Why Keeping Guus Hiddink at Chelsea Is the Right Move for Everyone

With Antonio Conte in the bag since early April, it makes a refreshing change for Chelsea supporters to see managerial upheaval in the Premier League and for it not to centre around their club.

The Italian will eventually be parachuted into west London once his stint with his national team at Euro 2016 ends, and when he gets there, he'll find a Chelsea chastened from their staggeringly poor 2015/16 season, but one that can learn from the experience.

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With all hopes of a respectable league position long since blown out of the water by the time Guus Hiddink arrived midway through the campaign, Chelsea were able to take stock and evaluate just how they are functioning as a club from the top down as well as who the individuals are that make that possible.

John Terry—the on-pitch icon of the last 15 years—was eventually rewarded with a new contract once all the drama and political manoeuvring around that died down, and we've finally started to see players tread that same path from the academy to the first team that he did all those years ago, with several youngsters making their debuts towards the end of the campaign.

Would they have played had Chelsea been chasing glory in the Premier League or Champions League? Almost certainly not, but these players had to be introduced at some stage. There are only so many loan spells at Vitesse Arnhem a player can go on, after all.

And key to these promotions was Hiddink, which is why it is fantastic news for the club that the Dutchman will stay on in a consultancy role, as he told Fox Sports at the weekend (h/t Sky Sports).

Youth seems to be very much on the agenda in the 69-year-old's new position, too, as he pointed out, saying:

"

You often see that the young players are not always easy to link up with the first team.

You have to ease them through sparingly, otherwise they can end up burnt out.

I already did that with Bertrand Traore and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, but it needs to happen more often.

"

There you go, Antonio. Objective No. 1 has already been set, and you've not even set foot in the club's Cobham training ground yet.

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Having Hiddink on board to aid the Italian during his first season in English football will be a huge benefit for everyone involved at the club, with the veteran former Netherlands and Real Madrid (as well as many others) boss taking on a kind of venerable old uncle position. He'll be there for advice should you need it, whoever you are. Young or old, rich or poor.

Chelsea supporters won't like hearing it, but there has often been something of a cloud over the club throughout the Roman Abramovich era. There aren't many nice guys in this particular story.

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They'll say that doesn't really matter as long as you see your club picking up trophies or attracting the world's top talent, of course, but there always has to be room for a more human element at the club, and Hiddink has often been that man.

It is clear he is popular with the players, particularly those he has trusted in and given debuts to this season.

Of course, Conte is the manager, and he will bring his own ideas and methods to the role, a position he must be allowed to stand or fall in on his own, but having Hiddink there to lean on for advice will be excellent for him. It is one of football's few no-brainer decisions. Why wouldn't you want him?

On Chelsea's conveyor belt of managers over the past few years, only Hiddink and Jose Mourinho have stood out and formed a real bond with the fans (Roberto Di Matteo already had one), and that has to count for something.

In Conte's mission to join that list, he already has a powerful ally.