Hiddink throws in towel as Chelsea roll over

While his peers’ long-term job prospects rest on keeping their squads sweet with a stream of meaningless platitudes, Hiddink can shoot from the lip with impunity.

Either way, he will be walking out of Stamford Bridge and returning to his role as Russia manager for good on May 30.

So when Hiddink effectively wrote Chelsea out of the title race on Saturday evening, his mood piqued by their dismal failure to capitalise on Manchester United’s slip at Fulham, nobody questioned his motives. For once, this was no mind game or psychological ploy to trick his rivals into complacency: Hiddink meant it.