Guus Hiddink adresses John Terry's future at Chelsea, England and beyond

Many bad things have clustered together this season, but one of them certainly takes the cake over missing out on Champions League or a cup trophy: the (oncoming) end of John Terry's career as a Chelsea player. Speaking about Terry's situation with the club, Chelsea manager Guus Hiddink only reminded that no matter what happens, Terry is a club legend.

"That's not up to me at this moment. I think in the time coming up you should ask the directors and obviously John has his own opinion about this. He is and will be a legend at this club, so he has big worth. Also he is and will be a leader."

-Guus Hiddink; source: ESPN

JT's leadership and presence on the field will be missed at Chelsea, just as it's been the case for the England national team, as evidenced by manager Roy Hodgson's quotes from earlier this week. With talks and ramblings over Hodgson's "long chat" with Terry, Hiddink said that he feels people are reading far too much into it.

"I think it is a little bit overvalued, whether they [Hodgson and Terry] had a conversation. It was no issue for either of them. John is doing his job for Chelsea and has decided already a few years ago not to be available for England, whatever the reason might be."

"You can ask him, but I don't know. What I know is he likes to play football. We didn't talk about [him playing for England]."

-Guus Hiddink; source: ESPN

As a 35-year-old defender with over 800 games played as a professional at club and international levels, Terry's career as a footballer is nearing its end. One of his potential forays after retirement might be as a manager, but Hiddink advised a bit of caution there as well.

"Terry won't be ready [to become a manager] in one or two years, but of course, if they get experience, most of the time it's good to go and be the first or second assistant, and have the experience from the other side."

"Many players think they can do it overnight, but I doubt that. I think the best thing is to get the practice and experience not to be one of the squad, but go on the other side and have the experience with the manager, how to deal with training, man management and a lot of other things you have to deal with."

"Sometimes we managers think we can manipulate every second of the game, which I do not think is true. But then you need, in my opinion, the tactical, strategic and very strong players who become managers. He can be one of them."

-Guus Hiddink; source: Daily Express

While it's unfortunate that Terry's departure from the team will happen in a trophyless season, maybe in the future, he can be one of the guys guiding us from the touchline towards more additions to the trophy cabinet.