I have a strange feeling ahead of this match. I want Chelsea to get eliminated in both domestic cup competitions. Given the fragilities and morale of the team, to make a serious attempt for all competitions can be quite risky. I’m ready to give Avram some time but does he have it in him to marshal the blue army in the pursuit of all competitions, in this season particularly?

This is what Avram Grant has on his plate – good players, unmotivated with low morale, need for change of playing philosophy, tough competition than last season, african cup of nations, this thing called ‘exodus’ looming large. Now, do you still want us to be playing in all competitions or concentrating only in the premier league and champions league. I choose the latter.

Avram has a point when he says this is not the perfect time to take the team and that certain things take more time than you’d like.

I know it’s not an ideal time to take the team, there’s no time for preparations or to put my style on the team, especially after the (previous) three games when we didn’t win. But I believe in this team and the club and the players. I don’t know how long I’ve got but I will try to do my job. We need to improve the style of the team and believe we can with this group of players. This season we didn’t play very well apart from against Birmingham, when we were fantastic, and 20 minutes against Reading. We didn’t score enough goals so we need many things to improve in a short time because every few days we have a game. It’s a process and it won’t come in one day. I will try to take the best from all the players. Even in a short time I think you will see Chelsea better than at the beginning of the year.

If this means we have to put up with few more losses and draws and see ourselves in the mid-table for sometime, then it’s really not worth it. This season, Jose Mourinho was playing with a different playing style. If you happened to see the Chelsea vs Rosenborg match, we played superbly. Twice we hit the post and we missed sitters. I’m not buying this ‘improve Chelsea’s style of play’ for I thought we were already playing well. My expectation from Avram or whoever is going to replace him next week or whenever, is this – just better what Jose did.

Avram says that players are happy thereby ruling out one of the possible excuses later on. In the previous paragraph he was talking about this time not being the ideal to take the team and now he also says that the players are happy.

It’s better than I thought. When you have 25 players in the squad, one or two might not be happy, but I haven’t seen that. I’m a very positive person but I know that it can’t be 100 percent happiness. There is nobody, including me, that is happy about the situation. But it has happened, it’s football and it’s not the first time it’s happened in football. We need to adapt very quickly and look forward to improving the quality of the football.

While Avram still remains to be a mystery man with regards to his credentials and capabilities (and licenses!), we have to swallow all news and information that we get from various sources. Arsene Wenger has some good things to say about Avram here:

Nobody knew about me when I arrived in England but I know Avram Grant and he is a very intelligent man with a big knowledge of the game. He came to study our training methods when he was the Israeli coach and I liked the man. There is nothing to stop him being a success because he has the financial resources, he has the players and he has the knowledge. I understand people have become a bit passionate and emotional after Mourinho’s sudden departure. But that doesn’t mean you have to convict the guy who comes after him.

Very fair remarks. That’s my feeling to some extent. We should not convict him just because he gets to replace the darling of Chelsea fans. Football is the same for Avram but what would change for him is the pressure, expectations, superstars ego etc which he did not have to deal with in Israel.

Kenn Emetulu from Chelseablog says why he finds Avram Grant a complete embarrassment. While Avram has some friends in England, he also has some admirers back home. The former Israeli coach Shlomo Scharf calls him a manipulator!

He is a dangerous man, a manipulator, a coach who took the national team backwards in terms of football style and world ranking yet made the media think he did great. Now he has wormed his way in at Chelsea and the thought that Avram from (little Israeli club) Petach-Tikva is the next Jose Mourinho is unbelievable. He does not understand football and never will. He just has connections and his favoured journalists.

Taking the Israeli team backwards in terms of football ranking is a fact. But I have as much knowledge of Israeli team’s playing style as I have on thermodynamics. If Avram logs in to the Chelsea TV website, he’ll be in for a real shock. Chelsea Tv still shows Jose Mourinho as the manager of the club.

Do you see that Jose Mourinho picture on the first block of the sidebar in BlueChampions homepage. That would remain there as a mark of respect for the man. This picture symbolises himself and what he’s left for us.

Also there is a new football quiz feature in BlueChampions. If you click on the champions league trophy image on the sidebar in BlueChampions homepage, you’ll get a quizboard pop-up where you can answer the questions and upon winning the quiz, you’ll get prizes too. This particular quiz is on UEFA Champions League. The quiz has various levels so don’t write off the quiz as easy because it would get tougher as the level goes. All the best and if you win, let us all know

Back to the match tonight. Our appeal against Obi Mikel red card that was never a foul, has been upheld and he will have to face a three-match ban, the first of which being tonight. I’d go for a 4-4-2 with Sheva and Kalou upfront, Maka, Essien, Malouda and Joe Cole in the midfield. In defence, it should be Terry, Alex, Belletti and Ashley Cole. I thought Wayne Bridge was supposed to return in the last week of this month.If Avram wants to win with Chelsea, tonight is the best opportunity. Tonight’s match won’t end in a draw because, there can only be 30 mins extra time and subsequently a penalty shoot out. So, by all probabilities, Avram should notch his first Chelsea win. If Chelsea fails to win tonight, though it would benefit us, the Press would write us off, ridicule and will make Avram’s and Roman’s life miserable.

I don’t care much about the result. But I care about how they play, how many chances they create, how many shots off/on target, how comfortable is the defence and if they have the spirit, hunger and determination they are known for. Let me end with a fantastic news in the current circumstances – Roman is reported to have offered the Chelsea job to the Dutch legend, one of the all-time greats, Marco van Basten. Three Cheers!!!

[tags]Chelsea, Hull, Hull City, League Cup, Carling Cup, Avram Grant, Jose Mourinho, Obi Mikel[/tags]