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Grant: Theres Life After Mourinhio


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Avram Grant shows there is life after MourinhoAvram Grant had good reason to consider the progress he has made since his side last faced Rosenborg as the Boeing 757 carrying Chelsea's entourage touched down in snowbound Trondheim yesterday ahead of tonight's penultimate Group B game against the Norwegians.He also flew into a potential problem over club discipline. By the time his players were training on the frosty Lerkendal Stadion pitch, Michael Essien had failed in an appeal against his red card at Derby while the club had been charged with failure to control their players in the aftermath - for the second time this season.Essien was sent off by referee Andre Marriner for using his arm against Derby's Kenny Miller. After failing in his appeal, he will miss Premier League games at home to West Ham and Sunderland and, crucially, the trip to Arsenal on Dec 16.The club also face a hefty fine. Earlier this season they were fined £30,000 after being found guilty of the same charge after Jon Obi Mikel was sent off at Old Trafford, and a heftier fine can be expected.Grant was quick to defend his players, claimed his team were being victimised and suggested he will approach the FA."I don't blame the players for questioning the referee on Saturday as the decision was unfair," he said. "They did it in the right way, going to the referee. For 30 seconds they said something and then the game continued. What is wrong with this? They didn't do anything wrong."I don't know why we are being targeted. The red card for Mikel at Man United was not a red, the red card against Fulham for Didier Drogba was not a red card, the red card against Essien was not a red card."I don't know the reason, but I see the facts. It's too easy to get a red card playing for Chelsea. I see other matches where the same things happen with other players and they don't get a red card. I'm thinking about speaking to the FA, but I want to do it in a positive way."Grant, whose confirmation as manager followed the departure of Jose Mourinho after the 1-1 Champions League draw with Rosenborg in September, has led a remarkable turnaround in fortunes. Since his first game in charge, a 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford, Chelsea are unbeaten in 12 games and sit in the top four of the Premier League and the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup, while a win tonight would confirm their progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League.Tonight, Grant is again without Petr Cech, Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Florent Malouda and Michael Ballack. Drogba, who missed the first meeting, returns after being rested at Pride Park.If Chelsea can settle their qualification tonight they will be able to concentrate on the key Premier League game against Arsenal five days after the visit of Valencia next month. The weather may affect tonight's outcome, as more snow is expected today and the temperature by kick-off could be as low as minus 4C."For Chelsea the final is our target and we can do it," Grant said. "It is not easy - there are many good clubs in Europe - but it is the target. I won't say we are better than any big club in Europe, but we are not worse."There's been a big difference since the last Rosenborg game, but what is important is the process. Everybody has taken a share in it. It's not easy to go from difficult times to times like these, but the attitude of the players, staff and everyone at the club has been fantastic. We're learning all the time."The team is much better than two months ago. We play better football, create more chances, pass the ball well and are patient when we need, like on Saturday. I won't say anything about the past, but just want to learn from it. It's everybody together."
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"The team is much better than two months ago. We play better football, create more chances, pass the ball well and are patient when we need, like on Saturday. I won't say anything about the past, but just want to learn from it. It's everybody together."
Honestly what a load of crap that man comes out with. He doesn't want to mention the past but brings it up at every available opportunity to paint the most successful manager we ever had as some kind of hapless loser and he as the chosen one brought in to solve all our problems by waving his magic wand. If you learn anything from Jose it will be how to become a brilliant manager, learn that and I'll be more than happy.We generally speaking have not played markedly any differently to the football we did before and if we have played better it has only been in spurts and often against either relegation fodder opposition or hapless defences. We do not create any more chances now than we created before he took over it's just the players were not putting the ball into the back of the net and and the reason we had a mini crisis was because our manager left suddenly! As for being patient, we were patient before this is nothing new! Grant has hardly done anything to make you think that a revolution is on its way - well not yet but to listen to him you would think he had almost just about finished building Rome in a day singlehandedlyThe way Grant acts you would think he had taken over some struggling relegation headed squad, with poor quality players and ratty stadium and a position akin to Rafa in the champions league.It's going to be a sad day for Grant indeed when he can no longer allude to his predecessors apparent failings to get himself out of any difficulties and paint himself as our saviour.Just win the game and keep quiet and take your own advice! What he says is of about as much use as a sick headache and about as thrilling.As for persecution by the referees, it's nice to see that some things never change and he doesn't mind resembling our previous manager in that regard. :lol: Edited by pluto
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Honestly what a load of crap that man comes out with. He doesn't want to mention the past but brings it up at every available opportunity to paint the most successful manager we ever had as some kind of hapless loser and he as the chosen one brought in to solve all our problems by waving his magic wand. If you learn anything from Jose it will be how to become a brilliant manager, learn that and I'll be more than happy.We generally speaking have not played markedly any differently to the football we did before and if we have played better it has only been in spurts and often against either relegation fodder opposition or hapless defences. We do not create any more chances now than we created before he took over it's just the players were not putting the ball into the back of the net and and the reason we had a mini crisis was because our manager left suddenly! As for being patient, we were patient before this is nothing new! Grant has hardly done anything to make you think that a revolution is on its way - well not yet but to listen to him you would think he had almost just about finished building Rome in a day singlehandedlyThe way Grant acts you would think he had taken over some struggling relegation headed squad, with poor quality players and ratty stadium and a position akin to Rafa in the champions league.It's going to be a sad day for Grant indeed when he can no longer allude to his predecessors apparent failings to get himself out of any difficulties and paint himself as our saviour.Just win the game and keep quiet and take your own advice! What he says is of about as much use as a sick headache and about as thrilling.As for persecution by the referees, it's nice to see that some things never change and he doesn't mind resembling our previous manager in that regard. :lol:
I agree with that, the twat aint fit to clean Jose's shoes never mind fill them!
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I agree with that, the twat aint fit to clean Jose's shoes never mind fill them!
Don't get me wrong I want us to do well and if that means under Grant then okay I can put up with it but he loses any respect I am just trying to drum up for him when he keeps on making these petty digs at Mourinho and his style of football (a style that managed to win us rather a lot of silverware when he has won precisely nada as yet) after just about every game and then has the nerve to say he doesn't want to mention the past!It's so transparently done it's pathetic. When he's won a trophy or two with us then he can puff out his chest and spout forth about how wonderful this new regime has become and how much better we are under his leadership than Mourinho's but not before!He just seems to me a seriously insecure guy - he must be to carry on like he does, belittling his predecessor to compare how much better he is now in comparison - why not just let his football do the talking on the pitch like Mourinho used to do and let the fans and media make up their own minds if it's up to scratch or not? Edited by pluto
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Other than a few games here and there the football so far hasn't been all that different. The same problem is there that was there under Jose and that is we are lacking creative players.As far as discipline goes, basically there is no problem there other than the fact that we are being targeted. Far worse goes on in every other game but we are the ones who get punished for it.We should be able to sweep Rosenborg aside tonight even with our missing players and even though they are playing very well at the moment. It should be an interesting game though...

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It's been said before, but he's basically had to do absolutely nothing, since taking over except collect a fat paycheck. With the platinum ready made squad available, and Clarke and TenCates babysitting him, he's completely lunching it, which is why theres no change in play.

he keeps on making these petty digs at Mourinho and his style of football (a style that managed to win us rather a lot of silverware when he has won precisely nada as yet) after just about every game and then has the nerve to say he doesn't want to mention the past!He just seems to me a seriously insecure guy - ?
He will seem insecure, because he knows full well, more than anyone, that he is there through fraudulent means.
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To be honest, I don't care who is in charge. Grant will never fill Mourinho's boots, but of course there is life after him. We are a huge club with high ambitions, and have plenty of professional players. Its hardly surprising to see us compete as hard as ever since the Special One left. Ultimately, as I say before, its the players who do the business.

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Hiwhat i see is the same players , playing the same way , nothing new not a thing , why do some say we are playing better , fact is the first few games of the season we were without trerry ,lampard , drogba , so no wonder we were slow to get going , but we had jose at the helm so it was a matter of time , but cfc chose to out him , and while i support cfc if leaves me feeling unsure about the future under grant , i am sorry a cant see him taking us to the top , give me more jose style any day , because we wre winners !!! week in week out , sucess has spoilt us :rolleyes:

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Other than a few games here and there the football so far hasn't been all that different. The same problem is there that was there under Jose and that is we are lacking creative players.
Jose was more into playing as a unit instead of having individual magicians. He wanted every player to fight for the other. The best example of that was when we beat Liverpool a few years back near the start of his reign 1-0 and Joe Cole scored the winner. When interviewed after the game Jose was asked about Joe Cole and how he must be delighted with his perfromance.Jose slated him there and then saying he didnt track back and do what he was told to do on the pitch. Next game Joe Cole was back on the bench. We saw Joe Cole become a more complete player under Jose and solve the left sided problem for England in the process. Now Joe Cole is prefering his role under Grant where he can be more creative and play the way he wants to. As much as I love Joe Cole he has yet to blow me away this season with his dazzling skills I know he posesses.For me this is still the team that Jose built, and Grant is chipping away at it with his constant digs as if to big himself up. We know he wants "sexy football", but until he starts to get players in who he sees fit to make us play that way or miraculouslly turn them into The football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters overnight, the jury is still out on him.
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Jose was more into playing as a unit instead of having individual magicians. He wanted every player to fight for the other. The best example of that was when we beat Liverpool a few years back near the start of his reign 1-0 and Joe Cole scored the winner. When interviewed after the game Jose was asked about Joe Cole and how he must be delighted with his perfromance.Jose slated him there and then saying he didnt track back and do what he was told to do on the pitch. Next game Joe Cole was back on the bench. We saw Joe Cole become a more complete player under Jose and solve the left sided problem for England in the process. Now Joe Cole is prefering his role under Grant where he can be more creative and play the way he wants to. As much as I love Joe Cole he has yet to blow me away this season with his dazzling skills I know he posesses.For me this is still the team that Jose built, and Grant is chipping away at it with his constant digs as if to big himself up. We know he wants "sexy football", but until he starts to get players in who he sees fit to make us play that way or miraculouslly turn them into The football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters overnight, the jury is still out on him.
But you compare Jose's first season to last season and the beginning of this season. We had players like Robben, Duff, Gudjohnsen, Tiago... who were not only skillful but creative and imaginative which alongside the grafters like Lampard, Maka, Terry, Gallas ect.. created the perfect blend.Fast forward a couple of years and all that creativity has gone for various reasons and replaced by great players but more grafters and we left unbalanced, our football the first 2 seasons and the first particulary under Jose was fantastic.....And with Joe, yes Jose took the selfish show pony streak out of him but he was still dazzling us with his skill, Jose didn't take it aways from him. He has lost an edge since his serious injury but he is getting it back slowly...
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But you compare Jose's first season to last season and the beginning of this season. We had players like Robben, Duff, Gudjohnsen, Tiago... who were not only skillful but creative and imaginative which alongside the grafters like Lampard, Maka, Terry, Gallas ect.. created the perfect blend.Fast forward a couple of years and all that creativity has gone for various reasons and replaced by great players but more grafters and we left unbalanced, our football the first 2 seasons and the first particulary under Jose was fantastic.....And with Joe, yes Jose took the selfish show pony streak out of him but he was still dazzling us with his skill, Jose didn't take it aways from him. He has lost an edge since his serious injury but he is getting it back slowly...
His last season we had to change our style of play to accomodate 2 certain players who have been far from convincing to say the least. If we'd stayed playing the way we were I'd have been over the moon. I wasnt saying Jose took it away from Joe cole, but he made his first priority to defend with the rest of the team and then when he could and when he was in the last 3rd of the pitch he could do as many tricks as he wanted as long as he got back when the ball was lost.I'd more than welcome back our play of 3-4 years ago, it was definately a joy to watch.
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His last season we had to change our style of play to accomodate 2 certain players who have been far from convincing to say the least. If we'd stayed playing the way we were I'd have been over the moon. I wasnt saying Jose took it away from Joe cole, but he made his first priority to defend with the rest of the team and then when he could and when he was in the last 3rd of the pitch he could do as many tricks as he wanted as long as he got back when the ball was lost.I'd more than welcome back our play of 3-4 years ago, it was definately a joy to watch.
It certainly was fantastic, Robben and Duff were electric. Hopefully we can back to near that, but we need to change some of our playing staff first
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His last season we had to change our style of play to accomodate 2 certain players who have been far from convincing to say the least. If we'd stayed playing the way we were I'd have been over the moon. I wasnt saying Jose took it away from Joe cole, but he made his first priority to defend with the rest of the team and then when he could and when he was in the last 3rd of the pitch he could do as many tricks as he wanted as long as he got back when the ball was lost.I'd more than welcome back our play of 3-4 years ago, it was definately a joy to watch.
Ironic that apparently Jose didn't really want Sheva and possibly even Ballack but for some reason they came and they ruined what was a great team. I just wish Roman had trusted Jose to leave him pick the team he wanted and not interfere - he's a fantastic coach and if only he had been left alone I just wonder what would have happened to this team. Buying Sheva was the deathknell I feel ultimately for him. He never wanted big stars in the squad, he wanted a team and Sheva and Ballack never seemed to fit in with Jose's team ethos.I resent the way people keep harping on about how dull Jose played all the time, he made the team play some great football at times but the way Grant and some of the press carry on you would think we never played any slick, fast paced, attacking football at all when he was in charge. If he was such a lousy coach entertainment wise how the hell did we score the goals we did? Win the league two years on the trot? I loved us when we had Duff and Robben on the wings we were fantastic to watch and we were a Mourinho team and that was never dull not for me.I don't respect Grant at the moment because of the constant digs about the past regime, it reeks of abject insecurity and disrespect towards a coach far more successful than he has every been and I feel he's been overly praised for what he has done with what is essentially Jose's team. He left Grant with a fantastic group of wonderful players drilled to the nth degree to play to the death for a win, a wonderful defence a wonderful attacking player in Drogba - a definite Mourinho buy and what a buy. He even had the nerve prior to the Rosenborg game to suggest that we had started so poorly in the premiership under Jose that really concentrating on the CL was the only thing to do but now he Grant had managed to turn it around.We were two points behind the leaders when Jose left us but now we are 5 points off the lead but 4th instead of 5th! How can you be out of the league being 2 points of the leaders in September! It just goes to show you how pathetic his statements are - how he tries to rewrite history to make him look as if he has worked some kind of magic trick - he hasn't. Hasn't he contributed to our poor start by losing at MU and drawing against Everton and Fulham? Or does he ignore those results?The way some act it's as if Jose legacy was some poisoned chalice to Grant - it was one hell of a legacy and he is now reaping the benefits of that Jose left him.I've seen nothing that leads me to believe that Grant has done anything much different, he's taken Jose's team, tried to tinker with it for the odd game but basically it's a well oiled machine that can run and run. Until he gets his own players in it will always have its roots with Mourinho for me, sorry but I just can't help seeing it that way.I just get fed up with people telling me how much more attacking and exciting we are and how "this would never have happened under Mourinho" and I just want to laugh because I have just not seen how different we are and yet if I say that I am shouted down by some for my abject blindness.Mourinho had his faults certainly, he made mistakes but his plus points were big ones and I still feel badly about how he left the club and wish he was still in charge.But he's not and that's it but I don't see why I should worship Grant on the little I have seen so far, this team is no better under Grant, it's not slicker, it's not hungrier, it's not more aggressive, or more attacking unless you count putting goals past hapless opposition more often than not.So yes Grant is doing the business which is great no question but it's a business that is hardly difficult for him. In fact it's been all too easy so far, his tactical nous has yet to be tested for me against really sterling opposition. And when it has we have lost or drawn. Edited by pluto
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What did you guys think? We would colapse after Jose left? don't be silly....and by the way Grant is doing a good job.
No I didn't, I thought it was ridiculous to suggest that.That is the whole point - the team is excellent and Grant is taking advantage of that quite rightly.It was never going to collapse because Jose left and I could never understand why people thought it would.Grant is a competent coach nothing more at present in charge of a magnificant team but to allude that he has done something special since taking over for me at any rate is totally overblown.Yes if you listen to some of the press you would think that Grant has turned into some kind of stellar coach and has staged a remarkable comeback for the team.What comeback?The team was always capable of improving its form, getting its players back from injury and winning again.Grant has had little out of the ordinary to cause this "transformation" in my opinion.When he gets some of his own players in that's when I'll get interested in his coaching credentials and also plays a top side.
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To be honest, I don't care who is in charge. Grant will never fill Mourinho's boots, but of course there is life after him. We are a huge club with high ambitions, and have plenty of professional players. Its hardly surprising to see us compete as hard as ever since the Special One left. Ultimately, as I say before, its the players who do the business.
Yes true, of course we compete as hard as ever, I just resent Grant trying to take credit for something which was always there before but giving the impression he's discovered something new that's what grates. When he stops aiming his barbs against our previous coach and stops pretending he was hard done by when he took over then I'll be happier. He should just concentrate on the here and now and stop having digs about what is now our recent history.Then I can get to like and respect him more. I'd like to see what kind of players he may bring into the January transfer window, give me some idea of what kind of team he is trying to build the kind of players he likes and wants.Will they be radically different from what we would normally expect? Edited by pluto
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Sorry but this is what I mean about trying hard to respect Avram but every time I want to try and make an effort to do so he comes out with like this after the game tonight against Rosenborg:

"We played some good football tonight and scored four goals. We had a lot of chances but what is most important is that we qualified for the next round one game before the end and after having dropped two points in the opening round."We want to play positive, attacking football and I am very happy with what has happened. We win games, we progress and play better from game to game.
Again after the Rosenborg game the usual guff about our positive attractive football (okay this time it was!) but the dig about that opening game against Rosenborg. Funny he should mention the two dropped points there but he does not mention the lousy game against Schalke which we deserved to lose and came away with a draw after dropping yes 2 points!But of course that was under his regime so is totally ignored but we can have a dig about the Rosenborg game because he was sitting behind the guy in charge at the time.Like I said it's pathetic and so transparent and just reeks of total insecurity that he has to keep on mentioning Mourinho in a bad light and tries to cover over any deficiencies of his since then by simply ignoring them as if the games never happened.At least we are through and he can no longer use the Rosenborg game as a stick to beat Mourinho with, he will now have to rise or fall on his own results in the next round.Sadly in the premiership I guess he will still harp on about our poor start and how we almost should have given up things were so bad. I'll bet that's all we will hear about from him if we narrowly miss winning the league this year, it wasn't his fault it was Mourinho's.Why can't Grant just shut up so I can enjoy Chelsea without having to listen to his inane childishly spiteful views? He could take a vow of silence like Roman - now there's a man who knows the value of the spoken word - he doesn't use them often! There is life after Mourinho alright no doubt about it but Grant is hardly making me want to rally behind his cause.I'd rather rally behind the players, the rest of the coaching staff even Peter Kenyon than Grant right now. Edited by pluto
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