Chelsea profit from Hiddink’s power play

FOR all the demands Roman Abramovich placed in Guus Hiddink’s in-tray on his first day at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, reinvention was not one of them.

The Dutchman’s interim status meant there was never any chance of him carrying out root and branch reform at Stamford Bridge: instead, his brief centred on reminding Chelsea of what made them such a formidable proposition in the first place.

Old habits have been reawakened in west London. Any whimsical hopes the Russian may have harboured of Chelsea swashbuckling past their rivals have been shelved. Instead, they have relied on their traditional muscular qualities and, while the stardust may be lacking, results are not.