Official: Hiddink Confirmed As Chelsea Coach

Chelsea have today appointed Guus Hiddink as their coach until the end of the season, as a statement on their official website confirms. The appointment had been expected over the last 48 hours, as the Dutchman, coach of the Russian national team and a close personal friend of Chelsea's oligarch Russian owner Roman Abramovich, emerged as the strong favourite to succeed Luiz Felipe Scolari.

The statement reads, "Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm Guus Hiddink will become temporary coach until the end of the season.

"He is due to meet the players later this week. The club would like to take this opportunity to thank the Russian Football Union for their understanding and co-operation."

Hiddink has managed the Russian national side since 2006, and England supporters will be well aware of how his team qualified for Euro 2008 at the expense of the Three Lions. His Russian side reached the semi-finals of the competition, and were applauded throughout for the skill and verve with which they played.

The Dutchman has combined the roles of coaching a national side and a club side previously. When, in 2002, he returned to coach PSV Eindhoven, whom he'd coached to a hat-trick of Eredivisie titles and a European Cup victory in the late 1980s, he combined the role with that of coaching Australia, whom he guided to their first World Cup finals since 1974, and still managed to win the Dutch league three times in four years.

His first test as Chelsea coach will be a trip to Premier League form side Aston Villa on February 21.