Guus Hiddink On Fourth Official’s “Beautiful” Comment During West Brom Draw

Guus Hiddink is readjusting to the Premier League after six years between his two spells as Chelsea’s interim manager.

The Dutchman returned to boss the club following the sacking of Jose Mourinho in December, and is unbeaten since returning to Stamford Bridge.

But the former Russia, Real Madrid and South Korea coach was furious with referee Anthony Taylor during Wednesday night’s 2-2 draw with West Brom.

Hiddink believed that Taylor was letting the Baggies get away with murder and soon let the officials know how angry he was, venting to the fourth official.

And he has revealed that only a witty reply from Jon Moss – the official in question – helped defuse the situation and calm him down.

In his weekly press conference ahead of the home match against Everton on Saturday, he recounted the story via The Evening Standard, saying: “This referee didn’t want to send off anyone. There was a kind remark from the fourth official, he unarmed me fully.

“I told him ‘this is one of the worst referees I have experienced in the Premier League’ and he said to me ‘no, you haven’t seen me yet!’ It was a beautiful remark.

“It was about the two yellow cards that weren’t given (Yacob). So the second for Diego was not there.”

Hiddink was also forced to field questions on his temperamental striker Diego Costa, who was alleged to have punched a hole in the Stamford Bridge tunnel following the draw, which we told you about at the time.

Hiddink tried his best to play the event down, adding: “I did a lot of things before I got into management and one of my previous jobs was being a plumber and a builder.

“I checked it (the tunnel wall) out the day afterward and I didn’t see anything, just a few scratches on the plastic wall. It was an expression of not winning, no big deal.”

Chelsea remain in 14th position in the league table, with Champions League football next season seemingly out of grasp, the club take on PSG in the next round of Europe’s elite competition.