Chelsea ready for Hiddink to run radical new set-up

Still in the Premiership title race and still plotting for the summer: Chelsea's management structure post-Jose Mourinho is the subject of a radical review by the club's hierarchy. With the Portuguese manager almost certain to leave they are considering hiring two coaches - one of them English - to be overseen by a senior figure like Guus Hiddink.

The proposals are understood to have been under consideration for a while and the stand-off between Roman Abramovich and his manager on Saturday did nothing to suggest their relationship is thawing. The Chelsea owner was the only one of a high-powered group of four - including chairman Bruce Buck, chief executive Peter Kenyon and director Eugene Tenenbaum who did not visit the Chelsea dressing room at Vicarage Road on Saturday after their 92nd-minute winner.

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The plan to appoint two coaches under a more general manager would be attractive to Chelsea for many reasons, not least that it would prevent the kind of stand-off that has developed between Mourinho and Abramovich. The club are understood to have some interesting names in mind, even those not currently in high-profile football jobs, and it is assumed that the Israeli coach Avram Grant, currently at Portsmouth, will play some role.

The appointment of an Englishman to a senior role at the club is also viewed as a priority - at the moment the only Briton anywhere near the top is Mourinho's Scottish assistant Steve Clarke. While it is inevitable that the end of the season will bring even greater speculation, the club have not yet decided on the new management structure, let alone the names to fill it.

The tableau that was played out after the win over Watford was classic Chelsea intrigue. Abramovich perched on a low wall at the front of the main stand talking animatedly with Buck, Kenyon and Tenenbaum - and quite happy to be photographed - before leaving the ground without seeing Mourinho. Although the Chelsea manager again played down the rift.

"For me it's no problem, I didn't get the chance to talk to him as I finished the game and came here [to see the press]," he said. "He's happy like everybody is happy and is feeling the same as everybody is feeling. If we lose two points here we would have lost the Premiership, so it's [Salomon Kalou's winner] the kind of goal we enjoy very, very much."

A role for Hiddink at Chelsea has long been mooted and he would have the support of the "Dutch axis" at the club which includes the Danish director of football development Frank Arnesen - who played and coached in the Netherlands - and the advisor Piet de Visser. As the coach of Russia who play England twice next season in the Euro 2008 qualification Hiddink is already on the Abramovich payroll but a new structure at Stamford Bridge would allow him to combine the jobs.

There seems little prospect of Arnesen, now a hugely influential figure at Chelsea, leaving his role as scout of the world's best young players. As one source put it: "It's a job he has for life - or as long as Abramovich stays. He doesn't have to win trophies, he just has to make sure that he is signing the best young talent coming through."

Despite the uncertainty over Mourinho's future - Watford's fans sang "You're getting sacked in the summer" to him on Saturday - the Chelsea manager was in fine form after the win that keeps his side within six points of leaders Manchester United. With Joe Cole back in training today ahead of Wednesday's Champions League game against Valencia, Mourinho even had a word of support for Steve McClaren.

Mimicking a gun to the head, he said that the England manager should not take the criticism too seriously. "We all belong to the same habitat," Mourinho said. "What happened to him could happen to me tomorrow, and will happen to somebody else. That's our life. If we're not prepared for these difficult moments we have no chance. We have to be strong. Our life is made of happy moments and bad moments. Now I'm going to have dinner. If I lose two points at Watford I would have had dinner exactly the same. I would not kill myself."

Football Association director of communications Adrian Bevington yesterday denied that senior FA figures are against McClaren. Bevington told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek: "There has never been a discussion about anything other than sticking with Steve. Brian [Barwick] is fully supportive. I have been with Noel White and David Richards and they are [also] behind him."