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Ruud Gullit: Portrait of a Genius
Harry Harris


First published in 1997 and now available as an ebook.Two years after arriving in London, Ruud Gullit took English football by storm, not only revolutionising Chelsea Football Club but helping to transform the image of the Premier League so that it now attracts the best footballers from all over the world.Not that it was plain sailing for Chelsea’s player-manager throughout his career. In between winning European Cups with AC Milan and a European championship with Holland, Gullit experienced a succession of bust-ups with former managers and fellow players, disputes with his clubs and personal distractions off the pitch, suggesting that there is a harder, ruthless side to his character.What are the pressures involved in being a player-manager for a top London club? Who, in 1997, were the best players in England? How did Chelsea’s foreign stars such as Zola, Vialli and Di Matteo adjust to the demands of Premiership football? The answers can be found in Harry Harris’s profile of Gullit which includes Chelsea’s memorable 1997 FA Cup triumph and a review of the club’s 1996/97 Premier League season.















Copyright (#ulink_adff4481-1e7c-570b-9e30-c81e81cad68f)


Harper Non-Fiction

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First published in hardback 1996 by CollinsWillow

First published in paperback in 1997

Copyright © Harry Harris 1997

Harry Harris asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780002187817

Ebook Edition © JUNE 2016 ISBN: 9780008192068

Version: 2016-06-03




Dedication (#ulink_a4264ab3-f9b9-5527-8e75-2e84aec14499)


To Linda … a true Chelsea fan




Contents


Cover (#u1419656d-fa1e-580f-97c2-025ec6cc2b48)

Title Page (#u4b743156-4ead-516e-af6d-2cf181625eab)

Copyright (#ulink_35e1cc52-1073-56ef-8174-cefa56ca3e9d)

Dedication (#ulink_bf344217-0b24-502b-ac85-83ba43c31762)

Acknowledgements (#ulink_209486c5-7aea-52f7-b078-61c7ad7df5fd)

Introduction (#ulink_c86810fc-7a61-518f-970e-f7b9c8e48362)

1 ‘I’m Not A Foreigner – I’m a World Traveller’ (#ulink_98bbb380-135b-5850-9a75-e1b84b15d5c0)

2 Rebuilding the Bridge (#ulink_34a781f9-81ee-5bda-a22b-e46cdbcfbd17)

3 Gullit Mania (#ulink_93671eec-d5c9-559f-814c-9d215a81013d)

4 A New Season, a New Challenge (#ulink_26742b8c-73e7-53ce-8056-59b2a29cba25)

5 Dreaming of Total Football (#litres_trial_promo)

6 Cup Battles (#litres_trial_promo)

7 The Troubleshooter (#litres_trial_promo)

8 Ruud Awakening (#litres_trial_promo)

9 Italy – the Dream that Turned Sour (#litres_trial_promo)

10 World Stage (#litres_trial_promo)

11 Private Life: The Man Behind the Dreadlocks (#litres_trial_promo)

12 Boss of the Bridge (#litres_trial_promo)

13 A Cup-Winning Season (#litres_trial_promo)

Career Highlights (#litres_trial_promo)

Index (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)




Acknowledgements (#ulink_0caaaf71-3643-5810-904d-48c23fb3208d)


My thanks to close Dutch friend and colleague Marcel van der Kraan for his expert views on the young Ruud Gullit; Godric Smith at the Conservative Party Press Office; and to former Prime Minister John Major for offering his views on Ruud. Plus all the other MPs, celebrities and people in the game who contributed their opinions. My thanks also go to Chelsea chairman Ken Bates, chief executive Colin Hutchinson, Ruud’s UK advisors Jon and Phil Smith of First Artists Corporation, and Sky TV press officer Chris Haynes. The Daily Mirror provided a number of pictures for the book, and it was nice to get so much co-operation from my ‘Fleet Street’ colleagues, notably Michael Hart and photographer Frank Tewkesbury for the snap of Ruud winning the Evening Standard Footballer of the Month award for January 1996, for which Ruud insisted all his team-mates appear! At publishers HarperCollins, praise too for Editorial Director Michael Doggart for recognising straight away my conviction that a biography of Ruud Gullit would make such fascinating reading; Tom Whiting for his patience and helpful suggestions; and Andrew Clark and David Williams for their diligent sub-editing.

Finally, a special thanks to Dutch photographer Peter Smoulders for his excellent portfolio of Ruud Gullit pictures.




Introduction (#ulink_69435c16-afc3-5b6f-96af-cdd4e296bcf6)


The first non-British manager to reach the FA Cup Final is none other than the charismatic Dutchman Ruud Gullit. This is all the more remarkable considering that he achieved this distinction in his very first season in football management.

When he was informed that he had made English football history after Chelsea’s FA Cup semi-final demolition of Wimbledon at Highbury in April 1997, it was a moment to savour, a special achievement even in his distinguished career. ‘I have just been told that I am the first foreign coach to take a team to Wembley in an FA Cup final and am very proud of that. But it is important we win it, as first place is the only thing that matters in any competition.’ And win it they did, in true style.

Gullit’s first season in charge produced a whirlwind of activity at the Bridge. Witnessed by thousands of fans were a kaleidoscope of spectacular goals, famous victories and disappointing defeats. Winning at Old Trafford and beating mighty Liverpool twice at the Bridge would be etched forever in the memories of Chelsea supporters – including that epic 4–2 win in the fourth round FA Cup tie after being two goals down, a match seen by millions on BBC TV.

English football has been a graveyard for foreign managers. Their track record is a litany of disaster. In recent years Dr Joe Venglos at Aston Villa and Ossie Ardiles at Newcastle and then Tottenham have flopped. Gullit broke the mould, as has Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

But Chelsea’s managing director, Colin Hutchinson, explained that Gullit’s management role is not typical. ‘English football is entering the era of the coach. It is the Continental way and Chelsea are pioneering this with Ruud working in a classic Continental set-up. He identifies the players he wants and I try to get them. We were fortunate that Ruud had a year in the Premier League as a player to get to know the English game and fellow Blues before taking over as player-manager. It would have been too much to have asked him to play, coach and manage when he first arrived in London from Sampdoria.

‘Had Ruud turned down the player-manager role, Chelsea might still have gone Continental. Arsene Wenger was a possibility, although indications were that he would not be available until well into the season. Sven Ericksson, who has had European success with Malmo, Benfica and Sampdoria, was another prospect.

‘Premiership squads will continue to be multi-national. The next big invasion could be from Continental coaches, which would be another step on the road to helping raise standards and the technical quality of the English game. If that makes our clubs a stronger force in European competitions, then it will be for the good. Until England’s clubs start winning European cups we won’t be seriously considered as the number one league in the world.’

Gullit has helped to transform English football by incorporating a host of ideas from Italy, where he was the world’s number one with AC Milan. Look at his pre-Chelsea career and you can easily deduce why many of his players say they have learned so much from him. Gullit’s honours include World Footballer of the Year (1987); European Footballer of the Year (1987); European Championships winner (1988); European Cup winner (1989, 1990); Italian League title winner (1988, 1992, 1993) and Dutch League title winner (1984, 1986 1987); 66 caps for Holland and scorer of 16 international goals. Gullit also wins the praise of football’s top players. George Weah, World Footballer of the Year in 1996, recalls meeting him when they both played for the Rest of the World XI in Munich. ‘He was very pleasant and respectful. He spoke to me like a son or a brother. He was full of encouragement and came across as a superb role model for us all. I really admire him as a player. Like Eric Cantona, Ruud always speaks the truth. He never hides from it and that has earned him huge respect worldwide.’ In his first season as a player in England, Gullit was quick to win the respect of the UK fans. He was named 1996’s Best International Player in the UK by readers of the football magazines World Soccer, Goal, 90 Minutes, Soccer Stars and Shoot.

His innovations have been a breath of fresh air for the traditional English game, and he has implemented them without any grey flecks appearing on his famous dreadlocks. This isn’t to say that Mr Super Cool doesn’t experience any emotion. ‘I think the very best time is the relief of scoring a goal or watching the celebrations of the players after scoring.’

While Kevin Keegan and other high-profile bosses were struck down by burn-out, it was a stress-free zone for Gullit, who in the summer of 1996 managed from the bench in an Armani suit and no socks, and in the winter of 1996/97 with fashionable apparel, including a bobble hat to keep not only his head warm but also his dreadlocks dry.

Voted Britain’s Best Dressed Man, Ruud was signed up for his own designer label Ruud Wear. The BBC negotiated a two-year contract after his roaring success with Des Lynam and Alan Hansen during Euro 96, and he signed a lucrative TV commercial deal to advertise M&Ms.

In his first six months in charge he bought and sold 12 players for a transfer turnover of more than £18 million. He imported Gianluca Vialli, Gianfranco Zola, and Roberto di Matteo and Frank Leboeuf for a cost of £12 million and sold old favourites such as John Spencer, Terry Phelan and Gavin Peacock. Ruud also sold Paul Furlong and youngsters such as Anthony Barness and Muzzy Izzett, with Mark Stein and David Rocastle loaned out.

The players Gullit recruited sent the wage bill soaring to £15 million a year. Accounting for the lion’s share were the £25, 000-a-week salaries of the Italian superstars, who are among Chelsea’s nouveaux-riches and regularly dine at San Lorenzo’s, Princess Diana’s favourite Kensington eatery.

By Gullit’s own admission the 1996/97 football season was a ‘roller coaster year’. But how the fans loved it. The average home game attendance was 27, 600 – the best for nine years. Season ticket sales for 1997/98 have set a record for the third year running. The next stage of the Bridge development is a lavish £25 million new West Stand with 15 millennium suites, 34 boxes, 14, 000 capacity and more than 2, 500 places for meals on match days. The current capacity of 28, 500 will rise to 35, 000 in the 1997/98 season and ultimately 43, 000 when the complex is complete. Clearly, Chelsea are building towards becoming the Manchester United of the South. Captain Dennis Wise said: ‘We used to play in front of 13, 000, but this year it has been totally different. It has been 28, 000 every week, and that’s how it should be at Chelsea. As a result we’re more where we should be as a club.’

Mark Hughes is a man of action and few words. He said: ‘Perhaps in the past Chelsea hoped to be involved in a competition at their climax. Now we expect to be. That’s progress.’

Chelsea Football Club were once synonymous with racism. It was infested by the National Front, the home of soccer bigotry. The Shed was its symbol, a breeding ground and recruitment centre. It was not alone, of course. There were several other terraces in English football plagued with violent and unsavoury fans, whose racism was demonstrated by antics such as throwing bananas onto the pitch and imitating monkey noises.

Chelsea’s few black players were hardly welcome. So, it was hell for black opponents, targeted much to the embarrassment of black and white Chelsea players alike.

Ken Bates presided over years of racial tension. ‘Paul Cannoville was our first black player and our own fans would throw bananas at him when he warmed up at the side of the pitch. Now we have the first black manager in the Premiership.’ Bates battled against racism, and Gullit has helped his campaign. ‘With us, it was a question of give a dog a bad name. Yet it was happening at other clubs. Blackburn, for example, never signed a black player; nor did Liverpool for a long time. But don’t believe that racism has left the Bridge, it hasn’t – it has just been contained. Gullit has had an effect, a marvellous effect, but he’s not the Messiah!’

Maybe not, but his influence is apparent. Fans used to shave their heads in homage to unpalatable and dangerous right-wing groups … now they shave their heads in worship to Vialli.

In his own forthright and inimitable style, Bates discussed the club’s Big Fish at the Bridge over an exquisite Italian meal of lobster and sea bass at a fashionable Chelsea restaurant, L’Incontro in Pimlico Road. ‘Hoddle bought Gullit, but Hoddle couldn’t have bought the players Gullit has! Four years ago we would have been on par with the likes of QPR and Crystal Palace. Hoddle produced that quantum leap by transforming the club into a Little England. Gullit has made it a Little Europe. Gullit has made people realise that English clubs can look beyond the white cliffs of Dover.’

Bates finally got it right in his choice of manager after John Hollins, Bobby Campbell and Ian Porterfield. At the time of Gullit’s appointment he was asked how it felt to be not only starting his first season as manager but also the highest-profile black manager in the English game. There wasn’t a flicker of emotion as he responded: ‘Whether you are black or white, what is important is talent. My father, who studied economics at night school, told me that I would have to work harder than others for what I would achieve. For me, that was the stimulation. I took it positively. I felt proud of who I was, of the colour, everything. Of course, I am aware that I’m black and that I stand out. But I use it to my advantage. I view it positively. If you feel attacked by your difference, then it is you who has the problem.’

Former Chelsea boss David Webb believes Gullit is destined for the top in management. Webb, still adored by Chelsea fans, is delighted his old club are now FA Cup champions with an eye on winning the league championship in 1997/98. He said: ‘If he’s successful here, the really big clubs in Europe will want him. Every move he makes is watched in Europe. Powerful teams like AC Milan will be aware of what he achieves. The biggest clubs want the very best, which is why Cruyff ended up at Barcelona.

‘It’s different for English managers. It seems they have to be successful for three or four years at a club before they are considered to be among the best. But in Europe people move about much more. Everything’s a stage in their career for them. But I’d love it if Ruud stays at Chelsea for years and really builds something. It’s great to see Chelsea up there among the best. What the club must do is build over a period of time. It’s what I’ve set out to do at Brentford and I like to feel we’re reaping the rewards. That’s why it pleases me to see youngsters like Morris, Myers and Duberry making an impact at Chelsea alongside the big-money Italian signings.’

Gullit hired Ade Mafe, an Olympic 200-metre finalist and Linford Christie’s former training partner, as fitness trainer. Mafe’s mission was to help the players increase their speed over short distances and to develop their stamina and upper body strength. Gullit saw Mafe’s appointment as helping to address the club’s failure of not being able to hold onto the lead, which happened on 17 occasions in Hoddle’s final year at Chelsea. The improvement was seen early in the 1996/97 season: Chelsea were stronger in the final 15 minutes than they had been in the previous season and were less likely to make fatigue-induced errors. Gullit said: ‘We scored late goals against Middlesbrough and Arsenal and that proved we still had strength at the end of games.’

Mafe had moved into the lucrative world of personal fitness training before being snapped up as part of Ruud’s backroom team. ‘It is really good to be back in the elite sporting world again. I feel this is a good challenge and I love a challenge. I’m working on the players’ speed off the mark, their leg strength, agility, reaction times and awareness – all things we had to do for athletics that are applicable to soccer.’

But he’s reluctant to take credit for the resurgence in the team’s fortunes or their vast improvement in the last third of their games. ‘What has happened is down to Ruud and a new era starting. I’m just a small part of the whole and I want to see the team succeed.’

Ex-Olympian champion and true-Blue fan Sebastian Coe knows Ade well. Both travelled to Los Angeles in 1984 as part of the British Olympic team. ‘The science and technique of training in English football has been something that’s been overlooked for years. Ruud Gullit has recognised that no Continental club would consider training to be something that took place between 10am and midday. I know the Italian set-up well, having lived in Italy for some time, and it’s a full-time 9am to 5pm job with work on technique and conditioning.’ Coe points out, though, that athletes have been employed as coaches before in English football training. ‘Norman Whiteside is one example. He was taught sprinting techniques by Olympic gold medallist Mary Peters. But this is more the exception than the rule. Lessons can also be learned from other sports. If you look at the success of the England rugby union side, it has been based on athletic technique.’

Gullit has effected a Continental-style revolution that started with Ade. Gullit said: ‘Ade has done an excellent job. The players are much fitter now and some go out and do extra work by themselves. Now they understand that if they take care of their bodies then they can last longer in the game.’

Dan Petrescu is used to such methods from Italian football. ‘All Ruud is trying to do is to bring Italy’s more professional approach to training to Chelsea. Ade is something new in English football, as he is the first fitness coach in the Premier League. But in Italy the use of fitness coaches is not unusual. Some of the English players were surprised in pre-season how hard the training was. Perhaps they are not used to training as hard as players in Italy. “We are not horses,” they said. But we should be thoroughbreds, because the games here are so much quicker than in Italy.’

As for Gullit’s transition from player to manager, Petrescu said: ‘Ruudi likes to laugh and joke, but he can also stand apart from us and do what a manager must do. We know he is not happy when we do not play well – even if we win. But he inspires us to play better.’

Gullit’s laid-back manner hides his desire to be as successful a manager as he was a player. Early in the 1996/97 season Dennis Wise said: ‘We are all encouraged to put forward our views. He is happy to listen to them. He laughs when we moan but almost always says: “Go out and enjoy yourselves and score some goals.” This is my seventh season at Chelsea. I’ve been in four semi-finals and one final and haven’t won anything for my club. Ruud’s attitude is so positive. He wants to win something, and so do I. He makes me believe I will as he does the rest of the team, because he gives us that little bit extra. In fact, this season it’s more than a little bit extra with the players he has bought.’

Chelsea were the original fashionable club of the swinging 1960s. Raquel Welch once sat alongside Dickie Attenborough at the Bridge – there was no trendier place to be seen. Alan Hudson was the all-time crowd favourite, the trend-setter. Alan says Gullit has brought the buzz back to the famous borough of Kensington and Chelsea. ‘This is the nearest we’ve ever got to the atmosphere of the late 1960s and early 1970s. You can still sense it when there isn’t even a game on. The club has been very dour for a long time, but Stamford Bridge now is alight.’

Less than two miles from Heathrow, the world’s busiest airport, nestles the serene setting of Chelsea’s Harlington training headquarters. In the past, only a handful of journalists would assemble for pre-match briefings. Now the place is constantly under siege. Schoolchildren, families, fans and just the curious swell the ranks of onlookers to catch a glimpse of Gullit and the foreign stars. Youngsters just want to touch Gullit. So many turn up that crash barriers manned by overworked guards who also patrol the pitch are now a familiar sight.

Early in the 1996/97 season Scott Minto said: ‘There are so many people who turn up at our training ground that I have had to tell the stewards guarding the entrance that I’m a player and had to ask them to let me drive in for training. It is amazing really to think that the club has attracted players like Vialli, Zola and Gullit. I wouldn’t have thought I would be playing with players like them when I joined from Charlton two years ago.’

One of England’s finest-ever imported players, Ossie Ardiles, is now enjoying a managerial renaissance in Japan. He arrived from South America with Ricardo Villa to experience the original culture shock. Back at his Hoddeston home on a break from his managerial successes in Japan, he told me: ‘I think coming to London is a big advantage for Gullit and his Italian signings. It is a big, big difference living in the capital than living, say, in the north of England. There is a big Argentinian community in London that helped me to settle, and there is similarly a large Italian community in the capital. The cosmopolitan Chelsea area, in particular, is definitely conducive to keeping star foreign players happy.’

Also in the club’s favour is that Gullit can contend with settling-in difficulties. Having made big international moves he can empathize with his foreign stars and help them to adjust. An added complication, however, is that Chelsea’s culture shock has been two-way. While the Italians have had to adjust, so too have the British players. The bangers and mash brigade, led by that typically chirpy cockney Dennis Wise, have had to alter their eating habits to follow the Continental approach extended from the Hoddle regime. Routine food allergy tests are conducted to examine whether anything has been absorbed into the players’ bodies that might affect their performance. Erland Johnson was told to steer clear of lager – a big blow for the Norwegian! Ruud has had to cut down on bread, coffee and chocolate, and Jakob Kjeldbjerg was warned off lettuce. Then there is the Frenchman Frank Lebeouf. The new delicacy he brought to the training ground canteen was cornflakes in his cup of tea! Sometimes he eats his breakfast cornflakes with apple juice out of the bowl.

Like others, Minto pinpoints the beginning of Chelsea’s transformation to the date Hoddle signed Gullit. ‘Things have changed much more since Ruud has taken over. Training has been a little more relaxed – apart from the five-a-sides. We have a fiver a man on those now, so the tackles really fly. But more seriously, this club is going to get bigger still under Ruud. He is such a charismatic player and manager that he will attract the top players from around Europe. You look at his career and he has done everything. If you watch the way he trains and plays, he is a good example. You can’t help but learn from him.’

Andy Myers agrees: ‘Off the field the club has definitely progressed and become more professional. We go for tests to see if we are allergic to any foods. I’m taking more care of my diet than I was a couple of years ago and I feel fitter thanks to the work Ade Mafe has put in. We’re becoming 24-hour-a-day professionals in the same way as the Italians.’

Gullit says he found it difficult, at first, to make the transition from player to manager. ‘I’ve had to distance myself because I must make tough decisions. I used to enjoy being part of the locker room. But I knew I’d have to separate myself from that when I took the job.’ Gullit’s methods differ from Hoddle’s, but he refuses to make any comparison. ‘Before I took charge I had to sit quietly in the dressing room and suggest changes discreetly. I never knew whether they would be carried out. Now I am right there in the middle, giving talks, holding meetings and showing the players what they are doing right and wrong. It’s so nice to be able to express my feelings and ideas this way. And you can see from the players’ faces that they are enjoying what they are doing. They know there is more to the game than just kicking the ball into the box and hoping somebody might score. They have improved as players and they can still do better. My job is not to get a better team in order to chase Manchester United. It is just to get a better team.’

Gullit has quickly sensed the change in attitude towards him since succeeding Hoddle. ‘The players treat me differently. They know that the decisions come from me and from Graham Rix. When we are on the training ground I’m just a player and Graham is in charge. But if someone needs to be dealt with in some way I’ll take him to one side and have a quiet word. I’m not going to shout or scream at anyone. Some people need a hug; others respond to different methods. The most important thing is that they take pleasure from what they are doing. Football is a game. It is meant to be fun.

‘I like to watch what the players do and hear what they think after a game. They’ll only enjoy themselves if they’re winning and keeping possession. Most of the time we do that. The foundation is being laid. Success will definitely follow but it will take some time yet. For me, winning something is the dessert. The creation is the main course.’

One of Chelsea’s legends has no doubts about the Gullit era that has brought sweeping changes to the Bridge. Peter Osgood, a regular still at the club in his pre-match hospitality duties, marvels at Gullit’s regime. ‘I think Ruud’s a very professional man. He is a great player and will hopefully become a great manager. He has installed certain disciplines that are necessary. We were always collar and tie, whereas lots of people now wear track suits, but I’m against that. You should go to a match feeling good and looking good. We always used to meet up and go out together, do things together and we had a great dressing room atmosphere. Ruud seems to have created the same team spirit. All the lads are terrific to talk to. We’ve just got to get the right balance and we will be an even more exciting side.’

Gullit has quickly transformed Chelsea into one of the capital’s great entertainers. ‘We have bought the kind of players people like to watch,’ said Gullit. ‘Wherever we go, the grounds are full because fans know they are liable to see a spectacular show – even when it’s freezing cold.

‘When you look at the new stands being built here and the waiting lists for executive boxes, you can see Chelsea is growing very fast. The speed with which we are able to grow depends, of course, on our progress on the pitch. But our policy in the transfer market has been positive. Everyone made a big song and dance about the sums we spent on Roberto Di Matteo, Frank Leboeuf and Gianfranco Zola. But we have recouped a fair amount of that, and the club’s business strategy has been excellent. Sure, we’ve had players who have had difficulties coping with the new regime, and others who could not accept it. But we are quite happy those players are now doing quite well at other clubs because it shows our overall quality.’

Right from the outset Gullit knew the role he wanted to play as manager and the players he wanted. ‘I needed to know that I would be able to do the job the way I wanted it to be done. I wanted to be bothered only with football, nothing else. The club have accepted that, as they did when I named the three players I had to have: Leboeuf, Vialli and Di Matteo.

‘I have a dream for Chelsea. Everyone dreams about something they want and I am just the same. I do not know if I can realise it, but all my attention is focused on Chelsea – all of it, nothing else, nobody else.’

Bates is ecstatic about Gullit’s impact. The chairman was full of praise for Gullit for building a super team for £6 million and not £60 million. Bates said: ‘Ruud is the Tina Turner of football management – simply the best. Even in this day and age of huge transfer fees, Gullit has built this team for just £6 million. He’s been a clever buyer of players, and our chief executive Colin Hutchinson has been a clever seller of players. Hoddle built the platform and Ruud has taken us from being just another average Premier League side into the top rankings.’

Bates was impressed that Gullit never took a single penny pay-rise to become the boss at the Bridge. Bates joked: ‘If he wanted a pay rise, it would have been cheaper to give him the club!’ Gullit took charge on a purely cash-for-trophies basis. Bates explained: ‘He wanted no extra cash for becoming manager. He said he would rather we spent the money on the team. We said we would give him bonuses for success. Winning the FA Cup for Chelsea and taking the club to Europe have already made that happen for Ruud. He has taken us a step further by elevating us into the international ranks. This club will now never be out of the spotlight, not just in this country but across the world. We’re now on the big stage. We’re also starting our own radio station and going on the Internet.’

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, debating the heated subject of the value and motives of overseas stars, justified his purchase of five in a summer-spending spree before the start of the 1996/97 season. ‘They are young with more to come, unlike some of the better-known stars who have come into our game here from Italy. You can’t beat the clock and I wonder how long some of them will play. I am building not just for today but tomorrow, although I must admit that I have a tinge of regret not taking Ruud Gullit when he became available. But I am afraid his agent put me off.’




CHAPTER ONE (#ulink_04a474ac-8072-5ff4-a4b5-722322d4966b)

‘I’m not a foreigner – I’m a world traveller’ (#ulink_04a474ac-8072-5ff4-a4b5-722322d4966b)


Ruud Gullit loves to talk. He is knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects, of which football is not top of the list. But he doesn’t just talk for the sake of it. He sees himself as a teacher and nothing seems to give him greater pleasure than an appreciative audience. He likes nothing better than to impart his wealth of, knowledge about the game to others, whether they are team-mates or journalists. In his company I have been riveted by his wide range of subjects – including adoption, surrogate mothers, and environmental issues. Ruud would rather switch on the television to watch a fascinating documentary than bore himself with an uninteresting football match.

I followed Jurgen Klinsmann’s one and only glory season in English football and there are numerous similarities. There are also some stark contrasts. The smiling German symbolised English soccer, season 1994/95. Every magazine, newspaper, radio and television programme featured Jurgen’s endearing features. The World Cup star came to English football with a reputation of diving, but he did the right things, said the right things, smiled, and won the hearts and minds of the footballing nation. But after a while Klinsmann’s interviews seemed to merge into one. Then he ‘buggered off’, as Alan Sugar put it succinctly, after just one season, and the Spurs chairman raised suspicions about the German’s motives. Things came to a head during an interview for BBC’s Sportsnight programme, when Sugar threw Klinsmann’s Tottenham shirt to the floor in disgust.

Whether or not Klinsmann came for the money and to rekindle a diminishing career, the Premiership felt it would be poorer for the loss of the Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year. But the following season, Gullit and many more foreign stars arrived to play in the Premier League.

When the news of Gullit’s free transfer move from Sampdoria broke in the summer of 1995, there was the usual media speculation about the salary he would be earning in England. It was believed his original two-year deal with Chelsea amounted to around £1.6 million, a sum which would prove to be a bargain for the club, as the wages were spread over the duration of his two-year commitment without any transfer fee, at a time when prices were soaring. And now they have a successful manager as well as a player for virtually the same amount of money.

When Gullit first arrived at the Bridge, Ken Bates recalls how money was the last thing on the Dutchman’s mind. ‘I’ll tell you a little secret about Ruud which sums up the man perfectly. Ruud had been at the club a couple of months and he still hadn’t bothered to open an English bank account. Colin Hutchinson called him over and said to him: “I’ve got your wage cheques here.” Ruud told him, “Don’t worry, Colin, you’re my banker. Keep the cheques in the drawer until I need them!”

‘He’s got a lovely dry sense of humour. He is also very polite and respectful. One match day he spotted me before the game at my table and came over. I looked up at his dreadlocks and got out a comb. He just burst out laughing.

‘Ruud is really the perfect diplomat. He never puts a foot wrong. The only trouble he’s experienced occurs when he’s been misquoted. His influence goes much deeper than the superficial. There was annoyance within the club when he first joined that Gullit was the superstar and the rest didn’t matter and that they were not good enough. It was patently untrue, but it hurt. Then, when Gullit was injured, the team won as many games without him as they did when he was in the team. That’s not belittling his contribution in any way. In fact it’s a compliment to him because it reflects his overall influence on the team whether he is playing or not. The truth is that Gullit was largely responsible for helping Glenn to get the younger players around to the manager’s way of thinking.’

But there is not a hint of indulgence at the Bridge. Ruud works as hard as anyone in training and on the pitch. His influence has been immense, his sincerity unquestioned. A testimony to his sheer genius came from England and former Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle. ‘He is enjoying his football. In this game you learn by example. The players are becoming better because of him. When I was at Chelsea we signed Ruud as a sweeper, but later in the season we moved him into midfield and a lot of that credit has to go to David Lee. He took over as sweeper and did well. Then we started getting the ball to Ruud as quickly as possible. In some games in England, midfield can be like a tennis match. But we tried to build from the back and get it to Ruud and that allows him to go and influence the play. I knew he had another three years in him when he came to Chelsea. He is fit, got the talent and is still in love with the game. While he’s got that, he is going to be a big influence at any club.’

His influence on players like Newton, Myers, Duberry, Sinclair and Furlong grew more important as the months went by and they got to know him better. Bates pointed out: ‘His total indiscrimination towards colour has made a great impression on our black players, particularly the young ones.’ Ruud has always been outspoken on issues of racism in soccer, and attended the FA backed ‘Kick Racism Out of Soccer’ campaign just a couple of months after arriving in England.

Although it is widely assumed that Ruud is more effective in midfield, his first awards came as a result of his superb displays as a sweeper. Mirror Sport readers voted him the FA Premier League’s Most Valuable Player of the Month for September 1995. He was also the first McDonald’s/Shoot Player of the Month, averaging 8.25 ratings for his performances, including five man-of-the-match nominations in his first eight games. Shoot said: ‘He was awarded a mark of nine out of ten in four of those great games and was head and shoulders above the rest of the Premiership stars.’

But you will never meet a more modest chap. When he was awarded the Evening Standard’s Player of the Month award for January 1996 – as an outstanding midfield player – the newspaper’s chief football correspondent Michael Hart, hardened by years in the cynical world of this particular tainted sport, was almost shocked by Gullit’s reaction. He wrote: ‘You would think that someone who has touched the heights of the world game might not rank winning the Evening Standard Footballer of the Month award too highly among the golden moments of an epic career. Yet Ruud Gullit turned out to be one of the most gracious recipients of the last quarter of a century. Not just gracious, but genuinely grateful. “I couldn’t have won this without the rest of the team,” he said. “They make a lot of jokes about me in the dressing room but I’m very happy with the guys.” To prove the point, he insisted on including the rest of the Chelsea team in the photograph and publicly thanked his colleagues who have come to appreciate the enduring influence of one of the world’s great players. “The first thing you want is that the team plays well,” said Gullit. “A team is like a clock. If you take one piece out, it doesn’t work”.’

Gullit became a born-again player in his first year at Chelsea. ‘I seem to have gone back in time. I’m playing like it’s the beginning of my career again and that I’m an 18-year-old again. The child in me can play on because I am still enjoying it, and if I enjoy it I can express myself better.’ He also much prefers the attacking style of play over here compared to the often negative attitude back in Italy. ‘In England you don’t just stay back and defend,’ he says. ‘You are not a slave to tactics and results.’

To watch Gullit’s long-range passing is a delight. It used to be the hallmark of Hoddle himself, but somehow Gullit has a far greater degree of consistency in his passing. That is what should be meant by the long ball, instead of the kick and rush, or kick and hope. Gullit plays the short passes with carefree simplicity and the long-range missiles with uncanny accuracy. As Michael Hart wrote: ‘Gullit’s job, wherever he plays, is quite simple. His presence, his ability on the ball, his vast stride, his vision, his range of passing … all were essential to Hoddle’s doctrine. With Gullit in the side the Chelsea players had the conviction they needed to successfully interpret Hoddle’s tactics.’

A huge debate erupted during the course of the 1994/95 season over the value of imported stars, their quality and the influx as a result of the Bosman case. Gordon Taylor, of the Professional Footballers Association, was at the sharp end of the controversy with work permit problems involving Romanian World Cup star Ilie Dumitrescu. While Taylor is a concerned Euro-sceptic, he welcomed Klinsmann and laid down the red carpet for players like Gullit, Ginola, and Bergkamp. Their arrival, he believed, far from diminishing opportunities for home players that might be the case with the also-rans that join the influx, can stimulate young players’ development. Taylor, nevertheless, insisted that while transfer turnover had reached £130 million a year, the proportion of it going to clubs in the lower divisions was falling.

The desirability of a large number of foreign players was in question. But players of the highest quality can only enhance the English game and they don’t come any higher than Ruud. As Stan Hey wrote in the Independent on Sunday: ‘Gullit, whose magnificent physique and twirling dreadlocks are dramatic enough prologues even before he touches a ball, is probably the most prestigious import to the English game since Osvaldo Ardiles arrived at Tottenham with his World Cup winners’ medal.’

The acquisition of Gullit was so natural for Hoddle after his decision to finally end his own illustrious playing career. Hoddle began his three-year stint as a player-manager at the Bridge in the sweeper role. He believed he had found the perfect player to fill the void. Hoddle, explaining the original concept for signing Gullit, said: ‘I earmarked him three months before the end of the 1994/95 season when I was looking for a sweeper. The big question was whether we could get him. I thought at first it would be a struggle to afford him. Then, when I discovered he was on a free transfer, I couldn’t believe it. It proved to be a long, hard struggle to sign him, but I was convinced it was going to be a worthwhile struggle.’

Gullit’s pre-requisite for any move from Italian football was the freedom to fulfil his desire to return to playing in a sweeper system. He was determined to make it work. But he equally accepted without complaint a switch to midfield where he became the cornerstone of Chelsea’s transformation. Gullit was prepared to forsake his desire to play sweeper because of his respect and affection for Hoddle. Equally, Hoddle was ready to ditch his original conception of Gullit’s role for the overall benefit of the team, yet still retain his philosophy of playing three at the back with David Lee taking over as the sweeper.

Right from the outset Gullit had an affinity with Hoddle as he explained at the start of the 1995/96 season: ‘I like the way Glenn thinks about football. The reason I came to Chelsea is that it is one of the English clubs managed by an English player who has played abroad. Glenn Hoddle, like Kevin Keegan, wants more than just kick-and-rush football. Because if you keep possession of the ball, you can dictate the game, and wait for the right moment to attack. Most of the Premiership teams play more on the ball now, which is one of the reasons the rest of Europe has become so positive about the English game. If we have the ball, we can play to our own rhythm, rather than allow our opponents to play the ball at high speed. If you always have the ball, you can direct the game.’

It only took a few games for Gullit to appreciate that his sweeper role in English football would not be permanent. Gullit was never going to be dictatorial about his role as he explained from the very outset: ‘In my career, coaches and managers have always tried to play me in different positions. I happen to be a player who can play in almost every position. Sometimes that’s a bonus, sometimes it can be a disadvantage. I can say I claim the sweeper position for the entire season, but if we get problems up front I might be asked to go and play there.

‘When I started playing as a kid it was as a libero because I was big and kicked very hard,’ he said. ‘I played there when I turned professional, but my club always needed someone strong up front. I went up front, made a lot of goals, which was my fault,’ he joked. ‘Then they needed someone on the right wing. I did well on the right wing, then PSV wanted me as a libero and I did well there. Then they needed someone up front, so I played up front and made goals – and so it has carried on.’

Ruud absorbs a great deal of information and has a wide range of interests. Unlike the archetypal footballer whiling away those hours of free time watching football videos, drinking, betting or going to the dogs, Gullit has been hooked by the wide range of documentary programmes on television. After the second home match of the season, a thrilling, if disappointing 2–2 draw with Coventry, Gullit sat in the near deserted Bridge press room close to the dressing rooms discussing philosophy with a handful of journalists who could be bothered to wait until he had conducted an assortment of television and radio interviews. With a twelve-day break before the next match because of international games, Gullit was asked if he would indulge in catching up with English football by watching videos of matches. Not at all. Instead, he would continue his television diet of serious programmes. He said: ‘I watch football on TV but not all the time. There are a lot more important things to see. Certain things are fascinating. One was about Siamese twins, and how the surgeons decided to separate them. One of the girls survives but misses her sister and even names her false leg after her twin. That touches you. You see what the children have to endure. You see the problems of autistic children and imagine how the parents have to live with it. Your whole life can be occupied by the plight of children. You see how lucky you are.

‘Another was about a new cure for Parkinson’s disease. I was watching this guy with his flailing arms and the surgeon drilling into his brain. You see the result, he is able to control himself and walk, and that is really something special. Things like this are the real world. You compare all this with what is happening to you. You can learn a lot about it. Football is part of life, but it is entertainment. There are other, more important things. These documentaries give you other aspects of life, something special, something emotional. Football doesn’t rule my life.’

It was a remarkable insight into Ruud’s perspective of life, as he was willing to talk endlessly about his innermost feelings when he watched those documentaries. He seemed less inclined to open up about his football!

The 1995/96 Premiership season kicked off with a fascinating portrait of Gullit in The Times by their chief soccer writer Rob Hughes. He wrote: ‘In many ways, Gullit is the symbol of what is happening to the English game in this hot, lazy, crazy summer. We are no longer buying cheap imports from eastern Europe, but men of character, status, achievement.’

However, The Times article posed pointed questions about Gullit’s fitness, and desire. ‘Does he arrive here too late, and diminished after the fearful injuries to his knees, the two failed marriages so ruthlessly exposed by the paparazzi?’

Gullit answered this straight away with an impeccable debut in the Premiership and with it the promise of real success for Chelsea after such a long wait. Goals were hard to come by at the start of the season for the Blues, but Gullit was their most effective player – in defence, midfield and attack!

Hoddle is convinced that Ruud can continue to play in the top flight. He has already seen enough to suggest that Gullit is as fit as ever. He says: ‘There is no reason why he cannot go on until he is 37 or 38. Some people have been surprised by how fit he is, but I am not. I wouldn’t have bought him if I hadn’t done my homework. He is a real professional and looks after his body. Only people who love the game can play until that age. He knows that when he hangs up his boots he can abuse his body all he wants then. But while he loves the game and looks after himself, he has the vision to play on for years to come.’

Gullit adapted quickly to the contrast in philosophies from Italian football. So quickly that any thought of a culture shock was instantly dismissed. While he praises the game over here for a variety of reasons, he is critical of standards of the English game in Europe and world football. ‘The Italian game is based on winning. How you win is unimportant. Here, the game is far more open and exciting and people all over the world love to watch it. But you don’t win anything. The records show that and it was proved again last season. I love the game in England, but its future depends on the coaches. They have to make a choice.’

In his first season in English football, the prominent club sides failed miserably in Europe. Yet again the English League champions had failed to get past the first stage of the Champions League. Gullit observed: ‘Since I’ve been here I’ve seen some good teams, but I’m surprised they still struggle in Europe. Sometimes they forget that teams are like cars, they have five gears, but some teams play in fourth and fifth gear all the time. You need to start off in first gear to get things moving. Liverpool can play in different gears. In Europe you have to learn patience. The English game is fast, the idea is to play the ball as quickly as possible into the box. In Europe, they play another game and English clubs may need to adapt themselves. And that will require more training and thinking about tactics.’

After a virtuoso performance at Loftus Road, as Chelsea beat QPR in the fourth round of the FA Cup, Gullit wandered into the Press Room where he gave another insight into his footballing philosophy. He revealed that he could see the transformation at the Bridge taking shape. ‘All credit to Glenn for this, he wants to try and play football the way it should be played. The crowd are beginning to appreciate this keep-ball. At first, they would boo if you sent the ball backwards, but sometimes it had to go backwards to find areas to go forwards. We have to depend on our skills, but we can improve still further. We have to be more clinical and we’ve not got that yet. To reach the top of our capabilities we have to be more clinical in front of goal, but it is good that we are learning what we have been doing wrong.’

In the vital Cup tie at QPR, Hoddle turned to Gullit as his captain for the first time in the absence of the suspended Dennis Wise. Gullit said: ‘That was an honour on for me. The gaffer came to me and said, “I want to make you captain.” I said OK.’ The soccer cliché ‘gaffer’ seemed to come naturally to Gullit, who was totally integrated with his team-mates. He said: ‘I was never made captain in all my time in Milan. Never.’

Ruud is also active in pro-environmental campaigns. He has been involved with plenty of environmental issues during his years but dismisses the idea that he may one day go into politics. ‘You have people without scruples in politics,’ he said. ‘They go with the wind. But it’s not just politicians who are responsible for the world. It is all of us. You know, football is a game of 90 minutes. When it is over you return to the real life. There are many things in life other than football.’

Whatever the future holds, for the present Ruud Gullit is captivating fans and pundits alike. Anyone privileged to be in his company for an interview cannot help but come away with a warm inner glow. At last, we have a player without a chip on his shoulder, a diabolical disciplinary record, or the inability to express himself.

Clive White, in an article for the Sunday Telegraph, observed: ‘A few minutes spent in Gullit’s company is enough to make one realise that here is a man in pursuit of excellence, whether it be for the betterment of himself or his team, rather than some monetary goal.’

Gullit’s stature and class have never been questioned. And, once he established his commitment to English football, and produced near perfect performances in virtually every game in which he played for Chelsea, some of the more respected pundits began to warm to him even more.

Brian Glanville, in his analysis of the glut of foreign players, wrote in the Sunday People: ‘Supreme among them all of course is Ruud Gullit, even if his age and those knee operations mean you can’t expect him to run around for 90 minutes. But Gullit is so much more than a schemer – he’s “total football” personified. Sweeper, striker, midfielder: call him what you will. What he proves, game by game, is that a player with high technique and real imagination is worth his weight in gold.’

However, Gullit doesn’t consider himself to be a foreigner. ‘I’m not a foreigner,’ he says. ‘I’m a world traveller.’




CHAPTER TWO (#ulink_ca1186d2-19d8-52f8-b2dd-f16d92b590f0)

Rebuilding the Bridge (#ulink_ca1186d2-19d8-52f8-b2dd-f16d92b590f0)


It was a decision from the heart. That’s how Ruud described his reason for leaving Italy for Stamford Bridge. Money was not the motivating factor. A multi-millionaire in his own right, there were even greater fortunes on offer to ply his still considerable talents in Japan, France and Turkey. Instead he chose one last glory trail in the Premiership, pledging that his knees were no longer a problem, the rest of his body was in sublime condition and that he was ready for the physical conflict.

Gullit explained his decision at the time: ‘The choice I made was with the heart instead of the head. I wasn’t thinking about money. I was thinking as a player, not a businessman. I needed a fresh challenge as a football player and that is why I was interested in coming to England. In my eight years in Italy, I never thought I’d ever play in England. I had won everything I wanted to win in Italy and I wanted to end my career there, but things happened which changed that. I had some interesting offers, but when Glenn called me, I knew I had to take up this challenge.

‘I felt at home in England from the very first day. I’ve never experienced anything like that before. I love the language, the way the people treat you, and everything else is so much similar to life in Holland. And, it’s so close to Holland. I was brought up in the city of Amsterdam. Amsterdam is cosmopolitan and so is London. I like the life of the city and for me, Chelsea is a very nice part of London.’

Gullit has always had an affinity for the English game. ‘I had the chance to come to England at the beginning of my career, but I felt I was too young. I can’t remember which club wanted me … I think it was Leeds.’ In fact Spurs, Arsenal and Ipswich were also very interested.

Gullit might even have played in the same side as Hoddle at Spurs. Peter Shreeves, the then Spurs coach and later assistant to Hoddle at the Bridge, did his best to take Gullit to White Hart Lane in 1984. Shreeves recalls: ‘One of my tasks at Spurs was to prepare a file on European opposition. When we drew Feyenoord I saw this boy playing sweeper and I thought he was just magnificent. I came back to the club and told manager Keith Burkinshaw that I had just seen one of the most exciting young players around. It just so happened that I went over to Dublin to watch Chris Hughton play for the Republic of Ireland, and there was this Dutch winger flying past him. Now, I knew how quick Chrissie was, so this player had to be pretty fast to do that. And, it turned out to be the same player I had seen as the Feyenoord sweeper.’ Spurs made a big effort to sign Gullit but Shreeves pointed out: ‘His agent didn’t think it was the right time for him to move abroad, and he was probably quite right.’

Chelsea’s quest for Gullit began early in 1995 when Hoddle was already plotting ahead to rebuild his side. He had been a long standing admirer of Gullit and was hot on his trail from the second he became aware he was available on a free transfer from Sampdoria. It was in a UEFA Cup tie back in 1984 that Hoddle first encountered Gullit in a match. It was a clash against Feyenoord where one of Hoddle’s heroes, Johan Cruyff, was coming to the end of his illustrious career. Hoddle recalls: ‘Ruud was a youngster. I was playing for Spurs when we knocked Feyenoord out of Europe. He was used as a sweeper that day and he was also in the same position when we played against PSV Eindhoven in a pre-season friendly a couple of years later. I recall his wonderful reading of the game, his passing and anticipation. Even at that age he could run the match. It made a big impression on me and, of course, I have watched and admired his career ever since.’

On Friday 19 May 1995, Hoddle made a whistle-stop tour of Italy in his quest to link up Paul Gascoigne, then unsettled at Lazio, with Gullit. The Chelsea boss flew directly from a meeting with Gazza in Rome to Milan, where he met the Dutch star. The meeting with Hoddle was one of like minds. Hoddle wanted a dominant sweeper and was shocked when he discovered that Gullit wanted precisely that role.

Hoddle recalled that first meeting. ‘I had played against him, nodded to him after matches, but had never met Ruud. That first meeting was to make contact. We talked football, and I told him where I wanted him to play and what I expected from Chelsea. We returned home without any assurances, but then I began to hear there might be a chance we could get him. I was desperate to keep it quiet, which is not easy these days.’

Chief executive Colin Hutchinson accompanied Hoddle on his Italian sojourn. Hutchinson said: ‘Our No 1 target was always Ruud Gullit but we wanted Gazza as well. In fact, I was the first person to sit down with Lazio’s Sergio Cragnotti and Dino Zoff and we agreed a fee of £4.25 million. Then we spoke to Gascoigne’s advisors Len Lazarus and Mel Stein and agreed a deal on personal terms. But the key to it was always going to be Paul himself. We always prefer to sit down with the player first, to gauge his ambitions and find out if he really wants to play for Chelsea. But this time it all happened the opposite way around.

‘Glenn and myself talked things over with Gazza over a meal. He was polite and friendly and we joked a little – especially when Gazza swallowed the crown to his tooth that he had just had fitted! But I came away from the meeting feeling that Gazza did not really want to play for Chelsea.

‘The next day we had made secret arrangements to go to Milan to see Gullit. But that morning Glenn and I saw an Italian newspaper and although neither of us know much Italian, we knew enough to read that it said Gullit was about to sign for Chelsea. We had arranged to meet him at the AC Milan offices at 4 pm but when we got there it was swarming with Press men. We met an agent there and he sent us to a nearby hotel and then on to another agent’s office. But there was still no sign of Gullit. We told them that if we didn’t see him shortly then they could forget the deal. At 5 pm we were back at the AC Milan offices and when Glenn and I walked through the door, Ruud was already there.

‘I asked, “Who are we negotiating with?”, meaning agents and he replied, “Just me.” I thought that was a refreshing change. In that meeting we spoke about nothing but football, no money was even discussed, unlike with Gazza. His enthusiasm for the game came over and all he wanted to know was about Chelsea, how Glenn wanted the side to play and how Glenn wanted him to play. He asked for time to think it over and a few days later rang Glenn to say he wanted to talk further. We flew to Milan in secret a week later and had a two-hour meeting where we discussed terms and made him our best offer.

‘We knew we were certainly not making him the best financial offer. Ruud could have gone to Japan and earned £3 million a year. But he was interested in the football side rather than the money. And our biggest advantage was that he got on so well with Glenn. There was a mutual respect there. So, even though we knew he could earn a lot more money elsewhere, we always felt fairly confident of signing him.’

Gascoigne, meanwhile, had not made up his mind where to go after Italy. Gazza said: ‘I have spoken to Chelsea, Aston Villa and Glasgow Rangers. I’ve heard rumours about Leeds and I think I will speak to them next week.’ He eventually opted to switch to Scottish football, accepting a mega-offer from wealthy Rangers.

With Gullit available on a free transfer, there were clubs all around the world interested in his signature. Bryan Robson and Ray Wilkins entered the battle with their old England pal Hoddle. Wilkins said: ‘Don’t believe all this clap-trap that he is over the hill. Gullit is a very fit man. I had the privilege of playing against him for AC Milan when he was with PSV Eindhoven. Ironically, when he arrived at AC Milan, he took my place!’ Gullit’s preference to return to the sweeper role he made famous at the start of his career did not bother Wilkins: ‘I don’t care where he plays, he can even have a turn out in goal if he likes, I just want him here at this club.’

Hoddle knew Gazza was Glasgow Rangers bound, which made him all the more determined to land Gullit, particularly as Graeme Souness, then the newly installed manager of Turkish side Galatasaray, moved in for Gullit, with an offer on the table of £1 million-a-year in wages.

But Gullit turned his back on all of these offers, with the moment the whole of Chelsea had been waiting for coming on Bank Holiday Monday, 29 May 1995. Colin Hutchinson recalls: ‘I was just settling down to watch the Bolton-Reading play-off final, when Ruud called. By the time we had finished talking, Reading were 2–0 up and Gullit had agreed to sign. One of the reasons behind his decision, he said, was that Chelsea played in white socks – and he had always won things playing for teams who wore white socks!

‘Glenn was halfway across the Atlantic at the time, on his way to Florida for a holiday. I had to ring his hotel and leave a coded message for him saying, ‘The man from Italy has said, yes’. He was delighted.’

Hoddle left the final details to Hutchinson. ‘The second time we went over, the deal was done,’ says Hoddle. ‘We discovered Ruud wanted to play in English football and he wanted to play for Chelsea. Every side needs someone like Ruud Gullit, a player who can win a game with one pass, a player who is a cut above the rest and a player who can hurt the opposition by doing what comes naturally.’

Hutchinson made one of the most fruitful, exciting and profitable journeys of his life when he travelled to Milan to complete the deal for Gullit on Tuesday, 30 May 1995. He said: ‘I flew out to Genoa to meet Gullit’s lawyer and draft the contract. The following day I met up with the lawyer and Ruud once again. Within ten minutes he had said ‘yes’. I had just completed arguably the biggest deal ever done in British football. I took out my camera and asked the lawyer to take a picture of me with Ruud to capture the moment. We went out for lunch and while we were eating an agent rang Ruud on his mobile phone and said that Tottenham and QPR were interested in signing him. I had a smile to myself because I already had his signature.

‘Then I flew home via Frankfurt. At Frankfurt airport I sat next to a Leyton Orient fan and we got talking and he asked me what I did. I told him and said I had just signed Gullit for Chelsea. Then two English bricklayers came and sat by us and one was saying how he had just telephoned a friend to pick him up at the airport. He said his mate was an Arsenal fan and was winding him up that Chelsea had signed Ruud Gullit. And the Orient fan turned to him and said, “That’s no wind-up – and here’s the man who has done the deal”. I just sat there grinning and feeling absolutely fantastic.’

Chelsea had successfully fought off counter-bids from Galatasaray, Bayern Munich, the club Jurgen Klinsmann joined from Spurs, Hoddle’s former French club Monaco, and Gullit’s old club Feyenoord, plus a number of Japanese teams which offered him a fortune, notably Yokohama Flugels.

Diplomatically Gullit would not divulge why he rejected the other offers. He explained: ‘I enjoy life every day and I never take decisions for a long period. I always follow my instinct, which has rarely misled me. My old club Feyenoord would have liked to have me back. But the city of London appealed more to me than the port of Rotterdam. But the real reason for not joining Feyenoord, Galatasaray or any of the other clubs who knocked on my door this summer, I will not tell. Whatever I say will be wrong in the fans’ eyes and in the opinion of people who play for those clubs. As soon as Chelsea turned up on my doorstep and I had met Glenn Hoddle, I knew I wanted to go an play at Stamford Bridge.’

Chelsea knew that gates would soar and commercial spinoffs would follow. Hutchinson said: ‘We wanted a player who would put bums on seats and we have certainly got that. And, remember, he has not cost us a single penny in terms of a transfer fee.’ In London, Gullit mania was instant. Hutchinson said: ‘On the day of the announcement, the reaction from the fans was incredible. The switchboard at Stamford Bridge was jammed, there was a queue of thirty-five people at the club’s shop that morning when it opened. People wanted to buy shirts and have Gullit’s name put on them. Requests for membership forms and season tickets are coming in thick and fast so his magic is already working.’

The Chelsea players, much the same as their fans, were staggered by the signing of Gullit. Scott Minto was sunning himself in Gran Canaria, when he caught up with the news. ‘A couple of days before we actually signed him, a few people had been coming up to us and talking about it, saying we were going to get him. We had read a few things in the papers but it sounded a bit ridiculous and we didn’t take much notice of it at the time. Then I rang home and my mum said: “Did you know they’ve just signed Ruud Gullit?” Because she doesn’t know anything about the game or who he is, I knew she wasn’t making it up. Then someone else rang home to check and we found out it was true. It took a little while to sink in but we all thought it was brilliant.’

When Chelsea club captain and England international Dennis Wise escaped a three-month jail sentence on 2 June, he talked about his relief that he will be teaming up with Gullit rather than starting the season in jail. A judge overturned his convictions for attacking a taxi driver and damaging his cab. Wise said later: ‘I want to put it all behind me and get on with the rest of my career. I am happy and am going on holiday fairly shortly. I will be all right for the beginning of the season, when we’ve got Ruud Gullit to look forward to.’

Brian Glanville devoted his Sunday People column to Chelsea’s new player. He wrote: ‘Ruud Gullit’s signing for Chelsea is a tremendous coup for the Stamford Bridge club. Even today, at the age of 32, after all those fearful operations on his right knee, Gullit is among the few great players in the world. Fans will come to see him. There’s no doubt at all about his ability to play as sweeper as he demonstrated in his early years with Feyenoord. It’s really just a question of whether the Chelsea team will be able to adjust to the somewhat unfamiliar tactics … He shouldn’t find it too hard to work with Hoddle, and the younger Chelsea players will surely learn from him. Let’s just hope he stays longer in London than Jurgen Klinsmann.’

The boardroom split between chairman Ken Bates and the late co-director Matthew Harding even managed to involve Gullit. Bates pointed out that he authorised the acquisition of Gullit without Harding’s millions to back him up. Bates said: ‘We proved what a solid financial concern Chelsea is with the signing of Ruud Gullit, one of the biggest names in world soccer. It was all financed from within the club’s budget, without having to ask Matthew Harding or anyone else for a single penny.’

In the first week of June, Gullit fulfilled his final commitments with Sampdoria on a tour of Hong Kong and China, a popular destination for many leading clubs in the summer. It also enabled Gullit to combine the football with four days of highly lucrative promotional work in Japan. Back in London, Ken Bates was airing his plans for a floatation of Chelsea. With the signing of Gullit on a reputed £16, 000 a week, Mr Bates joked: ‘We need a flotation to help pay his wages!’

The Dutch revolution in English football continued when Dennis Bergkamp signed for Arsenal. Bergkamp became hooked on Spurs, and in particular their midfield maestro Glenn Hoddle, from the moment he saw them on Dutch television as a five-year-old. Bergkamp revealed: ‘I had only one idol when I was young and that was Glenn Hoddle. My family went on holiday to England one year and we visited White Hart Lane. My dad bought me a Spurs strip and a mug with the crest on it. Every year after that I would get a new Spurs strip and it always had to have Glenn’s number on it. He was the reason I supported them. He was such a wonderful player. When I played football with my mates out on the street it would always be an FA Cup Final with Tottenham in it and I, of course, would be Hoddle. I still have a soft spot for them and look for their results every week.’

On Thursday, 22 June, Gullit arrived in London, jet lagged from his worldwide travels. The formalities of his Chelsea signing were completed, including the routine medical which he passed with ease. The next day he breezed into the Bridge at precisely 11:04 am to a barrage of cameras in Drakes restaurant, which snuggles neatly inside the new £5 million stand.

A year earlier Jurgen Klinsmann had re-launched his career and re-established his worldwide reputation in English football. Gullit arrived with the same steely-eyed approach. He said: ‘I’m hungry for this new challenge. My ambitions at first are quite simple, they are to get along with the lads and adapt to my new environment, a different lifestyle, different customs, a different way of life. I’m not thinking about any end result yet. I am very satisfied that I have done the right thing. My knee problems are a thing of the past. I know there were plenty of rumours about my knees last year but I feel frustrated that I couldn’t prove them wrong with Sampdoria. All those problems are in the past. Milan said I couldn’t play three matches in a week. But they never gave me the chance. Right now, I have never felt fitter.’

Gullit is synonymous with extravagant goals but revealed he never had any intention of playing attacking roles. He said: ‘When I got to Milan, the coach, Saachi, wanted me to play as a striker. He just told me, “Go out there and just do your best”. But it’s not natural for me, and it’s not somewhere I prefer to play, although I learnt a lot from doing it. I don’t have a striker’s instincts. A true striker kills every ball and wants to score every time. Sometimes I’m sloppy and try to do too much and miss the chance. A true striker has to be egocentric.’

From the moment Gullit arrived he charmed his audience in his typical relaxed mood. He never even faltered when he mistook Wimbledon for Wembley! Asked what he thought about the prospects of playing at Wimbledon he said: ‘I’m looking forward to it, it’s one of the most important stadiums in the world.’ When his error was pointed out by Hoddle, who was sitting next to him, he laughed loudly at himself and said: ‘Perhaps I should talk about tennis as well!’

Gullit answered every conceivable question, no matter how obscure or personal. It was hard to know whether to take him seriously or not when he gave a bizarre reason for why he chose Chelsea – the reason being that he’d always won things playing for teams who wore white socks! Finally, he politely paraded in a No 4 Chelsea shirt on the pitch where there were a succession of television interviews. He said: ‘I had the choice between the number 4 and number 14 shirts. It’s strange to see players wearing 18 or 19 because I don’t think the public can identify with them, or know where they’re really supposed to be playing. I prefer numbers that correspond with a player’s position.’

There was also a first in Gullit’s big unveiling to the Chelsea fans. Never before had one of Gullit’s media introductions been sidetracked somewhat by the shock announcement of the signing of another player, Mark Hughes from Manchester United. But it was the surprise factor, more than anything else, that had the media contingent gasping.

Colin Hutchinson made the Hughes announcement just as Gullit was concluding his radio interviews. The Dutchman was immediately effusive. ‘I’m delighted Hughes is coming,’ he said. ‘I think he’s a great player. I know all about him, I played against him when he was at Barcelona. I knew that Glenn Hoddle wanted to sign him from the very start … but I can keep a secret!’

I suggested to Hoddle that Hughes and Gullit, both into their thirties, are truly Chelsea pensioners. The Chelsea boss smiled and said: ‘Both these guys are fit lads who have the right habits and attitudes. I found out myself, when I hung up my boots at the age of 37 going on 38, that people tell me it’s too early. It’s about quality, not about age, and these two guys certainly have the right pedigree. Perhaps I’d better sign a few fifteen year olds to balance it up!’

In fact, Hoddle believed that the capture of Gullit was a watershed in Chelsea’s fortunes and helped to recruit Hughes. ‘When you sign somebody like Ruud Gullit after all that he’s achieved, it is sending out the right signals, to our own supporters first and to his team-mates. It says that people here are trying to build something, that they are serious. It says that we want to be one of the leading sides, that we want to win something. I’ve been here for two years and we’ve come close. But I’m not into transfer coups, I’m into trying to win trophies.’

In the light of the British record of £8.5 million splashed out on Stan Collymore, £6 millionon Les Ferdinand, no spring chicken himself, and £4.5 million on Chris Armstrong, the capture of Hughes was an absolute steal. Hoddle said: ‘Compared to the fees that are knocking around at the moment, it makes an awful lot of economic sense to sign Gullit on a free transfer and Hughes at the end of his contract for £1.5 million.’

The arrival of the two players was extremely well received by the media. Neil Harman, Daily Mail Football Correspondent, wrote: ‘Not a dreadlock on his head turned when the Ruud Gullit interview was interrupted by news that Chelsea had signed Mark Hughes. His thunder might have been temporarily stolen but, in the best tradition of a world superstar, his stride-pattern remained unaffected.

‘When you’ve spent the best part of 20 years as a supreme, sublime talent and cost a then world record transfer-fee of £5.5 million eight years ago, the small matter of a free to Chelsea is nothing to get seismic about. After a week in which London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal between them splashed out £12 million on strikers, Chelsea’s double coup looks fair business … His enticement from Italian football must be the best bit of business for many summers, even though there are those who say so much damage to priceless limbs has left Gullit with knees of glass.’

World Soccer reviewed the Gullit press conference. ‘He made an impressive entry onto the platform, partnered by his new boss. Cracking jokes with the press, he was clearly confident in a foreign tongue. Rewind a year and this could have been Jurgen Klinsmann’s debut before the British media.’

Chelsea reaped immediate benefits from their summer signings. Season ticket sales had beaten the previous year’s figure. Usually, demand drops during the summer holiday period but sales were up with a steady flow of renewals and new applications. The club was forced to introduce a waiting list for fans wanting to pre-book tickets for forthcoming glamour matches. All but two of the club’s twenty-four executive boxes had been sold and there had also been an increase in applications for the family section.

Hughes finalised his £1.5 million move from Manchester United on 5 July and confirmed that Gullit’s arrival had convinced him to sign for Chelsea.

Hughes had met Gullit briefly on holiday a year earlier and they had faced each other in the international arena several times, but he never dreamed he would be lining up alongside him. ‘The fact that Chelsea signed Ruud showed they were intent on raising their profile and I have always been at big clubs. It might have been difficult for me not playing to large crowds every week, but it looks as though we will be attracting the big gates home and away. Gullit is the complete footballer. Genuine world class, a player you can put anywhere in the side and he plays with presence and stature. A superstar.’

Gullit and Hughes were missing when Chelsea began preseason training on Wednesday, 12 July. Hoddle agreed to give his new signings an extended break following club and country commitments. Gullit and Hughes turned up for training for the first time on Wednesday, 19 July, and the rest of the Chelsea players were in awe of their arrival. Scott Minto said: ‘It was a bit like being at school when they were introduced. We were half way through the warm-up in training when Peter Shreeves came over with them and said: “I’d like to introduce you all to Ruud Gullit and Mark Hughes.” That was all he said, really. They stood there, we looked at them and gave them a round of applause.’




CHAPTER THREE (#ulink_251fee5a-1a81-5537-a50e-d10c17112f84)

Gullit Mania (#ulink_251fee5a-1a81-5537-a50e-d10c17112f84)


Stamford Bridge was a building site. The underground car park was under construction and planks of wood were used as a walk way to cover the dirt, nails and general debris. Hardly the San Siro. But Gullit had now swapped Italian football for the Bridge. It was certainly a culture shock.

Ruud had no concept of the impact his arrival would have. It began to dawn on him on Friday, 28 July when nearly fifty fans waited for hours to catch a glimpse of Gullit as Chelsea held a photo-call followed by a training session. They were not to be disappointed. Even a little old lady managed to overcome the ‘building site’ and waited for five hours to find herself among the throng stationed patiently outside the dressing room area. Coach Peter Shreeves took the players through their paces in glorious sunshine with Gullit teaming up with his manager Glenn Hoddle, other new boy Mark Hughes and midfielder Nigel Spackman in one training group. ‘It was nice and tough, quite hard, that’s because Mark Hughes and myself started a week later than the rest,’ said Gullit, ‘I can tell I still have some catching up to do.’ When Gullit emerged, the fans surged forward pleading for him to sign shirts, photographs, autograph albums or any piece of paper. He signed them all.

Carrying a bright coloured rucksack over his shoulders, under his arm the Italian Gazetto dello Sport and the Dutch Telegraph, he was perfectly relaxed as he surveyed the rebirth of the Bridge. He observed: ‘Brilliant, isn’t it? The place is really buzzing. I mean, the whole of English football is exploding and blossoming. Stadiums are being expanded, the fans turn up in their thousands, all the stars want to play in the Premier League. It could not be better for English football. That is why I want to enjoy what is happening here.’

In the club’s reception area, Gullit practised his colloquial English on the telephonist. ‘Can I make a phone call?’ he asked in perfect Cockney. He told a Dutch journalist who had made the trek from Holland on the off-chance of an interview: ‘I like the sound of the language here, I like to speak in English and I can pick it up quite quickly.’ Proud of his grasp of the. Cockney slang, he laughed out loud.

Once the crowd had dispersed, Gullit and one of the club’s member of staff strolled down the Fulham Road and stopped for a snack at the newly opened Calzone Pizza Bar. A local, upper crust sounding, elderly gent with white handlebar moustache and shorts, held out his hand and said: ‘Nice to see you here Mr Gullit, we are ever so glad you chose Chelsea.’ Gullit smiled and politely said ‘Thank you’, and swaggered down Park Walk feeling very much at home in the Royal Borough of Chelsea.

The attitudes and reactions of the fans helped Ruud to settle down instantly. He said at the time: ‘In Italy everyone is so obsessed about football that they try to own you and think nothing of coming up to you in a shop or in a restaurant in a group and crowding you for an autograph or a photo. In England, the people are much more dignified and they respect your space.’

As for the heat wave hitting London, he said: ‘They told me about England … so much rain, wet pitches. So far it’s been hotter than in Italy in my first few weeks here! I just love this weather.’

And, he was convinced that Hoddle was getting it right on the training ground. ‘Glenn Hoddle knows how Chelsea must play in the Premier League to become a hit. He has organised the club very well and is running things almost perfectly. I was surprised to see that our training sessions are almost a copy of the ones at AC Milan. We do exactly the same things. Before I came here, I did not think any English club would train like they do.’

On Saturday, 22 July, the little non-league club Kingstonian had seen nothing like it. Director Matthew Harding turned up in a Chelsea shirt with Gullit’s name on the back! Gullit and Hughes were presented to the King’s Meadow crowd and the duo waved to the supporters. They got a great reception on their first public appearance together. Unfortunately for the 5, 000 fans the club’s new signings took their places in the stand to watch their opening pre-season game – Chelsea winning 5–0. They were not quite fit enough to play as assistant manager Peter Shreeves said: ‘They are in the squad but haven’t done enough training.’ But the fact that they were there was enough, at half-time, for a Gullit lookalike to cause a pitch invasion of autograph hunters! Before the end Gullit left to avoid any crowd problems, with reserve team manager Graham Rix as his chauffeur.

Reminiscent of Jurgen Klinsmann’s first appearance in a friendly at Vicarage Road, Watford, exactly a year earlier, it was near hysteria at Gillingham for the welcome of Ruud Gullit, on Tuesday, 25 July. Gullit led out the team and took centre stage as he was chased by a posse of cameramen and eager autograph hunters who streamed on to the pitch. Four thousand Chelsea fans made the journey to watch Gullit and Hughes.

The gates were locked minutes after kick-off and hundreds of broken-hearted youngsters were led away in tears by disappointed dads. The luckier ones watched from windows and garage roofs overlooking the ground. Gullit was mobbed at every opportunity. The media interest overwhelmed a club that had finished three places from the bottom of the Endsleigh Third Division the season before. He tried to warm up as he signed autographs, and followed, like some footballing Pied Piper, by the adoring kids. He said: ‘It is the first time in my entire career that I have played without being able to warm up. It seemed as if there were hundreds of fans around wherever I went.’ And, with a flash of his wicked sense of humour he said: ‘The people seemed to go mad … I suppose that’s what the papers describe as Gullit-mania!’

The capacity 10, 425 Priestfield crowd witnessed Gullit strolling through his first 45 minutes in English football as Chelsea won 3–1. For the Kent club it was a massive pay day. Gullit might earn more in a week than a Gillingham player would earn in a year, but the club were loving the way the turnstiles never stopped clicking. The estimated £60, 000 receipts brightened the life of a club that had faced extinction. Only four weeks earlier Gillingham was saved from bankruptcy after six months in receivership. New chairman Paul Scally, the Sevenoaks businessman who rescued the club, was delighted with the evening’s takings. He said: ‘That will pay the wages for July.’

When Gullit left the spectacular surroundings of Serie A, he probably never expected to pull on a Chelsea jersey for the first time at a ground that can boast the oldest stand in the League, built in 1899 by dockers for beer and cigarettes on their summer break. It’s still there because the club cannot afford to replace it.

But here he was, starting his practise sessions in earnest as a sweeper. Flanked by Frank Sinclair and Erland Johnsen, Gullit was immediately in evidence, switching neatly with Nigel Spackman as he raced forward, abandoning defensive duties when he saw the opportunity to join the attack. The Dutchman conceded two early corners, and he would have been disappointed with himself with his first two shots. However, he soon got his aim, and his third shot, a cracking 30-yarder, forced a full length diving save from keeper Jimmy Glass after Gillingham had stolen the lead.

Chelsea’s defence was embarrassed by the power of student Leo Fortune-West, a £5, 000 buy from Stevenage, with the money paid by Gillingham fans. He put Andy Myers under pressure and the Chelsea left-back knocked the ball past Dmitri Kharine. Chelsea levelled when Mark Stein converted a penalty after Dennis Wise had been brought down.

Gullit stayed in the dressing room at half-time, needing treatment for blisters. Mark Hughes came on, to inspire a Chelsea victory with a virtuoso goal, dribbling past a bewildered defence before aiming low into the corner after 68 minutes. Chelsea made sure with a second penalty supplied by Gavin Peacock.

Afterwards Gullit said: ‘I had never heard of Gillingham before coming here, but that did not matter, it was just good to play against a team which plays the English way. It was good to have a tough game. I’ve had hundreds of letters from supporters telling me how pleased they are that I have decided to sign for Chelsea. I have a great feeling about this move already. There are some good players at Chelsea and I am impressed. We have a team that is technically very good. The players have great skill and English football is changing. It is no longer kick and rush. I’m impressed with everything I have seen in this match and in training but we won’t get carried away. Rome was not built in a day.’

The Chelsea fans got their first sight of Ruud at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, 30th July in a 1–1 draw with FC Porto for Paul Elliott’s testimonial. Just as anticipated, the fans flocked to the Bridge wearing their brand new Gullit shirts. And, there were Gullit wigs on sale outside of the ground at £10 a time.

Porto manager Bobby Robson drooled over the conversion of Gullit to the sweeper role. The former England manager, who took England to the World Cup semi-finals in Italy 1990, described Gullit as ‘another Franz Beckenbauer’.

Apart from Gullit’s class, the huge crowd were also treated to a stunning Hughes effort. Only five minutes had gone by when the Welshman jack-knifed to bludgeon a characteristic header into the net from Mark Stein’s cross. Both Gullit and Hughes were substituted before the end. Gullit stayed on until 65 minutes and Hughes lasted until eight minutes before the end. Hoddle chose the occasion to give most of his squad a run-out, including himself, as he came on for the last 14 minutes.

With rebuilding work still taking place, the local council cut the ground capacity to 19, 000, yet 16, 689 turned out to witness Gullit and Hughes in their first home game. Elliott, whose career ended two years earlier in a tackle with Dean Saunders, had faced a legal bill for £500, 000 after losing to the former Liverpool striker in court. Ladbrokes presented Elliott with a £500 bet on Chelsea winning the title at 40–1. But on Hoddle’s own admission, Chelsea’s best hope for a trophy was in one of the Cups. He was to be proved exactly right.

Testimonials at the Bridge have been notoriously poorly attended, even stars like Kerry Dixon attracted a meagre 5, 000 fans. Colin Hutchinson said: ‘Paul must have thought he’d won the national lottery when after arranging his game against Porto we went out and signed Gullit and Hughes.’ The club handed over all the £250, 000 receipts to Elliott. In addition, the player had the programme, advertising, and peripheral rights including a TV deal with Sky.

Two weeks later, Chelsea journeyed to Gullit’s homeland to take on Feyenoord in their final pre-season friendly. Gullit was still not entirely happy with his game. He explained: ‘I am still making mistakes, I need a few more 90-minute games under my belt to get things right. We have eased through preseason without too much trouble, so maybe we need to lose a game before we begin the season in earnest. We will be better for it, and will all learn from it. You don’t really know how well you are doing until you have tasted defeat.’

The team arrived on Thursday evening in Rotterdam, on 11th August. They engaged in light training, returned to the hotel and then Ruud took the opportunity to re-acquaint himself with some of the night spots in the city. He said: ‘I needed a little break, and it’s so nice to comeback to the town where it all started for me. I have seen a lot of my old friends.’

The tears flowed for Ruud as he made an emotional return to his old club on the Saturday. He was guest of honour at the opening of Feyenoord’s superbly refurbished stadium. A crowd of 38, 000 turned out to see his ‘homecoming’ at the ground where he forged his reputation.

But there were two very unexpected ‘fans’ who brought the big man to his first burst of tears. The Chelsea team coach arrived at the ground at 6.30 pm for the 8.15 kick-off and as the player disembarked from the bus Gullit’s eyes met two little girls … his daughters from his first marriage, Felicity and Sharmayne. His former wife, Yvonne, stood in the background as the two girls were delighted to see their father, It was a total surprise for Ruud. He was extremely emotional with the reunion, but at the same time deeply annoyed that the TV cameras and Dutch media were present to record a very private event. His two girls watched the match, and so did Ruud’s mum. After the match, the girls presented Ruud with a drawing of him inscribed ‘Our dad is the best.’ The only English newspaper to refer to this touching moment was The Times a week or so later. Rob Hughes wrote: ‘He protects those girls from every contact with the media, with football, with the publicity that is essential to his and their wealth.’

There was another highly charged moment for Ruud, when during the warm up he was presented with a special presentation in his honour. A leading Dutch journalist explained: ‘The chances are that this was his final game on Dutch soil as he will never play again for the national team and Chelsea are sure to be his last big club. The last time he played here he was booed and whistled because he had just walked out of the Dutch camp and refused to play for Holland. Everyone now feels it was a terrible way to say goodbye and wanted to rectify that for such a great player.’

Leading Dutch celebrity Koos Postema, the Terry Wogan of Holland and a very close friend of Ruud, gave him a big kiss as he made the presentation. Ruud was handed the microphone and made a speech to the crowd. He was applauded for a full ten minutes! When he took the microphone the crowd sang ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ and there was another bout of tears.

Ruud told the crowd: ‘I am so surprised and honoured and flattered. I am so proud that you the public, in the city where all the big things started to happen for me, are doing this. It means so much. With Feyenoord I won my first championship, and won the double. It was the club I met the two biggest characters in football, Johan Cruyff and Wim van Hanegem. That’s why this club will always be special to me and why I will keep this club close to my heart for the rest of my life. Whether I’ll return to this club as a player, I don’t know. My future, as you all know, is in England. I hope Feyenoord do well. I honestly wish them all the luck in the world.’

Ruud put on a five-star show but got the defeat he asked for! The Dutchman sprayed his long range passes all over the field, but Chelsea’s new continental system failed to click. Gullit almost inspired Chelsea to take the lead. Mark Stein sped away behind the Feyenoord defence to pick up a glorious Gullit pass but, instead of picking out Mark Hughes, he flashed the ball across the face of the goal. A 40 yard Gullit pass early in the second half enabled Andy Myers to cross for Gavin Peacock, whose diving header was just wide. Then Gullit picked out Stein whose cross for Hughes was wasted. The game was settled in the 68th minute with a goal from Feyenoord’s Orlando Trustfull.

After the game Ruud told journalists: ‘Chelsea is a bigger challenge than any other club could have given me after eight years in Italy. I am still very ambitious and Chelsea have not won anything for a long time. It would excite me, tremendously, if I could get things going there and win a major trophy. It would follow the same pattern at the other clubs I have joined.’

Ruud was cautious on the eve of his Premiership debt. He labelled his new Chelsea team-mates his ‘virgin’ soldiers and warned the Stamford Bridge fans not to let their dreams run away with them. His priority at the outset was all about setting standards and reaching them. For him, victories could wait. It was more about playing well, not so much about winning well. He explained: ‘If we don’t win it is not so important, there will be other games to win. In England there are so many games, so many demands! So many things could happen but what you can be sure of is that the season will be full of ups and downs. We won’t win every game.

‘The secret of a successful team is to stay calm and retain your belief. To keep a cool head when the pressure is on from either the fans, the press or the chairman. We have a good team at Chelsea but we are a young team. If you like, we are virgins, still getting to know each other. My goal is only to play good football. I never think of what I want to win, just to have a good time with my football. If you are playing good, enjoyable football then the trophies will take care of themselves.’

In many ways Gullit’s debut in the Premier League, against Everton, was the classic Beauty verses the Beast confrontation. The Dutch dazzler, who personifies total football, against the team with a mean streak and an all-consuming hatred of getting beaten. He didn’t flinch from the challenge. He was ready to take on all-comers, be they six foot four inch Scotsmen like Duncan Ferguson or five foot seven English midgets. Expectations were running high at Stamford Bridge, which was still undergoing reconstruction work. But the club and their fans were ready to embrace the start of a new and successful era.




CHAPTER FOUR (#ulink_d8d6b743-c0c0-53c6-90b3-6218a543baaa)

A New Season, a New Challenge (#ulink_d8d6b743-c0c0-53c6-90b3-6218a543baaa)


Remarkable performances, astonishing results, and an inspirational member of the team. Not bad for an opening season. Ruud Gullit inspired a belief that one of the dormant giants of English football is on the march again. Gullit was the catalyst that elevated AC Milan from the obscurity of mid-table in Serie A to the world’s most formidable club. He has not quite achieved that at Stamford Bridge yet, but he has helped restore Chelsea’s pride and renewed the conviction that the club can again challenge for the game’s top honours. On a personal level, Gullit attracted the accolades of everyone in the game as well as winning many awards to mark his first season in English football.

On the first day of the 1995/96 season Football Focus featured Gullit’s debut for Chelsea against the then FA Cup holders, Everton. Gary Lineker picked out Gullit as the potential smash hit of the season.

Lineker told the millions of BBC viewers: ‘The arrival of Ruud Gullit is fascinating. He is such a great figure. He will give the game what Klinsmann did, with his personality, big name and also his ability to entrance the media. Unlike Klinsmann, who always said the right things, Gullit is outspoken, and maybe that will be a good thing. The first time I saw him play was back in 1986 when I first joined Barcelona. It might only have been a pre-season game but he got a standing ovation from 100, 000 Catalans – even though he missed a penalty!’

Not long after the midday Football Focus, the Fulham Road was awash with shiny new blue shirts with ‘Gullit’ on the back. The street traders were doing brisk business in fanzine style T-shirts. Over Gullit’s dreadlocked head were superimposed the words ‘Judge Dread: Chelsea’s Ruud Boy: Judge, Jury and Executioner’. The match day programme featured the inevitable Gullit feature, but also a little dressing room insight from mickey-taking John Spencer who nicknamed Ruud ‘The Big Bird’, from Sesame Street fame.

Anyone complaining about his massive salary, were put to shame by the amount of cash his mere presence was generating. Gullit-mania was out in force. The sold out signs glistening in the glorious sunshine. His long anticipated Premiership debut had finally arrived, and there was a worldwide TV audience of 250 million. More than 60 countries beamed live pictures with an additional 50 nations screening highlights later in the week. There was a bigger audience for the most anticipated kick-off in League history than even for the Mike Tyson comeback fight! CSI, the company which distributes Premiership games, was inundated with requests. General manager Karl Bistany said: ‘You would be hard pressed to find anywhere in the world where you couldn’t watch the Premiership. You’ll be able to see Premier League matches in places like Vietnam and Cambodia.’

All the off the field hype was not wrecked by on the field anti-climax … a goalless draw. A flag with Ruud’s head super-imposed on the body of a Chelsea lion was unfurled and he knew that the fans had taken him to their hearts. He waved back enthusiasti-cally when he was introduced to the crowd. There was a sense of occasion and Ruud Gullit did not disappoint anyone. He enthralled the Chelsea fans and became the most dominant foreign import of the opening Premiership weekend – outshining Dennis Bergkamp and David Ginola. He also spectacularly exploded the myth that he is a geriatric former world number one who has been pensioned off at the Bridge. The Dutchman looked super fit and still a formidable force. One crunching tackle in midfield with the fearsome Joe Parkinson proved that, Gullit showing no fear or hesitation as he lunged into a 50–50 challenge.

Gullit explained to anyone who wanted to listen that it is nonsense to dwell on his five knee operations and suggest he is past his prime. He must have been fed up with the constant probing about his fitness, but he responded politely to all the inquisitive journalists: ‘I’m fit enough and after ninety minutes I could still go up front, although the heat made it very difficult for everyone. In the first half I didn’t expend a lot of energy. I might have seemed very quiet but I was pacing myself. That enabled me after fifty minutes to do more and by then the opposition were tired. It was all about choosing my right moment, not trying something eight times in the first half and tiring in the second.’




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