Hiddink suddenly favourite for Barca after resigning at Anzhi
Published:Guus Hiddink’s resignation from Anzhi after 18 months in charge has created speculation about his future, with the timing of the decision leading many to believe that he is the chosen one to take over at Barcelona.
Hiddink has already been backed in from 4/1 to 1/2 to be appointed as the successor to Tito Vilanova and there is a strong possibility that he is being considered for the post.
The timing is certainly convenient and will undoubtedly frustrate a number of other top clubs who had Hiddink on their managerial shortlists earlier this summer, namely PSG.
He could prove a suitable stop-gap appointment for a year or 18 months until one of Barcelona’s longer-term preferences are available, namely Luis Enrique who has just taken over at Celta Vigo or another former player Oscar Garcia, who is preparing for a first season at Brighton.
However, it may be worth pointing out that Hiddink has never won a league title outside of Holland and may have a greater urge to take an international managerial role ahead of the 2014 World Cup.
Therefore, this may prove the optimum time to back previous favourite Gerardo Martino at 6/4 to be named the next permanent Barcelona manager and in actual fact, his more recent record is better than that of Hiddink.
Hiddink may have won an FA Cup at Chelsea, but he failed to help Russia qualify for the 2010 World Cup when losing a qualifying play-off to Slovenia and then suffered at the same stage with Turkey when trying to reach Euro 2012.
Meanwhile, he only finished third in Russia with Anzhi and made the last-16 of the Europa League.
In this time, Martino has helped an average Paraguay side reach the quarter finals of the 2010 World Cup before narrowly losing 1-0 to eventual winners Spain, reached the final of the 2011 Copa America and finished top of the Argentine league with Newell’s Old Boys before losing the Superfinal to Velez Sarsfield.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
