Q & A with Letter of the Week winner Sunil Rai

When and why did you start supporting Manchester United?
I remember vividly the 1999 final. The 1st game I watched, not as a United fan, but as a curious sports fanatic, a mere onlooker. I have this tendency to support the so-called underdogs and this was the case in the 1999 final.

I recall my dad going off to sleep with 3 minutes to go but I was there clasping my hands offering every prayer I had, hoping fervently that a miracle materialises. And my God, it did. I don’t remember any moment in my life where I told myself, “OK I’ll support United”. It just happened.

It became an addiction. The charisma. The arrogance. The aura of invincibility. The ethics. The flamboyance. They had it all.

What is the most memorable football game you’ve watched and why?
Countless honestly. But the FA Cup final of 2006, when we lost in such fashion, will remain etched in my memory forever.

Will Hiddink survive the Chelsea cauldron?

(Video by RT)
NEWS has emerged late last night that Russia national coach Guus Hiddink – who is incidentally a close friend of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich – will take over managerial duties at Stamford Bridge for the rest of the season while still managing the Russian national team.

The Dutchman is to international football what Harry Redknapp is to English football – Hiddink has managed to bring out an extra edge to the national teams he managed, bringing Holland to the 1998 World Cup semi-finals, South Korea to 4th place in the 2002 World Cup, and guiding Australia to the 2006 finals for the first time in 32 years.

But as a club manager, his results have been mixed. The 62-year-old seems to perform his best in his native Holland, winning a total of one European Cup, six Eridivisie titles and four Dutch cup titles in his two stints with PSV Eindhoven, but also unremarkably stints with Real Madrid, Real Betis, Valencia and Fenerbahce.

The question is: Can Hiddink bring his international Midas touch to Chelsea?

THE POSTMAN LIM SAY HENG says: While Chelsea fans may rejoice at the short-term coup (which could very well turn into a long-term deal, given the close friendship Hiddink and Abramovich share), I have my doubts as to whether Tsar Hiddink can survive the demands of the Premiership, as well as that of his close friend.