I only ever wanted to be a manure farmer...
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Guus: I only ever wanted to be a manure farmer.
HIDDINK ... planned to cause a stink
GUUS HIDDINK was expecting to shovel s**t as a farmer when he grew up — rather than manage one of the world’s richest clubs.
Hiddink, who takes charge of Chelsea for the first time on Saturday when they travel to Aston Villa, hails from the town of Varsseveld in rural Holland. And he has admitted as a kid he wanted to be a “stront boer” — a farmer who raises animals to sell the manure as fertiliser.
The Dutch coach, 62, revealed: “When I was a child I grew up in the middle of farms. After school finished I always hurried to a friend’s farm. He had cattle and horses.
“Even as a child I knew how to milk cows and when I was 12 I learned how to plough a field. I loved that, with two horses in front pulling the plough.
“Whenever I was asked what I would like to be when I grew up I would answer ‘stront boer’. Every child has his dreams and mine was to become a farmer. That seemed just wonderful to me.”
Pampered stars
Hiddink, one of six brothers whose father Gerrit was headmaster of the local school, went on to carve a career as a midfielder at Dutch clubs De Graafschap, PSV and NEC.
But before going on to manage some of the world’s biggest clubs in PSV, Fenerbahce and Real Madrid as well as South Korea, Australia and Russia, he followed in the footsteps of his dad, teaching PE to emotionally disturbed kids for 11 years from 1973.
And, in his biography Going Dutch, he admits the skills he learned there helped him to deal with the pampered superstars of professional football. He said: “I’ve joked I still feel I’m working with hard-to-raise kids.
“At the school I had to deal with kids from tough backgrounds, little criminals sometimes. It is possible to translate that kind of work into coaching full-time footballers. “You have to appeal to their sense of responsibility. You have to remind them of the privileged position they live in.
“When I arrived at Real Madrid in 1998 the real problem was that life was a little comfortable for the players. “They earned a lot of money very quickly. Porsche ownership was very high. “When they were 21, players were financially settled for life. But players must be hungry, hungry to achieve something.
“I deal with professionals who are paid very well and who ought to possess the enthusiasm of football-lovers.They should not be motivated by the money. If a player’s primary concern is the next bonus things wouldn’t work out in the long run.”
And in a warning to anyone who may challenge him at Stamford Bridge, Hiddink has revealed he keeps notes of every meeting and every training session. He said: “I know the exact dates when I leave messages. Since 1986 I have kept a log of my daily activities. “I will not avoid conflicts. I never avoid them.”