Guus Hiddink has had second thoughts about leaving Chelsea at the end of the season and the Dutchman has not ruled out returning to Stamford Bridge when his contract as the Russia coach runs out after next year’s World Cup finals in South Africa.

Hiddink has seen it all after 27 years in the dugout but he was almost in tears after 40,000 Chelsea supporters spent most of the second half of yesterday’s routine victory over Blackburn Rovers singing his praises and urging him to stay.

“I didn’t expect it,” Hiddink said. “The reaction of the crowd was a big surprise for me. I have had many second thoughts, sometimes third thoughts about leaving. When I see this reaction I feel sad to leave but that’s the reality.”

Hiddink was greeted with banners begging him to stay when he arrived at the ground yesterday and most of the second half was played with chants of “Guus Hiddink, we want you to stay” ringing in the air. Hiddink tried to get the crowd to focus on the game by performing a little bow in the 51st minute but that failed to do the trick and within seconds Chelsea supporters had turned their attention to Roman Abramovich, serenading the club’s owner with “Roman, Roman, sign him up”.

Abramovich chuckled away in his box but the Russian billionaire has already made contingency plans and Carlo Ancelotti, the AC Milan manager, is in pole position to be announced as Hiddink’s successor before the end of the month.

Hiddink’s priority when he replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari in February was to make sure that Chelsea qualified for the Champions League, but the former Holland, South Korea and Australia coach has told the board that it needs to spend money in the transfer market and reduce the average age of the squad in order to close the gap on Manchester United next season.

The prospect of finishing outside the top two for the first time since Abramovich bought the club six years ago has left a bad taste in John Terry’s mouth. “Third place isn’t good enough,” the Chelsea and England captain said. “I’m sure that next season Manchester United will be as good again and that Liverpool will maintain their improvement. It’s up to us get back in among and ahead of them.”

That would be easy if Chelsea could play Blackburn every week. Hiddink’s team needed only four minutes to get off the mark yesterday, Florent Malouda scoring with an old-fashioned bullet header from 12 yards. Nicolas Anelka was given too much time and space to cross from the right and Malouda took advantage of a half-hearted challenge by Keith Andrews to score for the third time in four games.

Andrews was so frustrated by the lack of protection that he was receiving from his team-mates that the Blackburn right back launched a foul-mouthed tirade of abuse at his bench midway through the first half after he had been left exposed for the umpteenth time.

Blackburn were more casual than an MP doing his expenses and Chelsea could have been out of sight by half-time. Anelka shot straight at Paul Robinson, Frank Lampard’s drive hit the bar and Ryan Nelsen had to stretch every bone in his body to clear a lob by Malouda off the line.

The only negative aspect of Chelsea’s exhilarating first-half display was a ridiculous dive in the Blackburn penalty area by José Bosingwa that rightly earned the Portugal defender a yellow card.

Anelka increased Chelsea’s lead in the 59th minute with a right-foot strike from the edge of the penalty area, but by that stage trying to get Hiddink to stay was just as important as the result.

“One year ago I wouldn’t have thought that I would manage Chelsea, so I can’t predict what happens after the Russia adventure,” Hiddink, 62, said. “But I’m not getting any younger.”

Chelsea (4-3-3): P Cech 6 - J Bosingwa 6, Alex 6, J Terry 6, A Cole 7 - M Essien 7, J O Mikel 7, F Lampard 7 - N Anelka 8, D Drogba 6, F Malouda 7. Substitutes not used: Hilário, B Ivanovic, F Di Santo, S Sinclair, J Belletti, M Mancienne, M Stoch. Next: Sunderland (a).

Blackburn (4-4-2): P Robinson 6 - K Andrews 5, R Nelsen 5, G Givet 5, S Warnock 6 - E-H Diouf 5, Tugay Kerimoglu 6, V Grella 5, M G Pedersen 5 - C Villanueva 5, C Samba 6. Substitutes: A Doran 5 (for Nelsen, 44min), Z Khizanishvili 6 (for Givet, 46), B McCarthy 5 (for Pedersen, 65). Not used: M Bunn, A Mokoena, K Treacy, M Olsson. Next: West Bromwich Albion (h).

Referee: R Styles Attendance: 40,804