Hiddink confirmed as Mourinho replacment at Chelsea

Jose Mourinho was sacked as manager on Thursday, just seven months after guiding Chelsea to the Premier League title.

Guus Hiddink has confirmed that he is in talks with Chelsea over returning to the club as interim manager following the departure of Jose Mourinho.

The Portuguese was sacked on Thursday after overseeing the champions ninth Premier League defeat of the season at Leicester City on Monday night.

With first-team coach Steve Holland taking charge of the team against Sunderland, Hiddink sat in an executive box alongside owner Roman Abramovich and former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba.

Terry insisted the squad accept blame for Chelsea’s lowly standing in the table and rejected reports of player power costing Mourinho his job at Stamford Bridge.

In February 2009, while also manager of Russia, Hiddink took temporary charge at Chelsea and the Blues lost just one league game to finish third in the Premier League, before beating Everton 2-1 in the FA Cup final.

“As an interim manager, he would love the challenge, I’m sure”, Wilkins said on talkSPORT.

“‘I am looking forward to working with the players and staff at this great club and especially renewing my wonderful relationship with the Chelsea fans'”.

Nevertheless, while Terry conceded that it had been a hard few days as the players adjusted to not having Mourinho around them, the former England worldwide was adamant that the group had let the 52-year-old down and needed to respond starting against Sunderland on Saturday afternoon.

He is reportedly set to receive his weekly remuneration for the remainder of his Chelsea contract, until he signs a deal with another club.

Chelsea said Saturday that it views Hiddink as a coach with a “wealth of top-level experience and success”.

Mourinho won the Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup at Inter Milan and then the league and Copa del Rey with Real Madrid before returning to Chelsea in 2013.

“Each time represents for him the end of a cycle, and the opportunity to start a new one”. He will not be attending any high-profile games because he wants to discourage any speculation about his future.

Widespread changes to the side and not expected and we may be given an indication as to whether Chelsea’s players have simply gone off the boil or if they chose to stop giving their all for their former boss.