Guus Hiddink may take over vacant England manager's position

Guus Hiddink is now one of the firm favourites to take over the vacant England manager's position after talks to extend is contract with Russia broke down.

Photo: Guus Hiddink may take over vacant England manager's position

Hiddink, who helped Russia qualify for Euro 2008 at the expense of England, costing Steve McClaren his job, was expected to agree a new deal with the Russian FA, but negotiations have stalled over a proposed three-year contract.

The FA have previously sounded out Hiddink as a potential England manager, following the dismissal of Sven-Goran Eriksson, but back then the Dutchman refused to be interviewed.

With his future uncertain, however, Hiddink should be more willing to follow protocol this time around.

His agent Cees van Nieuwenhuizen said: "As is well known, Guus is again among the chief candidates for England.

"But the Russia FA do not answer my letters and I do not know what to do. It is very strange. The Russia FA president Vitali Mutko has said that he wanted to continue working with Guus. But ever since then there has been no movement on his side.

"I believe that after such a declaration you need to continue dialogue to try to reach an agreement. If you don't then you need to look for another trainer.

"I have helped Guus sign a contract many times working with different federations but I have never ended up in such a situation."

Hiddink has an excellent reputation within world football and came to prominence after leading PSV Eindhoven to European Cup success in 1988. He has also been in charge of Holland, Real Madrid, South Korea and Australia, Telegraph.co.uk reports.

Despite this pressure, the RFU is understood to have indicated to Hiddink that it will not even consider reaching a deal until the new year, meaning the FA could conceivably approach him before then with a view to him taking over England once his current deal expires after Euro 2008.

Having led Holland and South Korea to successive World Cup semi-finals and transformed Australia into a force to be reckoned with, Hiddink is widely considered as one of the world's top international managers. Though Russia were not especially impressive in qualifying for next summer's championships ahead of England, particularly when they folded 3-0 at Wembley, the FA may share Abramovich's view that the Dutchman has done an admirable job with a limited bunch of players and, accordingly, could inject renewed zest and cohesion into England. If so, now could be a good time to make a move, the Guardian reports.

Source: agencies