We had the fortune though we weren’t too brave. Essien took full advantage of a lucky rebound and scored his second goal in two matches. We managed to hold on to the lead after surviving a nervous second half. It was a very poor performance but a good result.

I’m more than convinced that SWP should go; rather should have gone. Another forgettable match for Anelka. The 4-3-3 formation sounds like a very attacking formation but players are not able to play an attacking game. We’re slightly improving. No own goals this time, just an honourable rebound. Once again, it was not a champions performance. Out of the 35 matches in this league, not even in three or four matches we played like champions. We simply don’t deserve this title or the tag ‘champions of England’. No way.

May be Avram thought this was such a boring match and tried to lighten up things a bit. This post match interview by Avram is a better thing to publish than a match reaction. Read this. Hilarious!

A deserved win Avram?

Yes.

What particularly pleased you about the performance?

I’m pleased.

What in particular pleased you?

(after an eight second delay) I don’t know.

Is it a relief to win here?

Yes.

You seem lost for words by the performance. Are you more satisfied with the performance or the victory?

Both.

You seem distracted. Do you have a problem?

No problem.

Is there an issue?

No. I’m ok. I have nothing to say.

Do you have a message for the Chelsea fans?

You represent the Chelsea fans?

They must believe you are still in the title race, do you have a message for them?

No message.

Does this result mean you are back in it now?

I don’t know.

How many steps have you climbed to undertake this press conference?

I don’t know.

You seem less voluble than usual. Is it because of Sky TV moving the game to a Thursday?

Maybe it’s because of you. I don’t know. I am ok.

You are saying that you don’t know if you are still in the title race?

No.

Is it easier to say nothing Avram?

I don’t what to answer. It is a good question. I don’t know what to answer.

Is this because of Sky?

No. Sky is ok. I enjoy watching them.

Is it a protest against newspapers?

No. Why?

Why else would you come in and refuse to answer our questions?

I answer every question.

You are two points behind Manchester United and you don’t know if you are still in the title race?

No.

Have you told the players that you don’t know if you are back in the title race?

What I tell the players is something else. You want me to tell you what I say to the players?

We just want you to answer the question really. Are you in the title race?

I don’t know.

Would you not like to gain some positive publicity for the result rather than this bizarre silence?

I’m sorry. You can write whatever you want and I can answer what I want.

Do you feel under pressure to deliver a trophy. Is that the reason for the monosyllabic answers?

No.

Are you upset? Do you feel you have been misrepresented?

Maybe I have said because it is a bad season.

Did Michael Essien faint?

He had some problems, but he is ok.

Michael Ballack?

Injured.

What’s his problem?

Ask the doctor.

He’s not here Avram.

Well call him then.

Have you ever played the yes/no game Avram?

…..

Chelsea Press Officer: “This is going nowhere. Let’s end this”

That’s it. I don’t know what happened to Avram. He’s behaving like a 5 year old. For all the press coverage that Chelsea establishment did not like, the embarrassment churned out by Avram is much harder to manage for Chelsea now. The above responses are completely out of order. If he is not happy with the press, he could have told them and walked away. This interview is a massive blunder by Avram. He is never going to earn the respect of the English press anymore.

Read this article on ESPN Soccernet. In one line, the reporter writes “Journalists laughed with Mourinho. They laugh at Grant.” which pretty much sums up what they feel about Grant. The excerpts below:

Perhaps Jose Mourinho talked too much for his own good. This was the night Avram Grant said too little and, in the process, did too much to his chances of maintaining the job few believe he merits. In a bizarre press conference, he contrived to undermine his own position with a remarkable sequence of non-committal, unhelpful and at times inaudible answers.

Strangest of all, he contrived to insist that he didn’t know if Chelsea – two points behind Manchester United – were still in the title race. This was Avram Grump, unhappy but ineloquent and refusing to reply precisely why. Grant has had his monosyllabic and mumbling tendencies before, but this was a deliberate ploy, though quite what it achieved only he knows. And were he asked, he would presumably respond: ‘I don’t know.’ His were the actions of a man seemingly struggling to cope, cracking in the limelight and ultimately, perhaps, signing his own P45.

‘I have nothing to say,’ he said at one point. In which case, why appear at all? Some may question – perhaps legitimately – what purpose press conferences serve. But they affect public perception and can act as a conduit to the supporters. When asked if he had a message to the Chelsea fans, Grant replied: ‘No message.’ What, they might have wanted to know, pleased him most with his side’s performance. ‘I don’t know,’ came the response.

‘You can write whatever you want,’ he murmured at one stage, echoing one of Steve McClaren’s less well-advised answers. The verdicts are likely to be damning, even from his diminishing band of advocates. The last time Grant came to Goodison Park he muttered something about Albert Einstein that bemused his listeners.

This was still stranger, a five-minute, 39-second exercise in obfuscation and miscommunication that suggested his unsuitability for his role. It appeared a protest against something though he insisted (briefly) not the television company that had the game rescheduled tonight or the newspapers that have criticised him. It seemed a display of petulance. Perhaps, for once, Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard, Michael Laudrup, Guus Hiddink and Roberto Mancini would have struggled to emulate Grant. Maybe he managed something his predecessor couldn’t.

But journalists laughed with Mourinho. They laugh at Grant. So, too, will a more widespread audience. Transcripts will be circulated and they make him appear ridiculous. His tour de farce culminated in the question: ‘Have you ever played the yes or no game, Avram?’ There was no reply. It signified a complete breakdown of relations between him and the press. Whether or not a similar situation exists with his players, they contrived to beat a below-par Everton.

Such an embarrassment. He has only himself to blame.