Chelsea captain John Terry has told Blues owner Roman Abramovich to make Mark Hughes and Guus Hiddink the leading candidates to take charge at Stamford Bridge.
Abramovich is searching for a replacement for sacked boss Carlo Ancelotti and Terry believes Turkey coach Hiddink and former Chelsea striker Hughes, who quit as Fulham chief on Thursday, should be top of his wanted list. Hiddink was popular with Chelsea’s players during a brief spell as caretaker manager in 2009 and led the club to victory in the FA Cup final against Everton, as well as reaching the Champions League semi-finals.
The former Australia and South Korea coach had already been strongly linked with a return to Chelsea and this week confirmed that he would be willing to take another job in club management. Terry would be happy to see Hiddink appointed, but also drew Abramovich’s attention to Hughes, who as a player helped Chelsea win the FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup in a successful three-year spell in the 1990s when Terry was learning his trade in the club’s youth academy.
Hughes on Thursday walked out on Fulham after just one year in charge and is favourite to take over at managerless Aston Villa. However Villa claim they are interested in several other candidates and Terry would love to see the former Manchester City and Blackburn boss return to Chelsea.
“There’s a lot of speculation out there at the moment,” Terry said on Friday. “Mark is someone that hopefully the club will be talking to. I know a lot of his backroom staff and if it’s him he will be welcomed by the players. “But we had a great time under Guus, he would be welcomed back. Whether we are going to get someone who knows the club or someone different, that’s out of the players hands. “I was very sad to see Carlo go, and as a group of players we will wait for the club to make a decision. There’s a lot of managers been linked at the moment.”
While Terry await developments at Chelsea, he will be concentrating on England matters for the moment.
Fabio Capello’s side face Switzerland in a must-win Euro 2012 qualifier at Wembley on Saturday and Terry is likely to find himself playing alongside Rio Ferdinand for the first time since replacing the Manchester United star as England captain. The Switzerland game will be Ferdinand’s first international since he lost the captaincy to Terry in March, but the Chelsea star insists their relationship remains strong.
“I’m delighted seeing him come back from injury at Manchester United and he’s been different class in the Premier League and the Champions League,” Terry said. “I’m delighted for him to be back fully fit and alongside me. There’re no problems between us, like there wasn’t when he got the armband.”
Terry insists Capello’s relationship with Ferdinand is also good and he has been impressed with the way the Italian has brought in a more relaxed regime after a strict World Cup training camp in South Africa. “I think not only between those two, but with everyone,” he added. “I think over the years the manager’s relationship with everyone has got better.
“I think there’s a really good balance at the moment. It’s been a really relaxed atmosphere over the last three or four months which is good.
“He understands what makes us tick. The communication between the players and the management has been fantastic.
“The training sessions are good and we are relaxed around the hotel which is perfect.
“It helps with him bringing us in the loop with those conversations. It’s ok the manager making decisions but the players have also got to be happy with that.”
