Good one, BC… Great article!
I agree with everything, except the part where you say that teams no longer fear Chelsea. What do you base that on?? I mean, certainly we’re not as tactically formidable in tight situations (we’ve not really been tested other than by Man U and Arsenal–that’s a good thing, I guess) as we were under JM, but who’s to say teams don’t still fear coming to the Bridge?? I mean, we still haven’t lost there! I think that teams still fear Chelsea, and now with Ten Cate… err, AG in charge, there’s an element of mystery about us which teams won’t necessarily know how to deal with.
And besides, even if teams don’t fear us… is that a bad thing? Perhaps then they’ll stop playing for a point and go for three, and our play will be more open, and we’ll become more razzle-dazzle. Tell me what you think.

Machiavelli said it was better to be feared than to be loved. I’ll grant he was talking about ruling a nation but I would make the same argument about football. Think of the recent Chelsea teams as compared to the recent Arsenal teams. If you were a neutral whom would you rather watch? Arsenal, they are creatvie and fast paced. Whom would you rather play? Arsenal again. Why? Because Chelsea is/was feared. Teams playing Chelsea knew they could afford no mistakes on either end. Lampard and Drogba jumped on any chance for a goal and converted more often than not. On the other end JT ran a pretty closed shop. It was ugly, it was slow at times but it was championship football. Re-instill that fear in the opponent and Chelsea will be back at the top.

Sidenote: This is why I like the style of Mikel and Carvalho. Anyone running at either of them knows he is in for a rough time. So they pick up the occasional card. Who bloody cares? Watch an opposing striker in our end when Mikel and Ricardo are around. I promise that he will know where they are at all times. Losing either of them, even just for a moment, means that you will be at the end of a clattering tackle and that is the way it should be.

An article I read in reply to an article from S JINN

To the author of this article:
You wrote:

“The number one bone of contention most people seem to have with Grant is that he talks about positive football while still playing in the same vein as Jose Mourinho.”

May I correct you, though it is my personal opinion, the main bone of contention, is that he talks about positive football, well the main bone of contention is exactly that we all know that in such a short time, no one can change the style that players were used to, and that was so successful.
His (AG) comments about positive football were just comments to the press were indirect jibes at Jose Mourinho’s system of play.
Second was to convince RA that RA’s choice was the correct one.

Regarding your assertion that we play more attacking football, sorry to say it is just crap. The fullbacks always had the freedom to attack, and cross the balls mainly to DD, under JM type of play.
That was and still is an intelligent way of exploit the strengths of DD, a tall, powerful and a skilful player.
To this type of football you had AG commenting that was “long ball” type of football, this only show a high degree of football/tactical ignorance on his (AG) part.
Besides bear in mind that to give more freedom to the full backs to attack, by leaving empty spaces on the back, it may work with less quality teams, but with a better quality team, with players with pace and skill, (i.e. Ronaldo, Lennon etc) is suicidal.

“Our recent success is hardly short of miraculous; either one of a change of management or an overwhelming injury crisis would be enough to do in most title”

NO IS NOT, the team that AG has inherited, is full of internationals with the experience of WINNING, so it is not miraculous AT ALL.
It is the product of 3 years motivation and of instilling the belief and winning ways. So again in here I agree to disagree with you, and regarding the injury list Chelsea suffered the same last year, so this is another hyperbole.

“He hasn’t come in and tried to “put his stamp” on Mourinho’s team, but rather he has begun gradually moulding them into his team.
Well what can I say?? Yes maybe you are right, that he is moulding the team into his team, ….hmmmm….. yes we have seen some matches were his “moulding” has shown, i.e. shalcke, if it was a better german or any other team we would have lost, QPR, Aston Villa, Fulham just to mention the ones coming into my mind.
In fact in those games there were “noticeable” changes, particularly the biggest change achieved my AG is called LUCK. I know luck is part of the game, but to have it by the bucket loads and in so many
games, yes, now I will use the adjective that you used to qualify his work, “miraculous, well after all he belongs to the “chosen people” lol.

You wrote:
“Take the home leg of the Carling Cup semi-final against Everton on 8 January, when Grant brought Ferreira on for Pizarro at 1-1 on 86 minutes, with Chelsea going on to score a last minute winner. Many ” another game were AG’s change were evident, mentioned above. The change was made to protect the draw rather than to score, I know it is speculative, I also know that Belletti started in Brazil as a midfield player, but since coming to Europe he always been a RB, nope your theory will not convince anyone, another substitutions against a team with 10 players. Was he using the so maligned system of “shut shop” at least we can have them back at Stamford Bridge? No Mr Slein Jinn may have convinced you but will not convince anyone else.
Regarding that match 04/05 against Newcastle, you hardly can compare, the substitutions almost paid if for at least JM had 10% of the LUCK that AG has, I have the DVD, and after reading this article went to see it again, I can send it to you so you can see the difference.

You wrote:

“At the end of the day, it’s too early to judge Avram Grant one way or the other, but thus far, he’s given a far better account of himself than for which most people are willing to give him credit.”

No,it is not too early to judge him (AG), he has had about 28 games and lost 2, against teams of the “same quality”, equal to JM first 28 games or whatever, but won 5 of them with an incredible amount of LUCK, but after the matches AG said we deserved to win , we created more chances we could have scored 3 or 4 blah blah blah, all crap, who on earth does he think he is fooling? one thing is for sure not the fans.

Now, the credit should be going, in my opinion to, 60% for the players, professionals, with lots of experience in internationals, they know what to do , 20% to Steve Clarck, the only british guy in the management team, that can motivate the players in english, 19% to Ten Cate for his tactics acumen and experience in the continent and yes 1% to AG for giving us his opinion after the matches.
Now Mr S Jinn, do you really believe that AG could motivate a Frank Lampard, JT, Anelka, Carvalho, Belletti, Cech, Cudicini, etc, etc the players wouldnt even understand his english, lets give credit where it needs to be, Steve Clark with his 3 years of watching , learning and now executing on behalf of a very very mediocre manager. I am mystified that the FA overlooked such a prospect.
Yes he has not done too badly as the speaker of the management team, after all he is RA’s friend and appointee.
I also do not believe that AG did not have a hand on the disposal of JM, c’mon to pull aside players after the trainings and ask them whatever he would ask, on an one to one basis, according to the poress, so he could go and report to RA and explain his ideas of football, and his fantastic football mind, please I understand your opinion, SJ, but lets not say that changes are evident the only one I have witnessed is so far called LUCK.
Watch the DVD’s of the Israel national team when he was the manager, and tell me about his so called “positive” football, yes he didnt lose 1 match, but it was but even against Malta he drew and most games he came from behind with which characteristc?? LUCK

Anyway I wont be surprised if a top club will come for Steve Clarck next season, but at least the diificult teams that he ahs drawn, i.e. Olympiakos, the easyest by far in the CL and now in the FA cup we drew another top team, geeeeeee GOD help us for these 2 draws, really hard.
I must reiterate that I am not a JM fan, but as a manager there are few like him, maybe the likes of Sven,Arsene, Alex, Ramos, just a few names that we are most familiar with, that have achieved their positions through achievements, but lets give credit to whom it deserves.

I read in another blog, someone writing that ” I would RISK being world cup champion if I manage Brazil.” The same applies to AG.
Marco1

AGfriend: what a hatred, what a bitterness! I am so sad that I have good relations with my mother-in-law, otherwise I would have asked your help to write a letter to her… :-)

KKI I didnt write that I copied and pasted from another blog

its interesting to read the interview, but i have to disagree with many things,
I dont love or hate Avaram Grant. as hes the manager of the club i support, i support him, same as i did when Jose was there. i dont think Avaram Grant got the job just becos he happend to be a friend of roman, and even if he does so, nothing has gone wrong so far. has it ? out of 28 games, 2 loss, 5 draw and 21 wins same as Jose (from john motson, bbc commentry).

“if Avram was to make himself available in the job market, how many top clubs would wait for his signature? May be just one, that’s us!”.. well i dont usually go for Ifs and buts, how many people knew arsen wenger wen he came to english football ?? some one famous said, arsen who ? but didnt he prove himself given the time, what he can produce. i am not sayin avaram grant wud be the next wenger, but lets give him the time atleast end of the season and see what happens.

i dont think avaram grant had any thing to do with jose’s departure, its entirely his own fault, Avaram grant might be a bit low key infront of the media, but jose had it in abundance and he made a mess of it as well, its good to play tactical games with media but i think he has crossed the boundry and he paid the price at the end. i dont think the style of play was the sole reason for his departure, becos we did play some awsome football in his first 2 season, its more to do with his media handling, unncessaary attention, too much of nagging and his relation with Roman. Jose might be the special one, but no one messes with roman.

I agree with BC he does have dig at jose somtimes, but i dont see anything wrong with it, everyone does, every now and then, and he will learn from his mistakes.

Well regarding teams “afraid” of chelsea, well with in last 3 years if you see the changes happened in english football, you can understand why teams dont fear chelsea anymore, and if you see the teams in the top 10 u wud get a picture of it, its not about teams fearing chelsea, it has become more sort of any team can beat any team on a given day, becos there r quality players in most of the teams now adays, within in last 3 years, Man utd have spent more than 100 million, liverpool have spent around 40 plus jus this season, arsenal has its own production unit, so they dont spent any money, but plenty of talents, man city bot by another multimillionaire, villa, westham,newcastle g oes with billionariees now , poor old sunderland have spent about 25 million plus this season, when chelsea started splasing cash in abundance and buyin the top players, others started to fear and they fear playing agianst chelsea, now adays it has changed, every one can spent and they all spent a lot in players and teams are stronger.

the other thing is, as a manager you want to win every trophie every year, but i dont think that goes same with players, once they have won few trophies, then they want more money, their desire to play gradually decreases, thats the reality,

BC
good article I agree with most but on this question?

“Do you think he is carried by Clarke and Ten Cate?”

I would answer Ten Cate, Steve Clarck and the players

but in my opinion Steve Clark is doing the morivational talk, I can not see the players understanding AG english, and ten Cate the tactics for AG he jibs at JM lol

BC

You’re like an old magician with a new trick out from your het, asking your self questions witch very surprising your answers are well predicted.
One can imagine how much energy you spend on Avram’s words when your lack of real honest judgment of his results (when after good games you where saying that that’s the number one criteria to judge the man are the results , and after not so great games but still winning you where talking about style)

Even in good old Russia such an interview would be consider as a joke.

Few Q
1-if you where asked back at September where this team would be in winning parentage after 27 games what would be your answer back then ?

2 – JM was and still his great manager and we both agree he is,
But you keep saying nothing as changed, in order to prove that AG his not
Can’t you see something is wrong with this logic?

3-what do you say about AG psychology aspect? More then once you said that he is very poor at that area, but the facts are that he came in to JM shoes with all this stars in one team and yet he managed to keep thing calm, I’m sure you did not expected that to happen

4-would you agree that with the same kind of winning parentage JM
Was leading the table 2 and 3 years ago?

5- Don’t you think all this talk about AG looks and color of his shirts is bit off subject when you really want to talk about football?

6-don’t you find it stupid to think luck was the reason for so many wins?

7-why do you ignore the fact that we could have made a top team only with our missing players along the last 3 month? Can’t you see how much bigger the achievement is playing for so long without few of our key players?

8- Can you stop using so many rumors and assumptions when you talk about the management team work behind the cines as you have no knowledge?

9 – How many more times we all going to hear about that SC speech at the half time?
Very legitimate in modern management

10 -how many more times we all going to hear about that fan song about AG don’t know nothing? I don’t think they sing it any more

11- Do you agree AG stats in his 27 games are about 50% better then JM last 27 games? And are just as good as JM first 27 games?

12-under the circumstances don’t you agree that AG had much more difficulties to handle in his first 27 games then JM at his first 27 games?

13-under whose belt you put losing the Man u away game?
I totally put it under JM!!!!!100%

I am very sorry to say that reading your invited questions I already knew about 90% of the answers, it’s like playing tennis with only serving or volleys,
By the way you don’t need to answer my questions ,I know what they will be

CFC
Put it this way, what I dont like about AG is his hypocrisy
and his campaign trying to fool us all.
In my opinion he is a fake, even now if he leaves Chelsea , how many clubs
do you think would offer him a manager job?
He is trying to get all the accolade, but even J Motson and Lawrenson when they were commenting the wigan match, the cameras focused on AG, and after on stev and ten cate,
the commentators were chatting to each and JM said that most credit shpould go to SC and Tcate
and lawrenson agreed,
It is an open secret./
Anyway another difficult task ahead in the FA cup.

@israeli
you also a medium?
so try to guess my answers if i am asked the same questions?

waiting 4 your answer.

AGfriend
i am 100% sure what’s your answers will look like
About 20 times the word crap
About 20 imaginary facts
Some stupidities about AG

what other people say : and compare with yourself :))
I did not cull at all just coppy and paste.
“How Much Do You Like Avram Grant ?”

//He’s not my favorite guy on the planet, but neither is he an annoying jerk. He’s likable. I’m sure that I’m in the minority though. lol //

//I dont mind him. He doesnt have the most exciting personality but hes getting wins with a very thin squad. And its nice not being in the spot light Jose usually got Chelsea into. We are sort of flying under the radar at the moment with these low key wins and if we keep it up we will be in good position to challenge for the title. //

//i think avram grant is hilarious…just look at his face.
but if he didnt wear a black shirt and a nice jacket, i wud prob say he looks like a paedo.
but yeh hes kool hes obviously not as enigmatic as mourinho but, i dont think neone is //

//I like mourinho very much , when He left chelsea it was kind of hard to see someone else on the bench ; however, Aveam’s good results made me forget mourinho very soon .
He is a cool guy , He want to be an ordinary guy , unlike mourinho.
I like Avram. //

//I agree. I really like Mourinho, but Grant is a good guy. He is getting the results and I can’t complain. I like him, even if he is less animated than Jose. //

Unfortunatly , in that blog I could not find any joke like here :))

AG is AG ! I hope he has a good time and a decent record in the time that he is manager of CFC , other than that he is a footnote in my books

very good effort! i will gather my answers for these questions sometime later. but it’s mostly going to be in line with what BC said. maysam – you seem to be annoyed with this blog but you’re here every other day. why don’t ply your trade in that other blog which you like?

israeli – mate, don’t take things personally. if you were around here same time last season, you might be shocked to see the criticism on JM. Chelsea was No.2 in the table then and he still got all the stick in the world. that’s what is happening to AG too. that’s why chelsea job is the hot seat. for all the investment and expectations, anything less than league champions is a compromise.

guys! i support AG but i dont want to talk about if i like him or not. that’s out of the equation. i would support him reluctantly. he’s done a decent job. no reason to call for his head.

hi friends
hey wait a minute. let me explain a different point of view which suddenly crossed my mind. i will explain in brief before it fades away…..
when JM travelled to barca for a CL match after that wretched pitch in Bridge, he went about 20 mins befroe the players arrived…..he later explained this act as saying that he will soak in all the pressure where as the players can play without pressure…..
applying the same logic to AG critisism of JM(which i strongly oppose) may be he is distracting the attention of media towards him instead of his fragile squad??? maybe he tries to hog the limelight but in a way it is helping our team. our team is playing without pressure. we were in a spot of bother when JM left.dont we?
hope most of u heard about the Albatross…. at the end of the poem the people will slay it. maybe in a way the slaying of the Albatross(sacking of JM in this case) might prove to be a blessing in disguise. i felt that it was increasingly difficult for JM to continue without the support of the man who brought us to this level.
hope we win the champions league this time. time to flex our muscles…….

You said it all BC,agreed. It will only be a fool or someone just watching the Chelseafc this season will oppose this interview outrightly. At the end of the season we will still have a lot to say about AG and his achievement and stats.

@israeli

My answers will based on assumptions of facts, but very logic.
Besides the word “crap” suits perfectly to AG, I have a feeling
that it is his middle name.

That answer that I copied and pasted from another blog, explains
pretty well that is not only me, that thinks the man is a fake.
Yes “they” did very well, the management team, but why do you think
RA kept Steve Clarck, and brought in Ten Cate? just to be a charity?
He knows so does AG , that Avram is short on talent and expertise, lets face watch one of his interviews after the matches, he wouldnt be able to motivate a 5 years old with a lollipop, and for LUCK his main contribution to Chelsea management team, here is another fact…… Huddersfield lol
look at the luck that Arsene and Alex Fergusson had and compare.
Look at the luck Arsene and Ferguson had with the draws of the CL and compare.
c’mon israeli I still think he would be more suited for a “salt beef sandwich bar”.

israeli

apparently JM has an offer to go to Valencia, 1 of the conditions is that the President of Vsalencia buys Carvalho, DD, Frank, and Tiago now in Juventus.

Pity i would like hin to come to EPL and match his wits against our messiah.
Read their blog.
http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/valencia/es/desarrollo/1083523.html

Ronaldinho
His brother and agent have had talks with RA and apparently he will come
to Chelsea for 10 million euros p.a., according to Corriere dello Sport
10 million euros= about £8million p.a.????? OMG this will go well with other players,
but they may have to close the discos in Kings Rd.

http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Notizie/Calcio/15634/Ronaldinho%2C+assalto+Chelsea

Hmm, I could sleep now but I need to get some things of my chest. I’ll just reply to each of your answers, BC. Some of the things being said in here is quite unbelieveable.

1. Fair play, you don’t have to like him. There is no rule saying that you must like the manager of the team. Why would I normally like somebody? Personality, sense of humour come to mind. Although Avram has yet to display his complete personality, he has shown his humourous side, which I liked.

2. Yes, again, fair enough. Hate is a strong word though, so for you to hate somebody or something they must have really done something bad or the thing must be really quite despicable. Avram has not done anything to qualify this so it is hard to say that he is hated.

3. No circumstantial evidence yet that proves this theory. Roman could have picked his name out of an expensive hat that contained the names of every available manager at that certain date, or he could have possibly asked around for who people believe has potential to be a great manager, or who they believe could do a great job at Chelsea. Who cares how many top clubs would wait for his signature if he was available? I’m not sure many teams were queuing up for Alex Ferguson when he was in Scotland or Arsene Wenger before he went to Arsenal. They have been at their respective clubs for over 10 years and are seen as two of the greatest managers even seen. Who knows with Avram? The same scenario could happen.

4. It was Roman’s choice. He is the big boss here, so he makes the decision on who runs the team. If he feels either the manager is not living up to his standards or if he doesn’t have faith in the manager, then he and he alone can sack him. That’s business. I don’t think Avram had any role in his dismissal.

5. Who is the right man for the Chelsea job? If Avram “absolutely lacks the pedigree” to manage Chelsea, then who absolutely has the pedigree? What is the pedigree? Is getting results not enough for you? Avram has delivered results, which is most important, no?

6. Nopety no! For crying out loud, has Avram ever come out and said “I am better than this cow Mourinho, I make the team player better than Mourinho did, I am more suited for the job of Chelsea manager than this Mourinho.” Has he? NO! You’re old enough to understand things? Pfft! Get real. This is what really gets me with the “supporters” on this site, they are so immature to believe that when Avram says that he believes Chelsea are playing in a good style, that he is supposedly actually saying that he believes Chelsea are playing in a better style than what was previous! Can he help being compared to the great Jose? Of course not, every journalist asks him the same questions, how do you believe you have changed Chelsea? What is different in your style of play? They are the questions he is asked every interview, so he says what he believes he has done in this team, because every manager has their own influence whether you are mature enough to believe it or not.

7. You haven’t seen proof to believe otherwise? I’ll give you proof. The players coming out and saying that Grant is doing a good job and that the dressing room is united under him! You refer to rumours and stories created by the press as fact, such as when Clarke supposedly gave this half-time team talk, and how supposedly Avram’s training and fitness methods are primitive. Grant is the manager of the team, and behind him are his two ASSISTANT managers in ten Cate and Clarke. Of course they do things on the training field and in motivation. That is why they are employed as assistant managers at Chelsea Football Club! But in no way are they carrying the team. Grant is doing this and he is doing a fine job. Proof? Like I said, listen to the players rather than the press.

8. How do you measure the quality of a manager? By his dugout presence and his press conferences? Are you actually serious? The main criteria is the results, and with that success. This is first and foremost how you judge a good manager. Then comes his tactics, substitutions, team selection, playing style, but with results shouldn’t these be seen as successful? Avram has delivered very, very good results as Chelsea manager. He has kept us in every competition we entered. Premier League – in 3rd position, close behind Man Utd and Arsenal. FA Cup – 5th round. Carling Cup – the final at Wembley! Champions League – first knockout round. We can’t really ask better of him than this, expect of course to be leading the Prem, but he has every chance to be doing this when players return from injury (Terry, Lampard, Shevchenko) and players return from Ghana (Mikel, Essien, Kalou, Drogba). You put importance on how he didn’t know the Arsenal result. Do you want a manager who focuses on Chelsea or Arsenal? Can’t he be forgiven for not rushing to check the other scores after full time, before talking to his team about their performance and being rushed off for an interview. I’m sure he would have heard sooner or later. Just because he focuses on his team and not the results of Arsenal doesn’t make him a bad manager! The intangible areas you mention – he has not shown failure in any of these areas. Rather, success. That’s why he has only lost two matches, one being his first game in charge against Man Utd at Old Trafford, which nobody realistically expected him to win.

9. You contradict yourself within two sentences. ” … and may be it would be clear by end of the season” before you say “no” to the question on whether he deserves time to show his stuff. You don’t believe he needs time, yet you think his effects only are clearer at the end of the season. Surely that is giving him time? I think you are being incredibly arrogant in your answer here. You are demanding success, and you are demanding it instantly! You are showing how you think Chelsea is much better than Arsenal and that due to this we deserve success straight away from the new manager. Avram deserves time to “show his stuff”. You surely can’t expect him to pick up the reigns from the very successful Jose and under the huge pressure by fans like yourself win the quadruple in 8 months? Why is it that Arsene Wenger can get another decade to win two titles yet Avram Grant only gets less than one season to pick up the same amount?

10. The best thing that Avram has done is get results! Of course, keeping Clarkey is huge and very important and the capture of ten Cate may prove to be a very good one, but I don’t think that’s the best thing he has done. He has taken over as manager and in 28 games (I think it is that anyway) he has lost only the two. Now that’s pretty impressive, don’t you think?

11. You place such importance on the media handling! Why? If you get off your anti-Grant-interview soapbox for a second and look behind what he is saying, you’ll see he doesn’t fail miserably as you put it. (And by looking behind what he is saying, I DO NOT mean to associate Jose with what he is saying) In his comments, Grant has obviously focused on how he is changing Chelsea and what he wants to do. You know what this does? Takes the limelight and media pressure away from the players and puts it on him! A very, very brave and noble thing to do. He is thinking of the players and trying to make them less-pressured and more confident in themselves. A few, very skillful managers have done this in the past. Jose was one, SAF has also done it. And look and the success they achieved. I think in this question you have actually answered the second question with a big resounding yes. Hatred for the man seeps through in your words.

12. Yes, I do too. Avram has delivered results, and good ones at that. On the subject of playing style, if he has not changed anything then wouldn’t that be a yes too? Or would you give Jose a no in that answer. Where is the substantial evidence to say teams don’t fear Chelsea anymore? Don’t you see teams park the proverbial bus in front of their goal against us, and try and get a chance on the counter. One match springs to mind, Sunderland. Keane even confirmed this when he talked after the match. Teams do still fear Chelsea, that is why we still have our unbeaten home record in tact and also why Avram has only lost two games in charge.

13. Well, I didn’t expect that. After all the answers you have given that have shown negativity towards Avram, you don’t want him to leave. Wow. No wait, again the arrogance seeps through!! Anything less than 2nd position and we should fire him. Depsite it is his first season in charge of a team of players he didn’t know tremendously well and despite the fact that we weren’t in a better position with Jose in charge. Sigh.

14. He should improve his accent? Are you actually being serious? No wait, you aren’t. “I’m not joking. It is important.” Prejudice much? Geez, just because he speaks in a different accent to Ferguson, Wenger, Benitez and every other manager, you think he should change his accent? Holy moley. That has got to be one of the most unintelligent things that you have posted. Improve his vocabulary? Well, he was born in Israel so English wasn’t necessarily his first language. That makes it slightly harder to speak perfect English. I think you should stop demanding perfection and start accepting people (well, Grant) for who and how he is.

15. You should probably stop talking about the past, mate. I look at what Avram says, does he say anything about the past? No. He talks about what he has done to Chelsea. Irrespective of what Mourinho, Ranieri and even Gullit has done. The long ball discussion boomeranged back? I live in Australia so obviously I know a bit about boomerangs. I don’t see how it boomeranged back onto him. ;-)

16. Keep doing the same. That is, keep getting the results. Use the style of play he is using now, and expand it more when the players come back. Stop talking about the past, mate? ;-) Haha.

17. I would rate the performances a resounding 9/10. Not perfect, obviously, but bloody good. Keeping in mind the circumstances of his arrival (not at the start of the season), overall I would give him a 8.25/10. Penny-wise-pound-foolish? Please explain that mate, it’s a term(s) that I have not become accustomed to.

:) (Boy that was a long comment, took over an hour it seems. Cannot be bothered to read over it so please excuse any mistakes)

Nubskeh

I knew how to answer you but since it is addressed to BC
sp let him answer you.

But your explanation of saint AG is from someone that in fact lives far away,
or does not want to listen to AG.

my opinion for the reason of the so called success of AG has been expressed
above, and I repeat 50/60% polayers, 20% to Clarck, 19% to ten Cate 1% AG.

Nubskeh read the interviews of the players and you will see that nothing has changed,
so SAG should comment on the game rather than saying that chelsea changed the type of football.
Yes AG is a FAKE, the only good thing he brought was LUCK, look at whom chelsea drew in the FA cup and the CL .

I have not read anyone else’s responses to BC’s post by the way.

Do you like/hate Avram Grant?

I don’t ever want to use the word “hate” when talking about someone even though I understand the context BC is referring to when they use the word. It’s a word that makes me feel uncomfortable, there is too much real hate in this world to talk about it within football too. Equally I don’t think you can “love” someone you don’t know either. So that brings me down to do I like or dislike Avram? Well right now I’m ambivalent about him, he seems intelligent, calm, rather dull and monotone in his expressions and behaviour, he tries to joke sometimes but he does not possess the charisma, spark, energy and wit that Mourinho did. This is not his fault I hasten to add, anyone following Mourinho frankly would seem rather dull and quiet in comparison! I wish he would open up more and actually talk a little more clearly in his diction, his English is fine I think but he does tend to mumble – speak up as my mother would say! Because at times I do have trouble understanding what he is saying. I find him mysterious, closed off, whilst Mourinho was an open book, difficult man to gauge Mr Grant.

Do you think Avram got the job because Roman is his friend?
Yes I believe he has got the job simply because Roman knew him after meeting him in Israel a few years back I believe. I think Avram impressed Roman in some way and he kept in close contact with Roman so that if ever a post of some kind came up in Europe Roman would think of him. First Portsmouth came up and Roman moved him there doing we know not what and then he was swiftly across to Chelsea. That’s NOT to say he is incompetent because he is Roman’s friend but if Roman had not known him, I find it inconceivable that Grant would be our manager now.

Do you think Avram had a role to play in JM’s dismissal?
Not really, he played a role in upsetting Mourinho by being appointed without Jose really wanting him there but he did not in my view participate in his dismissal, trouble had been brewing for ages between Roman and Jose and they simply could not continue on together anymore and so they parted – both I feel will be better without the other. They are both GOOD men but sometimes good men cannot work together.

Do you think Avram is the right man for the Chelsea job?
Long term I don’t believe he is of the sufficient quality to be managing Chelsea. I realise this sounds very silly right now saying this. It is just my personal gut feeling again. However, right now nobody can argue with his results so therefore one can only wait and see how things go over the rest of the season and into next when Grant will have bought even more of his own players and can start a season from scratch and we can see if the good run of results is down to his management brilliance or a hang over from having Mourinho’s very excellent and organized squad at his disposal.

Do you think Avram takes digs at JM?
Yes but then people who know me on here already can guess that answer! By digs what I mean is that he does not openly say “My team play better football now than Mourinho”. What he says is a little more subtle but just as obvious in that he says something along the lines of “we play much more attacking football so better than before” or “we no longer play mainly long balls as we did before” or “the players prefer the way we are playing now not like before”, “the players attack now much more than before” and so on and so forth. Always the reference to what we do NOW over what we did BEFORE. Now this would be fine with me IF we were infact doing something markedly different but the fact that in my eyes we are playing pretty much the same and getting the same scorelines tells me that Avram is trying to fool someone but I’m just not sure who that might be! Although I notice that in recent weeks he has started to reign himself in on this front – perhaps he realizes that he looks a little silly as few in the media or fans actually buy into this.

Do you think he is carried by Clarke and Ten Cate?
The management structure is different now – it is management by committee. Grant manages rather like an Eriksson – he “takes” training by telling Cate and Clarke what he wants to see and they implement it “do the work” if you like. He may talk to a player one on one but generally he does not involve himself with this side of it. Malouda/JT and Lampard have all confirmed this approach so it’s not gossip or falsehood. Totally the opposite to Mourinho who was hands on to the point that apparently his coaching staff were very careful not to interfere without his permission. Cate has probably brought more modern methods to assist Grant who initially was accused of being very much behind the times, again Mourinho learned from his days at Barca (like Cate) and was renowned for his interesting and presumably up to date training methods – his players were very complimentary. Clarke is the vital continuity link with what Mourinho did for the players – his importance cannot be underestimated for keeping them content. Clarke and Cate also apparently involve themselves in the team talks at half time much more whilst Grant quietly listens in and adds an aside if required – again totally different to Mourinho but then you look at Grant (his calm demeanour and lack of charisma) and you realize he needs Cate there and Clarke to assist him. It’s just a totally different approach – I am not saying it is good or bad, right or wrong – it’s just different – more the “collective” than the singular.

Do you think he is a good manager?
That’s a BIG question. What makes a good manager? Many things for me. They must be astute in terms of tactics and team changes during a game – they must be good at reading a game. They must be able to motivate players not just those in the first team but reserves also, they must be able to motivate their staff, how they deal with the opposition managers especially in big games and they must be able to handle the many media commitments. Yes I realize this last point may seem very superficial but look at Steve McClaren – his poor media handling hampered him dreadfully. As I am not a fly on the wall at Chelsea it is difficult to say but on results so far you have to say he is good but with caveats as there are some things that have apparently happened which make me wonder about him. Bottom line he SEEMS to be a good manager on results so far but that’s all I am prepared to say at the moment, I do not think he is yet equal to a Mourinho, Fergie or Wenger type – he has not shown me enough yet.

Do you think Avram needs time to show his stuff?
The question is irrelevant because Roman is going to give him time whatever we may think. He has invested his faith in Grant and he will have this season and certainly well into next to prove himself fully.

What was the one best thing that Avram has done so far?
He has kept Steve Clarke, very important. He has not upset the players by altering their training or frankly anything much else! That has kept the stability and continuity of a winning and hungry side – he may not be a stellar coach long term but he is certainly a smart one. He has given Chelsea a much lower media profile – I think it was time.

What was the one worst thing that Avram has done so far?
He needs to lay off any digs about the previous regime, Jose was our most successful coach, does Avram really think belittling what went before no matter how vaguely when it was such a success is a good PR idea with the fans? No. Yes of course Avram has been charged by Roman to bring a new style of football eventually to Chelsea I understand that but he should either keep quiet or just keep his comments to the very here and now.

As for his general media handling he cannot do much about the way he is, as I said before Grant is everything Mourinho was not and that works both ways for good and bad! He just needs to be himself he is not going to change I’ll wager into something he’s not. What you see now is what you are going to keep on seeing, he may relax a little more and get more confident if he wins trophies but otherwise I doubt he will change much. He is very calm and inexpressive normally and because of this Chelsea no longer make the back pages much even when we win and I think that is a good thing – for me that was Mourinho’s biggest liability as a manager, the controversy he generated be it by his hand or not.

Do you think Avram has delivered so far?
Yes in terms of results he has.

Do you want Avram Grant to leave Chelsea?
No, but I have nothing to do with this decision, if Roman wants him gone he will be simple as that. It does not even hinge on results, Mourinho was disposed of and look at his amazing record over three years. Even if Grant starts performing badly it will not be up to me if Roman keeps him – it’s his club he can do what he wishes such is the power of a 100% owner.

What should he start doing?
Smile more, come on Avram you know you can do it!

What should he stop doing?
Stop starting discussions that back fire on you in a way. Stop mentioning our non existent more attacking football when you would need an electron microscope most days to notice it, stop belittling the previous manager by the turn of a word or phrase when in fact the very squad he helped build is winning you things in Mourinho’s way. Don’t talk as if we have never played attacking football before or that we are no longer going to use much of the long ball when clearly it has a place in this team of all teams with Drogba so adept at playing that game. When it’s Grant’s squad with his players, finally playing a different way that I and the media and fans can clearly see then fine talk about it all day if you want but don’t think that damning what went before makes you look clever it doesn’t it just makes you look very insecure.

What should he continue doing?
Just do what he is doing now, being calm, being polite and not letting the media annoy him.

How would you rate Avram Grant on a scale of 10, with what you’ve seen so far?
I would split the awards like they do in ice skating you know marks for content and then artistic impression!

Content 8/10 and Artistic impression 6/10

Sorry for the very long post and I hope I haven’t offended anyone too unduly. I realise Grant’s appointment has encouraged more fans from Israel and other areas to support Chelsea just like Mourinho brought Portuguese supporters in – that’s great I think the more peope from different parts of the world get to particpate on this site the better. You learn more from exchanging views with people from other cultures more than you ever do your own I often discover.

BC

Its very late here so cant really answer all your long post but please don’t call me stupid when not needed

Roll up to your #6 at your answer to my post there you say the following
“6 – I find it really stupid for someone to make up statements and claim that I said so. Where did I talk about luck?”
That’s what you say as an answer to my post where i say
“6-don’t you find it stupid to think luck was the reason for so many wins?

So i went back to your interview question where you ask you’re self

Do you want Avram Grant to leave Chelsea?
And you answer your self

No. Why should he? Let him stay. This is always a results game. You win, you stay and if you lose, you leave (there are rare exceptions!). The team has performed well despite my feeling that he has not. Let him do his bit. But let’s not have double standards. If we end up at anything less than No.2, we should look for a new manager for the next season. Of course, irrespective of what happens in the champion’s league. In fact, I do value premier league much more than the champion’s league where luck plays a good part. Oh wait, that’s what he’s supposed to have brought us”

Your answer has a bottom line and that is the luck AG supposed to have brought

By the way, i think we should sack AG even if we are 2ed, but more then 6 points from the top
Don’t you think so?

BC, on some parts I agree with you on some parts I don’t. I don’t want to discuss all of the named issues, but I believe that Grant was informed about the outcome of Arsenal – Birmingham. He was told ”one-one”, but he thought he heard ”arsenal won”. That was why he was surprised. No big deal anyway, you don’t have to be too concerned over the outcome of your rivals. That’s only interesting on the 38th fixture.

You don’t need to analyse every single little thing about AG, give the man a break, and most important time. The biggest conclusion that you can make by now is that he did great in putting Chelsea back on track. Football is all about automatism, well if your players keep getting injured, it’s not easy to improve this.

BC

I think you miss my point
The criticism about AG is the same from day one, more or les the same stuff
At start I didn’t like it for the simple reason I knew that about 90% was the love for JM and I really didn’t understand why you need to hate someone to show you love the other.
But time went by , so many wins a huge success so far , but still the same all story I see from day one
I could understand at start knowing where it’s coming from
But now after 22 wins it looks ridicules.
I think time will come and all of us can analyze AG in any terms.
Just like it was childish at his first days, it’s too early to judge him now
The fact that you glorifying JM in one hand and making a devil of AG in the other hand both for about the same results it’s the must ridicules self integrity I have ever seen ,and it is you that talk about double standards in your Fidel Castro kinda interview
Or we should call it the lack of self integrity
Don’t think we are all fools or blind

I was hoping we would have Mikel back tomorrow as Nigeria was convincingly out of the African Nations cup but then, the fool (mikel) went ahead to rescue Nigerian by scoring the first goal and laying a perfect through pass for Yakubu Ayegbeni (Everton) to finish off. That means they are now in the second round. Mikelhas always been an attacking Midfielder for Nigeria and he scores constantly and gets assists constantly and the fun fact is that when someone tackles him, that person either gets a yellow or straight red. Check his international stats. But it’s the exact opposite in Chelsea as he gets redcarded for the tiniest tackles.

I was reading a blog n this site once and someone said that Mikel was a useless signing because he gets a lot of red cards. I think Mikel is the best ever central defending midfielder that Chelsea has ever had. I’ve been supporting this club since 1995 and i know a lot about the club’s history. The truth is that he is an attacking player but Jose Mourinho converted him into defensive midfield.

Who watched the Fifa World Youth Championship at Holland in 2005 where Messi was given best player and Mikel was second? Everyone said Mikel was best as he arguably destroyed the whole Argentine team with his skills and dribbles. Messi only won because he sored two penalties against Nigeria in the final. It was Mikel’s skills that attracted Manchester utd, Lyn Oslo and Chelsea and surprisingly, the three clubs signed him; a mistake that almost destroyed his career but chelsea had to pay off Manchester and Lyn Oslo to become the sole owner of the player.

What happened to his dribbles? What happened to his skills and passes? I wonder what mourinho did to the Mikel i knew. Chelsea fans think he’s great but no one has seen his best. I wonder if Grant will restore him back to his best position (attacking midfield) so Chelsea fans will know the kind of talent they have in their squad.

Its good for chelsea that there defensive midfielder can be used as an attacking midfield when needed within a game and gives the manager much needed options to change the game !!

i still consider it the best tactic jose had to sub mikel for makalele at half time and how good dividents it used to pay. 1 touch 2 touch and pass.. i hope u guys remember the article on chelseafc.com on mikel.

brilliant player anywhere on field.

Actually it has nothing to do with hating ,,disliking bashing AG at all , he’ll just fade away with a sack of gold when he’s let go

OK I’ll say what 95 % of everyone Chelsea fan else is thinking:

Hope we go thru the season without major embarassment and get a REAL manager soon !

@BC
What do you mean 20% dont agree with you?
More likely 5%.
Go to Stamford Bridge, watch the game and go to the pubs and places
where the fans congregate and chat, as I do, when I can, and hear the
opinion of at least 90/95% about AG. The last time I was amongst fans
there were quite a few fans, that wanted the majority to start voting with
their feet. in another words not goint to the matches.
This kind of behaviour was the down fall of Capello in Real Madrid,
Capello was the darling and the choice of RM president, and won the title
that year, but the fans could not stand him, HE HAD TO GO, now Schuster
is the oposite the RM board wanted him replaced by JM, but the fans are
quite happy with his achievemnts so he stays.
BC you are absolutely right on your analysis of the situation and of AG
I go further when AG came from Portsmouth to Chelsea, to the delight
of Harry Rednap., was with the intention to replace JM.
I also believe that AG got the position because he is the same faith as RA.
AG has no pedigree at all, the man is a FAKE,an opportunist and yes I
believe he had a hand in the disposal of JM, it is obvious he would not
disagree with the owner would he? such an opportunity? c’mon guys it is
obvious.
The guy AV , has the charisma of a dead rat, even his smile is dubious.
So BC very good article and dont mistake, 90/95% agree with you.

Roman could ‘ve got these buggers as manager :

(1) Capello
(2) Lippi
(3) Klinnsmann
(4) Hiddink
(5) That guy now at Spurs
(6) Rikyaard

but instead he got AG and why is that ?
All of them would be welcomed ,supported by the majority of Chelsea fans
But he didn’t and why didn’t he ?

My thinking is that he wanted to spite all who supported JM.
For the banners put up at the Bridge and elsewhere…. and the chants ….. and the blogs …… denouncing him….

just another thing, if he was so successful how come that no other
club went for his services? the only one was Portsmouth, another
Russian owner and most certainly put there by RA, yes he has spent
lots and lots of money, but so what? he is the owner isnt he?
But I think RA is taking the piss with the fans, and a club can be ever
so rich and full of money but without the fans is in down fall spiral.
I want to see when the squad are fully recovered no injuries, how is he
going to keep all the players happy, when he may have to leave Anelka
in the bench for one reason or another, sheva, ballack, frank, terry you
wait and see.
Also when players leave Chelsea, this summer, I cant wait to read their
interviews about the situation now, unless RA gives some money to keep
quiet. Cant wait to read those interviews.

How come me comments abt the Blues box is sandwiched between these red Manure adverts ?

@BC

about AG taking diggs at jose it is the worst thing to do as he knows jose isnt in football right now hence away from press and all. I am just awaiting when he is back and AG speaks something like this again… he dare not!!!

AG out

Juande Ramos in

Afther the win yesturday, do you take some of your comments back?