Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
You would think that, as the single most important match of their history looms up on the horizon, Chelsea might try to put a lid on the gossip and focus on the football, but nothing is ever that simple at Stamford Bridge. Faced with a choice of either (a) clarifying Avram Grant’s future or (b) just ignoring it altogether, the Chelsea hierarchy chose secret option ‘c’ and opted to further muddy the waters.
“We owe thanks to our entire management, coaching, playing and backroom staff for what we have achieved this season,” said chairman Bruce Buck, carefully absolving Grant of any credit. “Whatever happens, we’ve had an exciting season.”
You can say that again. From dumping the most successful manager in the history of the club just four months after a cup double, to replacing him with an unpopular unknown, to seeing an unlikely resurgence in the league, to reaching Moscow, you certainly can’t complain of boredom. However, I think the one thing, besides that big, shiny trophy, that Chelsea fans would want right now is just a bit of stability.
Grant himself has admitted recently that he may not be picking the team soon.
“If the club is not happy with me, no problem,” he said in typically honest fashion. “If I'm not happy with them and I want to leave, I don't think they will make any problems either. But, for the moment, nothing happens.”
And he’s absolutely right. Nothing happens. The chance to present a unified front is gone. The opportunity to end the uncertainty and concentrate on a European Cup Final is gone. Instead, Chelsea are forced to rely once again on the astonishing reserves of strength and character in their already confused players. Can they continue to pull results out of thin air against more relaxed, settled opponents?
I’ve spoken to people close to goings-on at Stamford Bridge and the feeling is that is a lot of stories have been blown out of proportion. That one about the delegation of players going to Buck and asking for Grant’s removal has been widely dismissed as the product of an over-active imagination, but something’s certainly not right. The most worrying sight was the complete lack of response from Henk Ten Cate and Steve Clarke when Steven Gerrard knocked Grant off his feet during the second leg of their semi-final. They just watched their boss topple into the dug-out without even raising an eyebrow. If Gerrard had done that to Jose Mourinho, the backroom staff would have torn the Liverpool captain limb from limb and carried his head around the stadium on a pole. Here, there was nothing but dead-eyed apathy.
In a funny kind of way I’m actually starting to quite like Grant and, though this may shock a few people, I’ll be sticking a few quid on his side for tomorrow night. I’ve got a feeling that in spite of everything, they’ll sneak a win, but even the biggest trophy of them all won’t make his job any more secure. Grant is, it seems to me, a good man in a bad position. His bosses have done nothing to prevent the names of Roberto Mancini, Sven Goran Eriksson and Frank Rijkaard from being whispered in the corridors of power, they’ve done nothing to secure his position and they’ve done nothing to help the players focus. Grant, and Chelsea fans, deserve better.
“We owe thanks to our entire management, coaching, playing and backroom staff for what we have achieved this season,” said chairman Bruce Buck, carefully absolving Grant of any credit. “Whatever happens, we’ve had an exciting season.”
You can say that again. From dumping the most successful manager in the history of the club just four months after a cup double, to replacing him with an unpopular unknown, to seeing an unlikely resurgence in the league, to reaching Moscow, you certainly can’t complain of boredom. However, I think the one thing, besides that big, shiny trophy, that Chelsea fans would want right now is just a bit of stability.
Grant himself has admitted recently that he may not be picking the team soon.
“If the club is not happy with me, no problem,” he said in typically honest fashion. “If I'm not happy with them and I want to leave, I don't think they will make any problems either. But, for the moment, nothing happens.”
And he’s absolutely right. Nothing happens. The chance to present a unified front is gone. The opportunity to end the uncertainty and concentrate on a European Cup Final is gone. Instead, Chelsea are forced to rely once again on the astonishing reserves of strength and character in their already confused players. Can they continue to pull results out of thin air against more relaxed, settled opponents?
I’ve spoken to people close to goings-on at Stamford Bridge and the feeling is that is a lot of stories have been blown out of proportion. That one about the delegation of players going to Buck and asking for Grant’s removal has been widely dismissed as the product of an over-active imagination, but something’s certainly not right. The most worrying sight was the complete lack of response from Henk Ten Cate and Steve Clarke when Steven Gerrard knocked Grant off his feet during the second leg of their semi-final. They just watched their boss topple into the dug-out without even raising an eyebrow. If Gerrard had done that to Jose Mourinho, the backroom staff would have torn the Liverpool captain limb from limb and carried his head around the stadium on a pole. Here, there was nothing but dead-eyed apathy.
In a funny kind of way I’m actually starting to quite like Grant and, though this may shock a few people, I’ll be sticking a few quid on his side for tomorrow night. I’ve got a feeling that in spite of everything, they’ll sneak a win, but even the biggest trophy of them all won’t make his job any more secure. Grant is, it seems to me, a good man in a bad position. His bosses have done nothing to prevent the names of Roberto Mancini, Sven Goran Eriksson and Frank Rijkaard from being whispered in the corridors of power, they’ve done nothing to secure his position and they’ve done nothing to help the players focus. Grant, and Chelsea fans, deserve better.