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Reportedly Ten Cate fell out with Rykaard which is why he left Barca. So the fact that Ten Cate has gone should not lead people to assume Rykaard will pass up the job. Why should he? Is he and Ten Cate joined at the waist or something - Rykaard has another backroom team now - he can survive without Ten Cate.

I don't think there will be a surprise really. Roman wants a manager who will play fantasy football - Grant talked a lot about it but didn't have a clue and Jose never talked about it because he was too busy winning things and was confident enough not to give a toss. We need a manager that we can announce within the next week, we cannot afford to wait until after the Euro Champs, a lack of a manager can be a very unsettling thing for players already possibly thinking about moving elsewhere - to clubs who actually have a manager. We want to be "loved" according to Kenyon and co. No more rows and arguments showing Chelsea up. We want a manager that fits the fashionable image of the club. We want a manager with a good CV who has experience of handling a big club and all that this entails. There is only one person that really fits that bill who seems to be a consistent front runner. RYKAARD. I'm not saying he is the one I want as manager. I just think he is the guy we are going to get.

Made my day too, cheered me up this weekend no end and the weather was shi*t where I was too! Grant has gone from total nonentity to a guy now being considered for a host of mid table clubs apparently and he's millions richer thanks to a nice fat pay off from the mate he's been arse licking for the last few years or so. Nice work if you can get it. And I'm sure after this little Chelsea adventure, Grant is now looking for another rich mate he can befriend, get the current manager sacked, convince said mate he is the archtype of attacking football, ensure there is sufficient back room staff already in place so he has to do f**k all and that the team is relatively well organised and strong so they can sort themselves out and he's got it made for another season of supposed hard work. Pathetic and I hope justice is served and if he does do this again, he is shown up for what he is - a very average manager way out of his depth who excells at making friends in high places to get on in life. Grant deserves his footnote in Chelsea history alright - right at the bottom in the side notes.

Yes and how many of those neutral fans if you asked them if they would like Grant to manage their team (since they think he is so much better than Mourinho) would say "yes please". Not many I'll wager. Clearly Grant has not done better because he has won nothing whilst Mourinho even in his worst season won two trophies. Quite how they work that one out I'll never know. Obviously Grant's PR machine was far better than I ever realised.

Great post and couldn't agree with you more, I think they are hoping that the fans will compare the next manager with Grant and Mourinho's legacy will fade somewhat so the fans and not always comparing it. May work may not - time will tell. The new coach at least will not have a whiff of the traitor about him that Grant had in lurking around prior to Jose's exit when he was so obviously not wanted or required. You and me were both insane then because I have never thought that Grant was long term or good enough despite his apparent great record he kept pointing towards. There was more going on than just the stats to back up my claim that he was simply getting by with Mourinho's tools left behind him and he coasted on the backs of others tactical nous and hard work. I'm glad he's gone no matter what next season brings, I don't want to see him again at Chelsea.

Absolute Classic! Thanks for making my day, it's been absolutely sh*t weather here all day p*ssing down with torrential rain and I could do with cheering up.

Seconded. It wasn't quite the nightmare his official unveiling suggested but it was blatently obvious to me that he was riding the wagon of what Mourinho left behind and benefitting accordingly, he lacked the respect of many of the players, the media riduculed him and even the board never really gave him unequivocal support - the four year contract was just a sop to make what was a stop gap panic measure look a measured decision. He was promoted way over his head and for all those fans on Five Live no saying how disgusting and disgraceful it is that Chelsea ditched him I ask them this "would they get rid of their current manager for Avram?" I sense the answer would be no which says it all. The bottom line is he didn't win anything despite having the kind of squad this is perfectly capable of doing so, if Mourinho was given short shrift after winning two trophies last season then Grant had not a snowball in hell's chance of clinging on after our fourth failure of the season. I'm glad he's gone, I can't say I disliked him he was just "meh" to me. I couldn't bare his constant comments about how wonderful our football was when it wasn't generally, how he continued to belittle Mourinho's achievements and tried to give the impression he was actually doing something proactive with the team when clearly it was the players or the back room staff doing most of the work. Lets move on indeed, hire a coach that is worthy of the name, who will be a clean break with the messy Mourinho/Grant take over, will have the respect of the players, is tactically generally sound and will be able to control the media better (it is important despite what some suggest) and give me an idea they actually have a clear vision of their own. This was always a given really, Grant was following someone who was massively successful, beloved by most fans and also very charismatic so the media loved him and that's a lethal combination for any one to follow and worse because of Grant's apparent lack of media friendly soundbites and aura. If he had won us things then none of the rest would really matter but he didn't and now it does.

Couldn't agree more with this final analysis, the club contributed to its own downfall in many ways but principally with the disposal of Mourinho which then led to further upheavals thereafter. We were in with a genuine shout at three trophies (frankly we should have got further in the FA Cup as well) and we blew all of them. It's no good saying "well Avram almost got us there" for a club like this that's not good enough. The harsh truth is no one remembers managers that "almost" got you something. They remember winners like Fergie, Mourinho et al. The idea that Roman is blessed with grave intelligence just because he's made a billion here and there out of the oil industry in Russia is a bit of a misnomer too. As Mourinho once said "I wouldn't try to tell Roman how to run his businesses because he would be bankrupt and he shouldn't try to tell me how to manage a football team" or words to that effect. Roman should have heeded Jose's words, Roman may know his oil business and acquiring various friends such as Grant in the football firmanent but that does not make him some kind of all knowing football guru. He should take a leaf out of the Glazer's books, never see them, hardly ever hear from them (Roman's got that taped at least) and most critically they give support and continuation to their manager through good times and bad. They don't pretend to know a lot about football management and leave it to someone who does. This club jettison their manager for no clear cut reason of a footballing nature, no wonder the club is always in a state of constant flux and vexation - we just never damn well learn our lesson. We could have really built something to scare Fergie with Mourinho but no we had to shoot ourselves in the foot over a personality clash and tear up the play house and now have to start building it almost all from scratch again. Just stupid but oh so Chelsea!

Agreed. I think if Grant stays this summer, the real test of his mettle as a coach is not winning the CL this season but trying to win it next season and winning the league with a team he has picked, to change training to something akin to his own methods, bring new players in, meld them with the old ones, may be even new backroom staff if Clarke goes etc. In truth despite all the brickbats and abuse hurled his way, Grant has actually not been tested yet on his own merits of coaching only on those he inherited from his predecessor. On that basis you could say he is a very good caretaker manager, taking over and letting things trundle along with little active wish to upset the apple cart. It fits his persona you see perfectly on screen. The annoyance for me is that he often pretends he has been something more than that this year in terms of the dynamics of our results, how we play, how the players utilise their skills etc. He can talk all he likes but it's just that this season at least - talk.

We are playing this season under Mourinho because Grant hasn't changed anything for it to be anything but Mourinho's team out there. I don't think Jose could have won us the title this year either actually - although I do think he may very well have done better in the other two domestic cup competitions. Grant gets a lot of flak because of his weasel words. What I'm saying is that Grant keeps giving the impression repeatedly that we have in some magical way played better, more positive attacking football by changes he has already made to the team, training, tactics and so on. He then sometimes forgets himself and says he has only slightly changed things and then seems to forget he said that and swings back once again to telling everyone about the proverbial feast of football we've had thanks to the regime change. I actually was happy with our system and set up from before - sure we went through bad patches but I really had no complaints to any severe degree. Grant has been brought in he tells us to take Chelsea to a new level and also we are told bring us a totally different style of football - more attractive, more attacking, more fluid etc. Now if he had actually done that then I would have no problem with the guy but the problem is as I've said before he says one thing but simply does nothing actively to bring it about. Even fans of his have to scratch around to find even a few games where they can apparently see clearly the change in our approach. He is now alluding to changes being made over the summer - so may be we will see the real Avram Grant next season? I'm not holding my breath, for Grant to make changes means taking major risks and ditching what has to date brought him fame and glory. Does we really want to rely on his nous to see us through next season? Better that he kept copying the previous manager's modus operandi - seems to have worked perfectly for him so far.

If Chelsea wim the CL there is bound to be lots of change, Grant will then have the power to get rid of players he doesn't want more quickly and players likewise who might consider themselves in the ultimate shop window might decide for themselves for one final big pay day and disappear off to pastures new. Like Riccy said, it's inevitable really.

I agree about Jose and those CL games against Liverpool, I felt he let himself get distracted more by Rafa than anything else, that was the one of the few times when I felt his tactics off field actually played into Liverpool's hands. The one big reason I think Grant got through this year was keeping his mouth shut so as giving the Liverpool fans little to get annoyed about and also having that critical second leg at SB. Sometimes you can mouth off just too damn much. As for your points about Grant, I especially like the one highlighted in bold - for me that is the main irksome quality I think he possesses in spades - he just seems to leech off other people's hard work and talent (Mourinho, Clarke, Cate, other backroom coaches and staff, the players spirit as well) in order to hide his own deficiencies and insecurities. You just sense with Grant that unlike Mourinho or a Ferguson or Wenger if you took away all the support network and asked him to get on with it himself he would be up sh*t creek.

So that's two games out of what 60 odd competitive games so far this season where apparently we have shown some true signs of "Grantness" if that's the word. Ho hum. I'd be quite happy with Grant if he had been honest from the start and as good as said "look I'm not going to really change f**k all this year because I want the team to keep going on as they are, it aint really broke and I'll do my own thing next season okay?". That attitude I could respect. I can't respect someone who keeps telling me about the great football we keep playing, the lack of the "long ball", the quick and slick complicated passing movements we now do that never happened before, the "better ball rentention" and "combinations" whilst at the same time telling me he "respects the past" when he clearly can't resist at every available opportunity laying blame on Mourinho for everything from losing the league to just about escaping unscathed in the CL campaign, I'd just love to know whom will get the flalk next season when Mourinho tainting of Grant's sterling work will be totally gone. Sure changing nothing was the smart move no gripe with you there but the trouble is Grant just has to keep trying to justify his existence by pretending he is actively changing the team when clearly he isn't, he has yet to really go through a bad patch when he is not getting results like Jose started to do through the latter part of his reign and see how he likes it. At least he wont have a vulture circling in the background waiting for his job like Grant did to Mourinho. Whilst I can't really stomach the idea of Grant actually being lauded as some kind of genius based on what little he has actively contributed to the team to date, equally I condemn any attacks on his nationality or religion, I also get embarrassed to see some fans chanting Jose's name at games or booing Grant - that's unfair and really of little help to anyone - Jose aint coming back and we are stuck with Grant for what seems like the forseeable future.

Trying to compare Arsene Wenger's arrival with Grant is very strange in my view. When Wenger came to Arsenal he had already won the league in France and the French cup. When he came to England in his second season he won the premiership and FA Cup, please don't compare Wenger to Grant - Grant got his job simply from whom he knew not from what he had won in Israel - a far weaker league I'm sure you would agree than anything in Europe. It says it everything to me that Grant said this just the other day about his legacy to date at Chelsea: (from Reuters) If Grant tells me one more time that he "respects the past" and in the next moment slag off his predecessor as he often does - I'll explode. I'll bet he gets "coy" alright when having to discuss with the media exactly what he has done to improve on Mourinho's legacy the answer as he knows is f**k all. In other words he knew nothing needed really changing, he didn't have a clue what to change even if it had and since it seemed to be running just fine he clung on and hoped the players would carry on and do his job motivating themselves because he certainly couldn't do it with his charisma bypass - and they have done the business for him, whilst he often literally scratches his head on the sidelines or sneaks peeks at Clarke's notes to see what he thinks should be done. And another telling commentary from one of Chelsea's best players this season - Carvalho And more crap from our new "saviour" before the Newcastle match: So there you have it, Grant is convincing himself and anyone else who cares to listen to what he says rather than see what is clearly in front of them that the club were on their way down and out when he was in charge and he Avram Grant has waved his magic wand and got Mourinho's team back to where they belong. Ballack meanwhile hardly refutes the idea either: (The Guardian) So whilst Grant wallows in his apparent brilliance at rescuing the team from the incompentent hell that was Mourinho, two of his key men tells the media after getting through to the CL which could save Grant's ever lucky arse a totally different and probably the true story. In truth Grant has "created" nothing. Has he created our team spirit? No. Has he created our football philosphy? No. Has he developed and brought on the likes of Drogba, Carvalho, Cole, Sheva, Terry, Lampard? No. Has he created our never say die attitude? No. Has he changed the training the players do? No. Has he changed the tactics remarkably from what went before? No. Has he brought in a whole host of new players that have added immeasurably to our squad? No. Does he apparently inspire and motivate? Have the players raved about Grant as they did Mourinho for his motivational abilities? No. So there you go, Grant in all his self satisfied smugness tells you how wonderfully he has done with rescuing this team from the ruination of Mourinho's legacy whilst using that self same legacy to try to win the won trophy that will take him to exultation and worldwide fame as a supposed great coach. Irony is not the word for it, the man should have the good grace to be embarrassed but I don't think he is capable of it. And for those that insist that Grant's success this year is based on his own brilliance and worth and has nothing to do with what was left very conveniently for him to pick up and run with - well they should be embarrassed too.

It's when you hear or see things like this about him that you realise exactly why all the sudden plaudits about Grant and what a great job he is doing is such a load of bull. He has succeeded by just doggedly keeping on doing what his predecessor left for him - on a plate. He has changed nothing, not training, not tactics, not formation - NOTHING. He has obviously great support from Clarke and Ten Cate - take away that support, the players grit and determination and luck and he would be f**ked and he knows it deep down I swear. There have been many more instances such as this that show you how little Grant is in control of anything of any consequence.

I agree, probably a number of things but nothing Mourinho did wrong justified Grant's appointment - and I don't care if he wins silverware this season or not.

My thoughts are with Frank at this very difficult time, he should take whatever time he needs off - there are more important things in life that damn football. And this is one of those times.

I really like Winter as a journalist and have for some time and his are usually the first reports I read in the broadsheets. I've had the general feeling for some time he does not rate Grant really that much but at the same time he doesn't go on some rant about Grant's more obvious superficial deficiencies which are generally immaterial in the general scheme of things but highlights points he feels matter. I think he is wrong about the major plank in his argument though against Grant - the fact Roman has employed a mate and he shouldn't have done. You could argue that is exactly what you need to be to get a job at Chelsea these days - Roman's "mates" abound from Arnesen, Kenyon, Buck through to Grant. Mourinho learned the hard way that disagreeing with Roman and falling out with him was not the right thing ultimately to do - to get on it's clear you need to be on Roman's buddy list - and Grant is well on it. So you could argue he is exactly the kind of manager Chelsea needs to keep things running well.

Your'e right about that. Second leg at Stamford Bridge. Gets an own goal in the 94 minute when we never looked like scoring to save his lucky arse once again. We played badly but still Grant comes out looking good when on balance he had little to do as usual but just hope the players sorted things out for him. In the end a Liverpool player did the job for him. He can afford to look smug and like some tactical genius on the back of Riise's head. Mourinho must have been sitting on his sofa at home thinking "why the f**k couldn't I get that damn lucky when we needed it?" It's ironic that I think we played far better under Mourinho and lost against Liverpool and now we are playing poorly but look like getting through and Grant being labelled as some kind of super manager.

Yes perhaps he needs to rephrase that, it's Clarke, Cate and the players managing this club at the moment - Grant has little do with it I'll wager.

On 606 Green said that he has heard that many senior players have voiced that they are fed up with Grant and want him out and will tell anyone who asks them (not the publicly of course because they don't want to get into trouble). He said what JT has said is untrue - take your pick between JT or Green as to who you believe. That's why you have all these sources leaking because so much stuff is actually coming out of the dressing room directly from the players themselves. JT is just an extra PR man for Chelsea right now that's all.

I have a feeling Arnesen and Grant are the two people not on Jose's Christmas card list, he never though much of Arnesen and his "work" on the youth squad and he was and is meant to have a hell of a lot of influence with Roman and then there is Grant - say no more. The fact he has mentioned Roman, Buck and Kenyon and called them friends when he has no reason to, makes me believe that he genuinely means what he says - Jose would not bother otherwise if he held bitter feelings towards them. The fact he just coldly dismisses Grant but says warm things about the rest of the board makes me feel that he accepts there had to be a parting of the ways, is sad it happened but still likes and respect Roman et al (he knew them for three years remember) - but perhaps does not agree with Roman's views on how to manage a football club so much. Hope he's proud of his team tomorrow night - because it truly is still his team in all but name.

With Grant in charge, anything goes. It might just be what we need to outwit tubby, someone who is totally unpreditable on the bench it just might freak the opposition out. Should be close. Will probably not be pretty. Will probably have few goals if any. Is bound to have some ref controversy. 0-0 or a 1-0 to either side.

Well I can't believe the players would ever try to win this thing for Grant. They seem to be playing more for themselves than anyone else and the remaining gas of what spirit Jose left behind. I would love to see the fans reaction if he ever came back as a rival manager - man that would be something to hear and see. I will always respect and admire him tremendously and support him whichever club he ends up at - as long at they never play us! I'm glad Jose is willing us on both in the CL and PL. I don't think he thinks we can beat Man Utd for the title by the way he said "mathmatically possible" - I agree we can't. CL is another matter, it's a knock out comp so anything can happen, I wonder what his thoughts would be if Grant won it basically with what is HIS team and probably using his tactics. Jesus talk about irony and Grant will be lauded for it.

Why is the more Chelsea PR try to convince me that everyone within the club is all one big happy family and love Grant to bits - the less I believe it. Agree with you Fulham, the lady doth indeed protest far too much!