Australia searching for a full-time coach
The hottest topic in the football world has finally been resolved with Guus Hiddink, the Australian national coach, announcing that he will coach the Russian National side after the 2006 World Cup.
Hiddink meanwhile was pleased to get the decision out of the way after all the recent media attention that had him linked with the vacant England, South Africa, Real Madrid and Russian positions.
“I'm glad that this is off my chest now,” said Hiddink. “If all the final details in my private life are settled as planned the deal will be sealed.”
“I have been to Russia already to look at things and I already know that it will be fun to work there. They have some young players with a great future, as far as I can tell now.”
“I will live in Amsterdam and fly to Russia whenever it's needed.”
“That could be for a period of several weeks or just for a few days.”
Hiddink also admitted that he had spoken with Abramovich about the job.
“Of course I spoke in the past with the Russians at Chelsea already,” he said.
“I spoke with Abramovich, who wants to help lift the Russian national team to a higher level.”
Football Federation Australia (FFA) has indicated that they hope to appoint a full-time coach to replace Hiddink who is combining the role with coaching Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
FFA, Head of High Performance Mr John Boultbee, said that Hiddink’s preference was to stay in Europe and this would not suit the FFA’s long term plans of appointing a full time coach.
“Guus informed us some time ago that he was looking at several offers for after the World Cup,” said Boultbee. “In terms of full time involvement he had a very strong preference to continue to live in Europe and full time involvement with Australia would mean spending longer periods away from Europe than he preferred.”
“So we have known for some time that it was not going to work after the World Cup and have put steps in place for the future - not an easy task.”
The FFA, which has not ruled out hiring an Australian, said it would be happy for assistant coach Graham Arnold to coach the team in their opening Asian Cup qualifiers if a suitable replacement had not already been lined up.
“The local candidates are led by the people we've got working for us at the moment, Graham Arnold,” Boultbee said.
“We're in a very good situation in that it will be seamless when Guus leaves with Graham Arnold and Johann Neeskens ready to take our teams to the Asian Cup if we haven't totally completed the task of naming a new coach.”
“We are absolutely confident that we will be able to attract a coach of a very good calibre,” he said.
A strong performance by the Socceroo’s at the World Cup, which is the biggest shop window for players and coaches, will go a long way to attracting a coach of the highest calibre.
Hiddink meanwhile was pleased to get the decision out of the way after all the recent media attention that had him linked with the vacant England, South Africa, Real Madrid and Russian positions.
“I'm glad that this is off my chest now,” said Hiddink. “If all the final details in my private life are settled as planned the deal will be sealed.”
“I have been to Russia already to look at things and I already know that it will be fun to work there. They have some young players with a great future, as far as I can tell now.”
“I will live in Amsterdam and fly to Russia whenever it's needed.”
“That could be for a period of several weeks or just for a few days.”
Hiddink also admitted that he had spoken with Abramovich about the job.
“Of course I spoke in the past with the Russians at Chelsea already,” he said.
“I spoke with Abramovich, who wants to help lift the Russian national team to a higher level.”
Football Federation Australia (FFA) has indicated that they hope to appoint a full-time coach to replace Hiddink who is combining the role with coaching Dutch club PSV Eindhoven.
FFA, Head of High Performance Mr John Boultbee, said that Hiddink’s preference was to stay in Europe and this would not suit the FFA’s long term plans of appointing a full time coach.
“Guus informed us some time ago that he was looking at several offers for after the World Cup,” said Boultbee. “In terms of full time involvement he had a very strong preference to continue to live in Europe and full time involvement with Australia would mean spending longer periods away from Europe than he preferred.”
“So we have known for some time that it was not going to work after the World Cup and have put steps in place for the future - not an easy task.”
The FFA, which has not ruled out hiring an Australian, said it would be happy for assistant coach Graham Arnold to coach the team in their opening Asian Cup qualifiers if a suitable replacement had not already been lined up.
“The local candidates are led by the people we've got working for us at the moment, Graham Arnold,” Boultbee said.
“We're in a very good situation in that it will be seamless when Guus leaves with Graham Arnold and Johann Neeskens ready to take our teams to the Asian Cup if we haven't totally completed the task of naming a new coach.”
“We are absolutely confident that we will be able to attract a coach of a very good calibre,” he said.
A strong performance by the Socceroo’s at the World Cup, which is the biggest shop window for players and coaches, will go a long way to attracting a coach of the highest calibre.
posted by Simon Ainsworth at 7:59 pm
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