Branislav Ivanovic has welcomed the return of Guus Hiddink to Chelsea and said the Dutchman gave him a ‘proper chance’ at Stamford Bridge.
The under-fire Serbian was at the club when Hiddink won the FA Cup with the Londoners in 2009 and wasted no time in lavishing praise on the Dutchman.
Ivanovic told the Mail:
He was the one who gave me a proper chance in this club, I know how good his work was the first time he was here and I am grateful to him for that moment, but it was a long time ago.
Hiddink walks into a different situation to the one he faced at Chelsea in 2009, the Premier League Champions lie in 15th place with many supporters angered by the dismissal of Jose Mourinho.
Some fans directed their vitriol of the club’s decision to the players, and Ivanovic knows the players need to put things right:
Now is a new challenge, a completely different situation. I think his first aim is to stabilise us, so we can play like we did against Sunderland. The manager is not on the pitch, it is the players, so we lose the games and the thing we can change in the future is ourselves. We have to be honest with each other and honest with ourselves, then win a couple of games in a row and stick with that for a long time to get back to winning regularly, because it is important for the club.
Ivanovic scored on Saturday as Chelsea made light work of Sam Allardyce’s Sunderland with a 3-1 win.
Hiddink was watching the victory from the stands alongside Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, who has been rumoured with a coaching return to the club.
Hiddink’s second start to life as Chelsea boss is a tough one, the Blues face Watford on boxing Day before travelling to Old Trafford to face Manchester United two days later.
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