Hiddink coy on Chelsea move

Turkey coach Guus Hiddink has refused to rule out a move to rejoin English Premier League club Chelsea.

Dutchman Hiddink, 64, joined Turkey in August 2010, but has endured a mixed Euro 2012 qualifying campaign.

Turkey have won three and lost two of their five matches played to sit third in Group A, one point behind Belgium and six back from leaders Germany.

Hiddink came in for fierce criticism following a 1-0 defeat to Azerbaijan and has been linked with a move back to Chelsea, who are without a manager following the dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti.

While insisting his priority remains Turkey’s crucial qualifying match away to Belgium on Friday, Hiddink refused to rule himself out of the running to replace Ancelotti.

“At the moment there’s nothing concrete to talk about, but if there was a concrete offer I would think about it,” Hiddink said.

“We’ll play this game and then we’ll see. The moment things are concrete, I’ll go to where I have to be. My thoughts are, first, on this difficult game next Friday. Then we’ll see.”

A European Cup-winning coach with PSV Eindhoven, Hiddink guided Chelsea to FA Cup success during a four-month spell as caretaker manager in 2009.

“The people at Chelsea, including the boss (owner Roman Abramovich), were always welcoming after I left,” he said.

“So, every now and then, we have contact.”

“I have the energy. I’m not feeling that I should sit back. As long as I feel fresh, and as long as young people – players – are not getting annoyed with me, then I will continue. I feel energetic to go on.”

“Sir Alex Ferguson is a lesson to all of us. I read that his wife told him to get back to work, not just to sit there in the garden and do nothing.”

“You should only walk away if you start repeating yourself and can’t keep it fresh. But I don’t feel like that at this moment. And my wife thinks I’m a lousy gardener.”

Hiddink admits his tenure as Turkey manager could come to an end if the team fails to beat Belgium.

Nevertheless, he has no intention of using that as an excuse to walk away.

“Should we lose, I can imagine they would say it would be better if I quit,” Hiddink said.

“There are rumours, too, that it would be easier for me to leave if we lost to Belgium, but I’ve been in this business a long time. That is not influencing my approach to the team. The focus is on the job and this game. That’s it.”