New Delhi: Chelsea’s interim manager Guus Hiddink has asserted that the statement earlier in the day from the club chairman, Bruce Buck, that the Dutchman would not be remaining at Stamford Bridge beyond the end of this season must not be a source of distraction to his players.
Chelsea face the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final this week, when they welcome Liverpool to west London, holding a considerable 3-1 advantage from the first leg on Merseyside. They are also in the semi-final of the FA Cup, taking on Arsenal at Wembley at the weekend, and still have a fighting chance in the Premier League title race.
Hiddink has stressed the importance of remaining focused on those tasks rather then his future as their priority by minimising his own stature at the club.
"I'm not that important," he told reporters at a press conference earlier.
"It's not for me that they have to go to all ends to get this done, to (reach) semi-finals, hopefully, to reach the final, hopefully, to win the cup, hopefully. It's not because of me. It's because they work with a lot of joy for the club and for themselves," he said.
"I'm the intermediate person. I try to make the players, to challenge them. It's not because of me," he added.
As for the fact of his leaving at the end of the season and returning to his current permanent job as coach of the Russian national team, Hiddink concluded by highlighting that the players were the important figures in the situation, not him.
He said, "Them knowing I'm leaving must not be another negative motivation not to do what they have to do. And what they'd desperately like to do."
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