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Hiddink out to rekindle happy days at Chelsea

By Steve Tongue LONDON (Reuters) - When experienced and talented football managers suffer a run of failure, they tend to want one more job to prove their worth again. For new Chelsea interim boss Guus Hiddink, disappointments with Russia, Turkey, his native Netherlands and Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala have hurt and prompted the desire for what at 69 years of age could be one last hurrah. It will be the third time the vastly experienced Dutchman, who was announced on Saturday to have been appointed until the end of the season, has gone back to work for a previous employer. First time around at PSV Eindhoven from 1987-90 he won a hat-trick of national titles and the European Cup, then defied the old adage "never go back" by securing three more Dutch championships during his return from 2002-06. A second stint in charge of the Netherlands proved an unwise move, however. Having taken them to fourth place in the 1998 World Cup and become a hero in South Korea and Australia over the course of the next two World Cups, Hiddink could not resist a second go with his home country. But the result was shambolic, and he was labelled "outdated" among other insults as the Oranje failed spectacularly in what appeared to be the straightforward task of qualifying for Euro 2016. Less proud men might have decided enough was enough but, following the English champions' sacking of Jose Mourinho, Hiddink has been offered a return to Chelsea, the scene of one of the most enjoyable periods of his 30-year coaching career. In February 2009, while already working as manager of Russia, Hiddink was brought in by Chelsea's Russian owner Roman Abramovich as a caretaker manager until the end of the season after he had lost patience with Brazil's former World Cup winner Luiz Felipe Scolari. "A favour for a friend," said Hiddink, who introduced a more relaxed regime and fostered an immediate rapport with the players and supporters as Chelsea began winning again. He restored a disenchanted Didier Drogba to the side, gave midfielder Frank Lampard a more attacking role and by the end of the season had lost only one match out of 22 -- a 1-0 defeat in a London derby at Tottenham Hotspur. That run took Chelsea to the semi-final of the Champions League, where they lost out on a second successive final against Manchester United only when Barcelona's Andres Iniesta scored an away goal in added time of the semi-final second leg. But Hiddink's first stint at Stamford Bridge finished on a high as Chelsea beat Everton at Wembley in the FA Cup final to add to their third place in the Premier League, which ensured qualification for the following season's Champions League. The players queued up to praise their temporary coach and presented him with an expensive watch, inscribed in vain with "please don't go". When Russia failed to qualify for the following year's World Cup, he may have regretted disappointing them. Now the chance has come again and the few players still at Chelsea almost six years on, such as John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and John Obi Mikel, will be backing him to repeat his experience at Eindhoven. He will hope that unlike Mourinho, a second stint at Chelsea can be as enjoyable as the first. (Reporting by Steve Tongue, editing by Mark Meadows and Ian Chadband)