MORE HIDDINK ON COLE

Temporary coach Guus Hiddink has been further discussing
events surrounding Ashley Cole this week, adding that Paulo
Ferreira's injury did not influence his decision to select the
England man for duty this afternoon.
Cole was detained by police in the early hours of Thursday
morning, but trained with the squad on Friday and travelled to
Coventry for today's FA Cup clash.
Hiddink explained that he had strong words with his left-back,
but would have involved him in his squad anyway had cover
Ferreira not been ruled out for the rest of the campaign after
rupturing a cruciate ligament.
'I have thought about this, what is the proper decision for
the club, but no. Paulo was badly injured but it has no
influence on the decision,' said the Dutchman.
'It would have been a poor decision if I judged that, and we
can play others in this [position]. Malouda could play in this
position, even Riccy Carvalho could play over there, so it was
not of any influence on this decision.'
Regarding Cole, whose form this season has been some of the
best since he arrived at Stamford Bridge in the summer of
2006, Hiddink added:
'I had a firm talk with him because we have many things ahead
in the upcoming weeks.
'You have to take some incidents as an advantage. I think the
team and Ashley must always react on those situations, it must
strengthen them to go for their targets. There are two
knockout games coming up and they must show their strength,
starting Saturday.'
The 62-year-old was even able to smile as he contemplated
Cole's physical and mental states, and explained the decision
for the defender not to train on Thursday.
'Mentally he was a little out of order but physically he is in
good shape, there is no problem. I don't know how the beds are
in the police cells.
'Sometimes you have to have a little laugh about it, but once
more he made his apologies and didn't suffer too much
physically. I have seen him training and he was okay. When we
heard the news then we said "You stay", because it was not a
usual night.'
Having been in coaching since 1982, Hiddink has seen plenty of
similar stories in his time, and insists this is not an
English issue. Such behaviour will however, have consequences.
'I can tell you stories of Dutch players as well, which I wont
do. It's not Dutch, Spanish or Russian - anywhere in the
world. Maybe there are one or two countries I think, but I
don't know, maybe Korea is a little different in this, but
even then I don't know. It is not depending on which passport
you have.
'If you drink too much then it is having a setback on your
condition. When they have dinner and a glass of wine or
something that's not damaging, that's normal. In this, they
have responsibility. We try to work hard and improve on every
aspect of the game. Physically you can harm yourself and then
you harm the team as well.
'I cannot and will not control their private life. I think
they must be intelligent people to have success in a big club
or in football. I am not a police officer to control that, nor
am I a father figure. I want to have an open, direct relation
so I can speak to them very directly.'
Now, the attention will finally turn to football, and the
prospect of making the last four of the FA Cup this afternoon.
It will be a welcome change of focus.

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