
On Sunday a source at the Russian FA expressed confidence that they would
be unaffected by the dramatic events at Chelsea over the past week, although
Hiddink is yet to commit beyond the end of his contract next year.
Russia are third behind England and Croatia in Group E of the Euro 2008
qualifiers, meaning their campaign could effectively come to an end next
month should Steve McClaren's team gain a positive result in Moscow.
Abramovich has ploughed millions into Russian football and helps fund
Hiddink's contract, as well as the salaries of other coaches.
After relatively conservative spending over the past year under Jose Mourinho,
Abramovich is expected to make significant funds available this January,
although he also remains committed to a variety of projects designed to
help strengthen Russian football.
In addition to his involvement in funding Hiddink as national team coach,
Abramovich is behind a proposal to build a national stadium in Russia
at an estimated cost of around 2212m.
He is ready to invest about $27m in the construction of a training base
for the Russian national team. Abramovich is also the 100 per cent benefactor
of a foundation called the National Academy of Football, who sponsor youth
sports programmes throughout Russia and have built more than 50 football
pitches.
,
September 24 2007
Russian ladies dream about happy marriage.
Click on a photo...
