CARETAKERS WHO FIXED PROBLEMS AT THE BRIDGE

GUUS HIDDINK

THE T manager of Russia watched an FA Cup tie at Watford from the stands after the sacking of Luiz Felipe F Scolari before taking control for fo the first time at Aston Villa on February Fe 21, 2009. The Dutchman won an FA F Cup final against Everton and ended with a record of P22 W16 D5 L1. Hiddink’s Chelsea finished third in the Premier League with 83 points, seven adrift of champions Manchester United. They were knocked out in the semi-finals of the Champions League by Barcelona. Having drawn 0-0 in the Nou Camp, they led the second leg through Michael Essien until Andres Iniesta equalised in stoppage time to send the Catalan club into the final on away goals.

ROBERTO RO DI MATTEO

PROMOTED P from his role as assistant manager when Andre Villas-boas was fired and his first game was a 2-0 2 FA Cup replay win at Birmingham on o March 6. Since then, Di Matteo has ha lost only once, at Manchester City. City Like Hiddink, he has reached the FA Cup final, fin winning a tricky London derby in the semi-final, but his finest achievement has been to salvage the European campaign. The club were 3-1 down after the first leg against Napoli when he took over but his team responded to win the return 4-1 then beat Benfica in the last eight. Unlike Hiddink, the job is not his for the taking. To land it permanently, the Italian has to keep winning, starting against Barcelona.