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Spurs Break In To Divorce Grant From Roman

Posted 25/02/08 09:48EmailPrintSave

A few questions and attempted answers after Spurs beat Chelsea to win the Carling Cup...

Has The Big Four Domination Been Broken?

Technically, the answer has to be yes. It wasn't the way they intended but in winning the Carling Cup, Tottenham became the first club not called Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United to win a domestic trophy in England since Middlesbrough in 2004. That they did so by beating one of the Big Four teams in the actual final itself, and another in the semi-final, makes their success all the more creditable.

Nonetheless, most observers will only consider that the Big Four's closed shop has been broken once Spurs - or, for that matter, Everton, Villa or Manchester Citeh - have earned a Champions League berth at their expense.

As far as the rest of the league is concerned, the significance of Sunday's match is that it has closed up another route into Europe via the Premier League. The Manchester City players last week threatened with the inconvenience of a summer outing in the Intertoto Cup and Portsmouth, a club that has never qualified Europe, will have bemoaned Jonathan Woodgate's cheeky winner almost as much as the Chelsea players.

What Happens If Olympiakos Score First?

Chelsea's Champions League goalless draw in Greece on Tuesday night was interpreted as being a reasonably successful result. But their failure to register an away goal will take on a new perspective should the Greeks score first next week at Stamford Bridge. For who, after watching Chelsea produce just one shot on goal in normal time against Spurs, would back Avram Grant's team to then score twice?

Supporters have never been privileged to an official explanation for Jose Mourinho's dismissal in September, although the club have made no attempt to refute reports that it was a consequence of Roman Abramovich's disillusionment with the Mourinho method. It is a shame that the Russian is already a mute because Sunday's performance may have made him genuinely speechless. The only difference from the bland, pale Mourinho era was the absence of a goalscoring threat. And the fact that they lost - an indignity the Special One never suffered in a final during his tenure.

Who Picked The Chelsea Team?

The most interesting item in Monday's newspapers is the claim, to be found in The Independent, that Grant was coerced into selecting both John Terry and Frank Lampard against his better judgement.

According to the newspaper, 'In bringing back Terry and Frank Lampard, Grant did what every Chelsea fan will have regarded as the sane thing. He didn't intend to do so earlier in the week but there are, once again, matters afoot at Stamford Bridge. Pressure has been exerted from some quarters, whether from the players or above, and the manager's plans were altered.'

It is an astonishing - if vague - claim and one that will further disconcert Chelsea supporters not so much disgruntled by Mourinho's removal as his replacement by a man whose primary qualification is his close association with the owner...

Is This The Beginning Of The End For The Silent One?

So what is it that Grant does if he doesn't pick the team? Judging by events on Sunday, it certainly isn't the team talk. It was noticeable that, while the Israeli skulked in the background, it was Steve Clarke who cajoled the bulk of the team at the end of the 90 minutes and John Terry who took centre stage during the extra-time interval. As such, Grant's debunked claim that he made the half-time pep-talk that inspired the comeback win at Fulham in January takes on a new resonance.

Victory on Sunday would have provided Grant with welcome room for manoeuvre - although hardly vindication given that he is working with inherited tools. Instead, defeat, and especially its manner, has boxed him into a corner. Even that close association with Abramovich will not be sufficient to save his skin if the next few months do not provide some rare entertainment and success in the Champions League.

Mourinho's sacking just three months after lifting the FA Cup provided a sobering indication to what extent the competition has been debased. Unfortunately and ironically for Grant, the Carling Cup gained unexpected relevancy on Sunday.

Pete Gill

Your Comments

johnpaparazzi

"BRING BACK JOSE....HE'S THE MAN..ALL OF you NERDS DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT FOOTBALL...ENOUGH SAID..!"

ChelseaBoy

"I have been amazed at the level of inanity concerning the Carling Cup Final - Yes Chelsea wanted to win - Yes they were outplayed - but since when is there any point in raving about a dubious penalty - (BTW the first time a linesman has got involved in signalling for an infringement since I can't remeber when!)and a goal scored by Woodgate which he knew nothing about, Cech having punched the ball onto the back of his head! CFC had played 33 games and lost two up till Sunday - now it's 34 and lost 3 - hardly crisis time!!! Glad to see the Yids winning for a change - they deserved it. But let's get real! Crisis? What Crisis???"

JDShark

"what is with these annoying spurs fans?? the article is meant to be about Chelsea's current problems, magnified by their carling cup loss, not about the final itself. get a clue. gawd, you ppl remind me why exactly i hate the spurs.... "

Fairplayforall

"The most annoying thing to me was the attitude of the Chelsea players when receiving their r/you medals. Just to look at their faces proved to me that they are very poor losers. I look forward to the day when they become the music hall joke of the country, as they were many years ago. On the day, two average teams made the final look good. "

jason365

"I've read better reports in the village life regarding sunday afternoon kick around in the kids playground. A poor attempt at making a story and hardly mentioning the main reason for yesterdays result. Tottenham Hotspur!!!! Is it supposed to make a better and more interesting story to say how poor a team was instead of saying how good Spurs were? A typical crap article which tries to slag Chelsea off instead of praising what should be Spurs triumph. The guy didn't even put in a spell check. Chelsea?? Send him back to school to spell before you give him another job on here."

algern0n

"Nizm: Be nice to the poor bloke. Little Pete is having a hard time swallowing that Spurs will end up with more trophies than Arsenal this season. ;)"

Nizm

"Who does Pete Gill support? To read his article anybody would think that Spurs weren't even playing yesterday, let alone winning! If PG doesn't support Arsenal then he supports Chelsea - and either way post-cup final reaction that doesn't mention the winners has got to be one of the most biased pieces of journalism ever. Shocking. But unsurprising - PG is probably as muzzled at F365 as Grant is at Chelsea. The only difference is the paymaster"

IrishBlue

"I got to say as a Chelsea fan I was reserving my opinion on Grant till the end of the season. Against the top teams we have looked distinctively average, and against Totenham we were nothing short of awful. Anelka was out of his depth on the wing - not his fault he was out of position. Every eejit knew that we needed to go 4:4:2 pushing him up top, or replacing him with Joe Cole. It was an insanity and awful management. I think he should go and be replaced by a coach with a pair of balls, if Jose was in charged we may still have lost but would have finished the game with as many attacking players as possible on the pitch, he had the bravery to go for it when behind. Top coaches need that."

gimzy

"Hell i noticed that too. Grant was just walking around while Terry did the team talk at Extra time. Chelsea lost fine but the manner in which the team lost the game and their pattern play left much to be desired. No graft, no guile and no sense of urgency in the team. "

Ezy_Rider

"Is the word not 'relevance'? And how come Middlesbrough and Bolton reaching the final in 04 wasn't a sign of the big four dominance being broken?"

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Huh, Spurs won with a dubious penalty and a lucky goal. Big shit!!!...a month back we beat them left right and left at Bridge. This isnt the first time an average mid table team has won the Cup.

And yes...Big 4 will be broken, but the one that would be binned out would be Liverpool not us.

Dont know why there is such a hue and cry after Chelsea were beaten by two lucky goals. Move on you guys.

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the big 4 wont be broken in the league tho, the other 16 teams arent as consistant as the current big 4 and it will take something major for them to be. Anyone can win a one off game. We lost to Villa, Arsenal lost to Boro, Man Utd lost to Bolton, Man City (twice) and West Ham. In Football, you can't take a single match for granted. Any decent team can beat any good team. Yesterday we just had a shocker. When we go to WHL, normal service will resume hopefully and i'll be so fucking happy if we do em 3 or 4-0. Its only Liverpool giving a mid table side hope because they are playing like an average team and making it hard for themselves. I'm 100% sure that they will still come 4th tho.

As for Olympiacos, its just one game, we're at home, all we have to do is win a home game against an average side. I can't see us fucking up against them. We can beat anyone at SB and Olympiacos arent one of the best teams we'll play.

Who picks Chelsea's team? who cares, i dont. Speculation will always be about Ten Cate and Clarke picking it but Avrams the manager, he probs picks it with advice from HTC and SC but tbh its anyones guess. no one knows 100% unless they are a fly who lives in the Chelsea dressing room. Grant probably just goes on advice anyway. But as i said, i dont care who picks it as long as it gets the job done.

Beginning of the End for avram? well everyone here hopes so but we've spoken about this subject far too much. We'll have to just get on with it as it is and wait and see. Its not up to us, its up to a certain russian.

Edited by OllieCFC
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Huh, Spurs won with a dubious penalty and a lucky goal. Big shit!!!...a month back we beat them left right and left at Bridge. This isnt the first time an average mid table team has won the Cup.

And yes...Big 4 will be broken, but the one that would be binned out would be Liverpool not us.

Dont know why there is such a hue and cry after Chelsea were beaten by two lucky goals. Move on you guys.

Dubious pen and lucky goal, what comes around goes around warnie, I have no complaints about the result whatsoever, Its a bitter pill indeed to swallow but the truth hurts. We have been extremely fortunate that Liverpool have fucked up in the league once again.

If it carries on the way were going we'll be lucky to finish fourth

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I'd say the big four domination being broken is a risk we run if Grant stays. For me, his appointment has finally put to bed the age old argument that it takes more than money to be successful in football.

If Olympiacos score first? well, if we show the same amount of desire as we did yesterday, we're fucked basically.

Who picked the team? who the fuck cares now? whoever it was wants shooting.

Is this the beginning of the end for Grant? I should bloody well hope so.

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Good God can you imagine Grant being given £50-60 million pounds to spend in the Summer ?

Give it to me, Im off to Milan for the weekend - I'll make better use of it. :D

Seriously though, if Roman thinks chucking more money at it is gonna help he's sadly mistaken.

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Good God can you imagine Grant being given £50-60 million pounds to spend in the Summer ?

Then whats happening to the academy? its not all about spending. dont really c it as the best option for success. we have great and outstanding players already. lets introduce some new names made by cfc not other football clubs.

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Then whats happening to the academy? its not all about spending. dont really c it as the best option for success. we have great and outstanding players already. lets introduce some new names made by cfc not other football clubs.

The academy is still a work in progress, it takes time to get them first team regulars....

The bottom line is the club needs an overhaul. We need to get someone in who has experience in building on a big club, preferably one who has experience in bringing through the younger players developed in house...

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Good God can you imagine Grant being given £50-60 million pounds to spend in the Summer ?

OUTs:

Lampard to Barcelona, £12 million

Terry to Real Madrid, £20 million

Drogba to Milan, £32 million

Joe Cole to Liverpool, £11 million

Michael Ballack to Real, £9 million

Michael Essien to Bayern Munich, £18 million

Petr Cech to Arsenal, £20 million

INs:

Djimi Traore, £8 million

Danny Mills, £6 million

Michael Brown, £6 million

Steve Howard, £9 million

Iain Hume, £6 million

Ronaldinho, £50 million

I wouldn't be surprised.

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If Grant gets his way it'll be headlines of "£59M Record fee agreed for Mido"...............then he'll just go and squander the other million :rolleyes:

:lol::lol:

I'm not sure its the transfer market thats the problem, I mean lets face it, even Jose wasnt the best at that. Then again, at least Jose had management skills to fall back on.

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