With hindsight, the decision to appoint Hiddink to succeed Louis van Gaal can now be regarded as one of the worst in the history of Dutch football. Hiddink took a team that had finished third in the World Cup and turned it into a team unable to negotiate the most generous European Championship qualifying format in history. There was even an eager alternative: Ronald Koeman, who in his chagrin at being overlooked, flounced off to Southampton and did not so badly. Instead, Holland plumped for the man known as “Lucky Guus”, and ended up stuffed.