As far as a lot of Chelsea supporters are concerned, this week is make-or-break for Avram Grant, and there is no doubt that the games against Manchester United on Saturday and Liverpool on Wednesday could have a huge bearing on his future.
I take my hat off to the guy for being able to work at all under such pressure, and the fact is he continues to get results.
Okay, Jose Mourinho left him a group of players who know how to win - back-to-back Premier League titles at that - but there are plenty of examples of managers inheriting a group of players and not being able to make them work.
Grant: Sitting tight
Chelsea are not playing as well as they might, but they are working, and I completely disagree with the argument that their success has come inspite of Grant.
Whoever his players are, a manager still has to make selection decisions and to react during games, as he did both against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League and at Anfield on Tuesday.
Mourinho does not have the job anymore, Avram Grant does. And it's Avram Grant who is one game away from delivering something Mourinho couldn't - a Champions League final.
Andy Gray on Grant
Quotes of the week
12pm, Sky Sports 1, Saturday
Chelsea v Liverpool
7pm, Sky Sports 2, Wednesday
Grant is getting absolutely no credit for anything, and I think there is a group of people who support Chelsea who feel that the players - for whatever reason - have not taken to a man who is pretty much the polar opposite of Mourinho.
But Mourinho does not have the job anymore, Avram Grant does. And it's Avram Grant who is one game away from delivering something Mourinho couldn't - a Champions League final.
Make no mistake. Despite all the talk about Roman Abramovich demanding entertaining football, if Grant pulls off a 1-0 win on Saturday and another on Wednesday he will - without a shadow of a doubt - have delivered.
It's far too easy to knock managers. I know even from doing a bit of work as an assistant coach how difficult the job is, so it must take so much out of you to be solely responsible for key decisions in games of this magnitude.
The best response Grant can give is to sit tight, do his stuff and - if at the end of it he has delivered a Champions League final or a Premier League title - reflect in his own glory.
If that is going to happen, his big players need to perform. This is a huge week for the likes of Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba, neither of whom really produced the goods at Anfield.
I know there's this suggestion that Drogba is still Mourinho's man, but that should not and will not come into his thinking at all when he is out on that pitch. All he should be thinking about is winning a game of football for the club and the supporters who pay his wages.
Chelsea have key men all over the pitch, but it's their forward-thinking players who can really make a difference in the coming days; players who have been bought to win these kind of matches. That, for me, means Ballack and Drogba.
Whether a victory - or even two - would be enough to keep Grant in a job, I don't honestly know. It is so difficult to second-guess what Abramovich is thinking.
We know that the owner is close to Grant, we know that the two are friends, and if the manager wins his boss a trophy this season it will be difficult to move him.
I wouldn't be surprised if he was still there next season, but equally it wouldn't be a shock to see a new man in place.
Comments (24)
Jacob Fry (Chelsea fan) says...
Well Andy i agree with you 100 percent. considering grant came in when chelsea were going through a rough patch and has managed to get us 2nd in the PL with an outside chance of winning the thing and be in the semis of the CL on the brink of getting into the final seems like job well done to me. people might say look at the barnsly fa cup tie and the carling cup final and say what poor decisions he made there but seriously we had enough quality in both games to breeze past the opposition and the players need to look at themselves and give him some some support because it seems like everybody is against him which adds more unnecessary pressure and you get results like we did against wigan and who gets the blame, grant. I think we should keep him next season regardless if we win anything or not.
Posted 10:53 26th April 2008
Carlos Figueira (Chelsea fan) says...
Chelsea fans are idiots. When we win, its down to the players when we miss ten chances to score and draw, its the manager's fault. Who do we blame for losing last year and the poor results at beginning of this season? Some of the supporters are so clever they will actually blame on Grant
Posted 08:52 26th April 2008
Conor Quigley (Manchester United fan) says...
I dont understand how people can be critical of Grant after how well he has done... league cup final, 3 points behind the champions (who have had their best campaign in 9 years i feel) and going into a 2nd leg of a european semi cup final with an upper hand as they have the away goal against liverpool. Ok it might of been a bit of luck how they got it in anfield and you could say it was nothing to do with a tactical method from grant, but thats football. At anfield in an away tie in the champions league you need luck now and again. But to the main factor, I feel that since Grant has came into this season just after the summer when the campaign had already begun, he deserves credit for what he has established with the team. I feel that a manager needs that period before a campaign to get to know the team and bring in whoever he feels would be necessary to get the job done. Ok he might of had the january market but that isnt the easiest time of the year to build as it is hard to sign good players who are part of another team half ways through a season. I believe for what Grant has done in that period of time, he deserves a summer to create something at Chelsea. I think that some of the Chelsea fans are getting to carried away by demanding so much so soon. They cannot change how it is now and they should atleast charish the abilities that Grant can give them because it is slightly more than what mourhino had to offer this time last year.
Posted 03:22 26th April 2008
Ross Pottenger (Newcastle United fan) says...
Ha, I have this argument with mates in work. How can a manager thats had his 3 star players missing for 1/2 the season be slated when he is still in with a big chance of winning the permiership with 3 games to go, and hold a big advantage in the champions league semi final. Lampard, Drogba and Terry, even for a team with a squad as big as Chelsea, are irraplaceable. Its like taking Ferdinand, Ronaldo and Rooney from Utd, Fabregas, Gallas and Adebayor from Arsenal, Gerrard, Torres and Carragher from Liverpool. Its crazy to think HOW WELL Avram Grant has actually done. They would have picked up alot more points with these players playing, and would therefore probably have the league already wrapped up.
Posted 23:47 25th April 2008
Akosua Christmas (Chelsea fan) says...
Avant Grant is practically the worst thing that happened to Chelsea. If the Blues are far, it is solely because of the dedicated players and their abilities to make something out of nothing. Jose had already trained all the players in the defense department and then there is versatile Essien who can post anywhere on the pitch. The shot at EPL title and the UEFA champions league title is SOLELY based on the players's ambitions. Avant's tactics are so poor, we drawed with Wigan! He needs to go or the players will be leaving and there will be no Chelsea. I hear Real Madrid already betting on Carvalho and Essien. Period.
Posted 20:49 25th April 2008
Subish Nair (Manchester United fan) says...
Nice one Andy..... for me Avram Grant has done what he could do the most... but from now on I dont see him either winning the EPL or the CL, just because he gets them wrong tactically in all the important games........ manchester united though always play to win they never go to grind out ant draws thats what is missing from the blues...... long way to go for chelsea to get anyway near how manchester united play.....
Posted 17:50 25th April 2008
Kily Gonzalez mohiddin (Manchester United fan) says...
Personally, I dont agree with Andy because Jose built that team, It is not easy to build a team that gels with perfection, When Jose was there Chelsea has that. Man Utd have that without a Doubt, Managers influence is very important these days. I personally would not be suprised if Drogba, Lampard even ESSIEN leave Chelsea in the summer depending on where Mourinho goes. Avram yes has done a good job, but come let him build a team on his own and see if he will win the double 2 years in a row!! Mourinho shook the premiership, He was the man who no manager wanted to face, Sure they got a very important goal in the champions league but in the premiership against big teams they bottle it, Arsenal had too much to lose thats why they beat them. 2 - 1 tommorow
Posted 17:42 25th April 2008
Amit Sharma (Chelsea fan) says...
Andy, For someone who got the job claiming 'good football' and for someone who has been saying Chelsea is playing better football than before al the time... Avram Grant just doesnt stack up! His substitutions have not been of the highest calibre, failings against Wigan and League Cup final are a testament to the fact that all is not well inside the bridge and it is the players that are holding it together (as they feel this is their last chance to win something together). I agree he did a great job filling in when we were without a manager. And his win % is quite high. But that doesn't mean he is the right man to take us forward. The ambitions that Roman A has will only be fulfilled if we get a world class manager. Mourinho was a much better manager than Ranieri and now we need somebody better than Jose - If we are to become the biggest fottball brand by 2015 or whatever the club target it.
Posted 16:12 25th April 2008
Steve C (Manchester United fan) says...
Avram Grant will not be there next season, Yes he ahs got results albeit luckily most of the time. The style of football Chelsea play is very poor. The Premier league is supposed to be exciting attacking football. I thought the days of defending for your life and hoping to just nick a goal had gone, thank god this season for United and Arsenal who have lit up the league,
Posted 16:11 25th April 2008
Mark Feay (Manchester United fan) says...
i think its mad that avram gets stick all the time, hes in the semi-final's of the champions league and nearly of the verge of catching the title from United, what mroe do the chelsea fans want?
Posted 15:51 25th April 2008
Robert Jovic (Chelsea fan) says...
Andy, sorry but for once I do not agree with you. With all those players that Chelsea has, we are probably the strongest team in the world. However, it seems that Avram Grant is not able to find his "more attractive football". Just look back at Carling Cup final vs. Tottenham.... What about Wigan game? With 3 minutes to go you still have 2 subtitutes to use and only an idiot wouldn't use them. I am sorry, but a better coach will do it. I am a Chelsea fan and will be forever Chelsea fan, and I love to watch "beautiful game", but I don't think that we have played many good games this season and if ManU wins PL and CL this year they will deserve it, because they have played better football and scored more goals. Roman; give us a new coach for the next season. GO CHELSEA !!
Posted 15:42 25th April 2008
Matt Lewis (Norwich City fan) says...
The situation at chelsea is very frustrating from a neutrals point of view. As i believe Grant hasn't done a bad job this year, but i don't believe he has done any better than any of our young English managers could have done if they were given the chance! He has done enough so far with a squad capable of so much more, and he has proven to be pretty uninspiring on match days for fans and players alike. Grant's men look completely incompetent at times, and its only the quality of the players that has got him out of this mess! He is no more qualified than Coppel, Bruce & Hughes and they would have given so much more to the job, I was baffled by the appointment and think its just a shame we may never get to see a British guy get the chance while Abromovic is there.
Posted 15:36 25th April 2008
Jordan Deasy (Manchester United fan) says...
What on earth is that I see? Stephen Okoro?? A Chelsea fan that actually speaks a bit of sense and has decent knowledge of football?? Wow, theres something I never thought I would see!! What on earth next? Somebody admitting to liking Peter Kenyon? Derby manage to get a win? Spurs keep a clean sheet? Man City actually cross the half way line in a game? Wonders will never cease!!
Posted 15:33 25th April 2008
Dazza Scott (Chelsea fan) says...
Andy, I agree whole heartedly. Surely now this is the time we as Chelsea fans must get behind the team and Manager as this could and should be the defining week in Chelsea's Season. 2 wins and we will be in with a chance of History... 2 losses and Game over Avram.
Posted 14:57 25th April 2008
Jon Tisher (Arsenal fan) says...
So if Grant's success is off the back of talented players, Mourinho's is not? You can only judge a manager on their successes. In terms of playing quality, Chelsea have been on a downhill slide since the beginning of LAST season when Mourinho was in charge. Grant doesn't get the praise because he has less charisma. You have forgotten that while Mourinho acheieved a lot, that the other top 3 teams were much weaker when he was in charge (Except for Arsenal in the 2004/2005 season). I've got to agree with Andy Gray here and I hope Avram Grant does win something because I feel sorry for him, but in a way it's Manchester United that have played the better football for the last 2 years, and they have the more grateful supporters!
Posted 14:49 25th April 2008
Ahmed Rizk (Chelsea fan) says...
Grant has done a fairly good job in the position he's been put in. but he is not the future of this club. he is inexperienced and his tactics are somewhat bemusing. He just doesnt work at this club, and if we do manage to win the epl or CL, i will applaud him for his efforts but the we need a new coach for next season
Posted 13:56 25th April 2008
John Dempsey (Chelsea fan) says...
being a blue for 35 years im thinking that these guys who want avram grants head are new blues or yuppy blues.the man is a credit to the club both on and off the field.the subs and the timing of the subs on tues night were spot on.get off the mans back
Posted 13:49 25th April 2008
Simba Mandi (Liverpool fan) says...
It's typical of Chelsea fans not to get behind their team or manager (e.g. Carling Cup Final), it time for the fans at Stamford Bridge to put their hearts and voices out there and back Mr Grant's Chelsea through this tough week. Chelsea can beat United on Saturday and get a hand on the trophy. Chelsea fans need to start believing in Chelsea as well as Grant instead of talking garbage all the time. As for Liverpool on Wednesday... YNWA
Posted 12:48 25th April 2008
Stephen Okoro (Chelsea fan) says...
Andy Gray makes some good points, but I believe that even if we win the Champions League and the Premiership that Grant should still be replaced. I am of the opinion that with the squad of players at his disposal we should be in the position we are in. A lot has been made of the tactical subs made at the Arsenal match... My take is... Well DUH! Why play Essien at right back when you have a fit Belletti anyway? And when Grant bought Anelka I had visions of a 4-4-2 formation led by Drogba AND Anelka, but no... Drogba still plays up by himself most games and Anelka is little more than a bit-part player. Drogba was at his finest last season when he was partnered up front. I don't think the role he plays now suits him. We need a world class manager who can attract the best players to the club. We stand to lose, if reports are to be believed, Drogba, Lampard, Sheva among others come summer. If we are to attract replacements we need a manager who the top players will WANT to play for... I'm sorry but Grant does not fit the bill!
Posted 12:05 25th April 2008
Scott Allen (Chelsea fan) says...
Andy, I agree with your opinions the vast majority of the time, but not this time. I believe that Grant has had success off the back of a squad of talented players. What these talented players have, or may, achieve this season will be in spite of Grant not because of him. The players deserve all the credit for the team`s position. They have done well to keep their heads up after losing a manager who they would run through a brick wall for. Grant does not inspire the players and has little tactical skills. Furthermore, if the club wish to continue it`s global appeal then Grant is not the front man needed to appeal to world fans. He is as dull as ditch water and is a detriment to the club`s and it`s players ambitions. I will be happy to see a new manager this summer, hopefully Laudrup.
Posted 10:45 25th April 2008
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