GUUS HIDDINK has said victory in the FA Cup final next month would represent a “beautiful ending” to his brief spell as Chelsea’s manager, but has urged Roman Abramovich to draw inspiration from the stability and style of today’s semi-final opponents, Arsenal, as he maps out the future of the west London club.

The Russia coach, who intends to sever all ties with Chelsea at the end of May to resume his duties full-time with the national team, expressed admiration last night for the model established by Arsene Wenger during his 13 years in the English game and indicated a similar approach at Stamford Bridge might provide the club with the stability they have lacked in recent times.

Hiddink’s priority on his appointment in February was to secure Champions League qualification for next season, a target he feels he has achieved, with the emphasis now very much upon gleaning Chelsea’s first silverware since Jose Mourinho’s reign.

“If I can lift the Cup for half a minute, that would be a beautiful ending,” said the Dutchman. “I don’t think I’ll have an official function here next season. It’s been a luxury working with people who are very committed and professional, but, while I’ve liked working everyday with the players again, realistically I have other projects [with Russia] which I like very much, also.

“Things were slipping away in terms of the team’s ranking in the league when I was asked to come here. We had to be playing in the Champions League next year, so we had to be in the top four which, I think, we can safely say we’ve done. But we are going fully to reset the aims we had back in February now that we are progressing on these roads [in the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the Champions League]. It would be foolish to say we’ve reached our goal in the league, so that’s it. This club must have a high standard.

“The Premier League is coming to the end, with only a few games to go, and each week it is more difficult for us to win it given the number of games left.

“We’re not saying we’re not focusing on the league any more, and we’ll be going fully for results because you never know what can happen – Manchester United have had their problems in recent weeks, after all – but we’ve dropped points when we’ve not been concentrating. That means the FA Cup and the Champions League are important for us.”

Hiddink, who will be without the hamstrung Deco and Jose Bosingwa at Wembley today, has confronted Wenger in the Champions League while coaching PSV Eindhoven, but this will be the pair’s first collision as managers of English clubs.

“Arsenal are a good model,” he said. “Arsene has been there rather long but, on the other hand, it shows that the club has adopted his philosophy and strategy about how to play, how to act, and with their education of young players and transfer policy. Their work has been serious over a long period. They’re a bit like Barcelona in that they sign players who people like to watch.

“In recent years, there have been rather a lot of changes in management at Chelsea, but people inside this organisation and this club know there has been too much change. To have stability, you must go for a longer period without changing the manager.

“If you do that, you can make short-term aims – daily or weekly – but can also plan in advance aiming to win things in two or three years’ time. Arsenal have not had a daily reaction on winning or losing. But, at Chelsea, things have happened that weren’t always in favour of creating such stability.”

Meanwhile, Hiddink denied Petr Cech has lost confidence as Chelsea address the defensive frailties that have caused plenty of frayed nerves at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues head into today’s clash having conceded seven goals in their last two matches.

Cech admitted he was at fault for two of the goals and looked uncomfortable throughout the 4-4 Champions League draw with Liverpool. The usually unflappable Czech goalkeeper later defended his form and even Hiddink raised an eyebrow at his uncharacteristic mistakes after the game.

But Hiddink has rubbished a report he has advised Chelsea to sign Tottenham stopper Heurelho Gomes and gave Cech his full support.

“My thoughts on Petr are very positive because since I’ve been here he has done very good goalkeeping work,” he said.

“We don’t neglect the reality because we want to get better but Petr is an intelligent person and knows that he had one or two moments when it was not going as he wished. That’s it.

“When a goalkeeper makes a mistake there’s always direct consequences. Every now and then a keeper has the right to make an error and then we move on.”