Will Guus hoodwink Russia despite promises?
Managers lie for a living. It was Tommy Docherty, one of Guus Hiddink’s predecessors at Chelsea, who cheerfully told a court that — and he told the truth. Mainly they lie in a white way, as we all do out of politeness, or in the interests of practicality (the player dropped because he has lost a fortune on the horses and suddenly cannot kick a ball straight for worrying was “injured in training”, and so on), but occasionally they come out with a whopper. Like Hiddink’s in Barcelona. On the eve of the Champions League semi-final, first leg, Chelsea’s interim manager trumpeted an intention to attack. It was no use sitting back and waiting for Barcelona to win; his team would fight fire with fire, or words to that effect. Instead they fought fire with a wet blanket, which was perfectly sensible and instrumental in the scoreless outcome that makes Chelsea favourites to reach the final. So neither the journalists who had dutifully conveyed Hiddink’s remarks — some hailed them as a fascinati
