John Terry believes the Chelsea players would welcome Guus Hiddink or Mark Hughes as the club’s new manager.
Carlo Ancelotti was dismissed at the end of the campaign after Chelsea ended the season empty-handed, and there have been a number of names linked to the post including Andre Villas-Boas, Marco van Basten and Harry Redknapp.
However, Hiddink – who impressed when taking over from Luiz Felipe Scolari at the end of the 2008-09 campaign – is thought to be the leading candidate, having suggested he is ready to walk away from Turkey.
Blues captain Terry has now said that, while the players will have no sway over the decision, they would be happy to see Hiddink take charge.
“There’s a lot of speculation out there at the moment,” Terry told an England press conference ahead of the team’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland on Saturday. “I was very sad to see Carlo go. He was a great man, a great manager and supported me a lot over the [England] captaincy. Having done the double for the first time in Chelsea’s history, that is something that will live with the club, live with him and the players forever. We then pushed Manchester United so close for the title this season after being out of the race realistically for three months and before turning around that form. I was disappointed to see him go. It’s out of the players’ hands – it’s a club decision. The manager and the players respect that. But we are looking forward to the new manager coming in and hopefully getting that trophy [the Premier League title] back.”
