Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It was the reverse of this game on the opening day of the season which arguably was the start of the decline of Jose Mourinho’s reign as Chelsea Manager. After the on pitch row with Eva Camiero took all the headlines that Summer Afternoon the season then went from bad to worse for Chelsea. Mourinho was shown the exit door in December and Guus Hiddink has managed to restore an air of respectability to what has been a season to forget.
Their opponents Swansea came away with a point that day in what was a coupon buster for many people’s opening day accumulators and Francesco Guidolin will be looking to go one better Today and get the win that would finally confirm job done in terms of trying to secure Premier League survival.
Last weekend they battled back from 2-0 down away at Stoke to add another vital point to the tally. It looked like the game was beyond them with Stoke well in control but second half goals from Gylfi Sigurdssson and Alberto Paloschi gave them a well earned draw at The Britannia Stadium.
If Guidolin’s Swansea can get a win today and end Guus Hiddink’s Premier League unbeaten run then the talks as to whether the Italian Head Coach stays for next season can begin. Guidolin going on record this week saying that talks won’t start until Swansea’s safety is confirmed.
One man who won’t be staying next season is Guus Hiddink, that down to the fact that Antonio Conte has been announced as the man to take the next turn in the Stamford Bridge hotseat. The brief for Hiddink will be to run the rule over the squad for the last 6 games and give opportunites to younger players when possible.
That was exactly the case last weekend as a much changed side strolled to a 4-0 win over basement side Aston Villa. The win saw them cement 10th place in the table and Chelsea are the form side in the Premier League at the moment. If only a few more of those draws were wins then they would be looking at a Top 6 place right now.
The only thing that Chelsea have to play for between now and the end of the season is preserving Hiddink’s unbeaten record. I think it would be a nice ending if he could at least go all the way to May 15th unbeaten.
That said Swansea won’t have time for sentiment and will be looking for all 3 points. I have a feeling it will be a repeat of the opening day but without the shouting at a physio. I’ll go for honours even at The Liberty Stadium this Afternoon.
