The decline of a great is often a sad sight. His powers desert him as his achievements grow ever more distant.
Yet his track record means believers remain. They wonder if he can rewind the clock, even if only temporarily, and revisit a glorious past.
The Netherlands and Turkey meet on Satuday, contesting precious points in Group A and sharing evidence that Guus Hiddink is not the manager he once was.
The Dutchman, 68, was for awhile perhaps the best coach in international football, a serial semi-finalist who overachieved wherever he went. Recently, however, he has underperformed.
Russia failed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Turkey failed to qualify for Euro 2012. There is a risk the Netherlands will fail to qualify for Euro 2016.
Hiddink inherited a team who finished third in the World Cup under Louis van Gaal and promptly lost four of his first five games in charge. He promised to resign if his side were beaten by Latvia in November.
They won 6-0, but the reality of Hiddink's reign is that his only victories are over Kazakhstan and Latvia, two sides the Dutch ought to defeat at home.
Italy and Mexico have won friendlies against them, the Czech Republic and Iceland beat them in group games.
The trend suggests Turkey, despite their troubles under Fatih Terim, another manager whose best days seem behind him, could continue Hiddink’s problems.
Even at this early stage, it looks pivotal: defeat could all but end the Turks’ chance of a play-off place, let alone a top-two finish.
For both, it seems a must-win match.
If Hiddink is a flagging manager, he may have a fading team. Of the generation who took the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final and the 2014 semi-finals, only Arjen Robben remains at his peak, and he is injured. So, too, is Robin van Persie, who has been less potent of late for Manchester United.
“You don’t need a degree in maths to know that their absence is a bit of a blow,” stand-in captain Wesley Sneijder told De Telegraaf this week.
As he has conceded, the playmaker is nothing like the force he was in 2010, and Rafael van der Vaart’s decline is so pronounced that he is not even in the squad.
Perhaps luck has deserted Hiddink. Ron Vlaar, the cornerstone of Van Gaal’s defence, is another of those sidelined. Kevin Strootman, the man around whom the Manchester United manager hoped to build a midfield, is yet to make an appearance under Hiddink. He has been stuck on 25 caps for a year.
It puts an onus on Sneijder, who plies his trade in Turkey with Galatasaray and who is set to equal Frank de Boer’s national record of 112 caps by an outfield player, as well as Van Persie’s eternal understudy, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
The Dutch have a squad with veterans and youngsters but comparatively few at their peak. Bas Dost, Wolfsburg's scoring star, is an exception. He began 2015 with 14 goals in nine games and is uncapped.
Whereas Hiddink is in his 14th job in a 28-year managerial career. The old-timer’s fate may rest with a rookie.
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