Does Guus Hiddink really need another medal? Probably not. Imagine the state of his shelves as it is: six Dutch league titles, four Dutch cups, the European Cup, the Intercontinental Cup, coach of the year, two Rinus Michels awards.
That is a lot of dusting. You just know there is the odd, neglected, bauble tucked away somewhere, discoloured, desperately needing a bit of silver polish. Hiddink has prizes to spare. He will not feel greatly put out if he does not add the FA Cup to his collection. And he is passing through. Hiddink is only Chelsea’s caretaker and will be yesterday’s man by the time the final with Everton is played at Wembley.
In the circumstances, most guys would settle for a nice clock and a speech from the boss. At newspapers, we give out a framed front page to a departing colleague: a big headline about his expanding waistband or lousy golf game, an embarrassing photograph, the odd joke dotted around. Something to remember us by. It ends up gathering dust in the attic; much like Hiddink’s Asian Football Confederation award for manager of the season, no doubt.
The point is David Moyes, manager of Everton, needs to catch a break on Saturday. Not merely to satisfy the English obsession with the plucky underdog, but because victory for Hiddink and Chelsea in the FA Cup final takes another managerial credit out of this country. If we want our game to be strong, British managers must be strong, too. This means placing them in elite jobs and that will not happen without proven records of success. It would be better for our domestic football if Moyes won on Saturday.
Harry Redknapp lifted the FA Cup last season and is now the manager of Tottenham Hotspur. The previous bosses at White Hart Lane were Juande Ramos and Martin Jol; had Redknapp not demonstrated his winning ways, perhaps Daniel Levy, the chairman, would have looked abroad this time, too. Chelsea have done since the time of Glenn Hoddle, so too Liverpool after Roy Evans. The highest echelons of English football are increasingly a closed shop.
Who can blame the owners? Moyes has done a great job at Everton but, until now, his record is that of a coach doing well on a budget, playing a cautious style that works, and steering his team into the qualification places for a tournament that UEFA rated so highly they scrapped it. What preparation is that for management at Manchester United, where every game is approached on the front foot and the kitty is measured in tens of millions?
Moyes needs a defining match to show he can be a winner. He needs to stand toe-to-toe with Hiddink’s Chelsea on Saturday and demonstrate he is not just about efficiency and counter attack. If it means Hiddink leaves these shores a loser, so be it. He is a big boy, he will get over it. By the end of the summer, he will have forgotten us, and Carlo Ancelotti will be installed at Stamford Bridge.
Moyes, the best British manager not at a top four club, was not even a contender for that. He needs to put himself in the frame next time it comes around, starting with victory on Saturday.
Martin Samuel is the chief sports writer of the Daily Mail, where his column appears on Monday and Wednesday