Guus Hiddink believes Chelsea players have finally earned the forgiveness of the club’s supporters over Jose
Mourinho’s sacking.
The Dutchman was in the stands at an angry Stamford Bridge back in December for the first game following the
Special One’s shock exit.
He witnessed several Blues players being barracked by supporters, upset that the team’s poor form – 10 defeats in 24
games – had led to Mourinho being fired.
Since then the club have gone 11 games unbeaten in the league and have made it into the last eight of the FA Cup.
Triumphant Chelsea also left the pitch here with the praise of travelling fans ringing in their ears after a
courageous fightback to sink Southampton.
Hiddink revealed afterwards he had held a team meeting with the players when he arrived, making it clear they needed to win back the Blues faithful.
“Of course the fans were disappointed with half of the season, with what was going on and with the performances,”
said the interim boss.
“The crowd were fully entitled to react as they did in the first two or three games, and that’s why the team had to
react. We talked about it and I told them, ‘The key is to react and to get the support of the crowd again’.
“You cannot ask the crowd, ‘Please, don’t think about what happened and the bad results.’
“The team have to show their desire to play again and then the crowd, as they have done in the last few games, will
start supporting. We received some tremendous support here.”
Some fans will remain justifiably annoyed that Chelsea’s key players are suddenly turning it on again after being
so poor under Mourinho.
What is not in doubt, however, is the fact the West Londoners right now are a match for anyone. This really was a
fine win against a Saints side previously undefeated in six games – winning five of them – all with clean sheets.
Shane Long looked set to extend that run to seven when he struck three minutes before the break. But Cesc Fabregas
equalised with 15 minutes left and Branislav Ivanovic netted a minute before the end to take the points back to
London.
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