Guus, You Silly Goose

This post is half semi-important crap, half an excuse to use that picture again.

No less than three weeks ago we were patting Russia on the back for signing Guus Hiddink and his trail of international magic to a two year extension through World Cup 2010 and in turn, almost assuredly sealing its spot in the knockout rounds in South Africa (Guus does that). Not so fast, however, as the contract hasn’t been signed and Guus has gone all diva on us, requesting another million euro bonus should Russia reach the World Cup and a bowl full of M&M’s before and after each game consisting of nothing but the red and blue varieties. (That last part is made up, but Guus should know you can’t be a proper diva without making ridiculous coated candy requests.)

The Dutchman’s salary is paid by Abramovich via the national academy of football and their chairman, Segei Kapkov, is less than amused at the level of bonuses sought by Hiddink.

“We are seriously considering whether we should finance a new contract.”

It’s a little more complicated than simply “should we, the Russian FA, bankroll this clown who is not a clown but actually a very good coach and could do wonders for Russian football?”, seeing as how they don’t pay his entire wage packet. A good amount is paid by oil impresario, luxury yacht lover and Ukrainian superstar career ruining Roman Abramovich. From my research, there’s no real standard knowledge of contribution from Roman (cloudy finances in Russia? Nevah!) - some say half, some say more, some say less. Whatever it is, chances are this request will be filtered through West London before a final decision is made.

Knowing the massive amount of revenue a World Cup trip would bring to Russia certainly makes this an interesting chess move from Guus, and it almost seems logical if he is The Reason for their qualification. Judging by his previous work, he very well may be. Then again, a million? That’s a hefty lump of cash for a guy who coaches only a handful of meaningful games per year.

It should be interesting to see how it plays out, simply because Russia with Guus Hiddink is a lot more formidable than Russia without Guus Hiddink. Something which I’m sure the Russian FA - and Roman - already knows. Perhaps that’s why this request was made in the first place…..

(Oh, and Avram Grant might want to, just to be safe, tidy up that old resume a bit.)