HIDDINK’S 72, BUT WOULD BE A SAFE PAIR OF HANDS

WHEN fans turn on their manager, the writing is on the wall. The atmosphere towards Maurizio Sarri during Chelsea’s defeat by Manchester United was vitriolic. I cannot recall the last time Chelsea supporters sang, ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’ to one of their managers. This is not a handful of disgruntled fans. The crowd has turned. How can the club have any faith in Sarri going into a Carabao Cup final against a Manchester City side who battered Chelsea 6-0 only a fortnight ago? It is time to install a caretaker until the end of the season. Sarri seems a likeable man but has not helped himself. His stubbornness with substitutions has made him look like a onetrick pony. He has also admitted that Eden Hazard is free to leave. You want your manager to be fighting to keep your best players. But most damning was Sarri’s admission that his players are difficult to motivate. Those words

must have been ringing in the ears of the Chelsea hierarchy as their side trudged off 2-0 down at half-time against United. In terms of a quick fix, they could turn to Guus Hiddink. He may be 72 and now in charge of the China Under 21s, but has proven a safe pair of hands in his two previous stints. An alternative would be Steve Holland, Gareth Southgate’s assistant with England and a former Chelsea coach who knows this club inside out. But appointing the next permanent manager relies greatly on the future of Roman Abramovich. He has dispensed with coaches who achieved far more than Sarri and yet the Italian remains in a job. Has Abramovich changed his approach or is he losing interest?