Koeman talks about his future at Southampton

They made it very clear that Pep is coming and there were questions of ‘Is Pellegrini losing authority?’ No. If the players have respect for the manager even if the manager must make tough decisions against the players not to play and be fair in his treatment face-to-face with them, then there’s no loss of respect.

Koeman has not spoken to Hiddink since the fallout to the the latter’s reappointment as Holland manager in 2014 – a job Koeman perhaps expected to be offered – but the Saints boss insisted he had moved on and that the pair retained “a good understanding”. “That’s why I said it’s no problem for me to be transparent when [Chelsea] announce the next manager”. Maybe he was mid-20s at the time and you can see what happened at that young age, he had the possibility (to become a manager). Whether Chelsea would take the risk on him at this stage seems unlikely and the post may have come a little too early for him, but Abramovich and Co’ could do a lot worse than appoint one of the brightest managerial minds in the Premier League.

Hiddink is in interim charge following the sacking of Jose Mourinho in December. “Then I hope we can maintain a respectful relationship”. Hiddink believes that club management is completely different in comparison to worldwide football, something that every coach must adjust to while making the shift. “When you’re at a club, you have a daily influence on a way of playing and player behavior on the pitch and off it”, he added.

In addition to all that, Chelsea will also have the right to look forward to the return of Oscar who is now is full fitness and this will give their midfield some more creativity since he can complement Hazard, Willian and Diego Costa well.

“I don’t like to talk about my future because it is not the most important thing at the moment”.

Florin Gardos (Knee) and Jay Rodriguez (Foot) both returned to training for Saints this morning, but are not yet fit enough for a place in Koeman’s squad, whilst Kurt Zouma (Knee) and Radamel Falcao (Hip) will both miss this weekend’s tie for the Blues.

“I am in favour”, the 69-year-old answered when asked if he would prefer a quick appointment.

“You’ve heard more than I because that’s your job, you have to search around where the rumours are”.

Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink says Branislav Ivanovic has shown he can provide the sort of inspirational leadership that John Terry normally brings to the team. I think they will be tough to beat here since they are in front of a big crowd which should help them get a result.