The Dutchman believes firmly that west Londoners face a rebuilding job which they must to get right in the aftermath of what has been a very disappointing campaign
Guus Hiddink believes Chelsea are in transition and must plan carefully how to rebuild their way back to the top after bowing out of the Champions League.
The Blues were eliminated from Europe's elite club competition at the last-16 stage after suffering a 4-2 aggregate defeat to Paris Saint-Germain over two legs.
Chelsea's Champions League exit means the FA Cup remains their only hope of salvaging some joy from what has been an extremely painful campaign for the west Londoners.
Having put up a disappointing defence of their Premier League title, Chelsea are highly likely to remain outside of European competition next season.
And Hiddink, who has improved the club's form since replacing Jose Mourinho at the helm, believes whoever succeeds him in the summer has a big rebuilding job on their hands.
"Everyone, in my opinion, knows Chelsea is in a transition period," the veteran Dutchman told a post-match news conference after Chelsea's 2-1 defeat to PSG on Wednesday.
"They must go on and make up the lost terrain of where Chelsea need to be. Chelsea must consider the short-term future and how to handle this.
"I was disappointed after the game. When you analyse the game we started too respectfully.
"You must be careful not to be outplayed in the first part of the game, but we were too respectable. They went 1-0 up and then we started to win some duels and got the equaliser.
"There were some chances both ways in the first half. In the second half we pushed and we were on the edge [of scoring] in the 65th minute, and in the 67th minute they killed the game."
Italy coach Antonio Conte remains the favourite to replace Hiddink in the Chelsea hotseat at the end of the season.
- Goal