I got Chelsea out of a mess, claims Grant

• zocoss

  17 Apr 08, 10:47

  

  Avram Grant yesterday launched a passionate defence of his Chelsea record, insisting he had performed better than anyone could have expected since taking over from Jose Mourinho. Speaking after Mourinho's claim that he had outperformed Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger during his time at Stamford Bridge, Grant claimed he is at Chelsea for the long haul and has already started planning his summer recruitment drive.

  Chelsea face a vital trip to Everton tonight and Grant refused to let Monday's damaging draw at home to Wigan dent his confidence. 'Realistically we did not have a chance from day one I was here,' he said. 'There was always a team above us with more points. Compared to when I received the club, the situation is good.

  'The pressure was that we came from nowhere to fight for the championship. When I received the team I don't think anyone could have seen us in the position we were in before the game against Wigan and we are in still. We are still fighting. 'If Manchester United take the title I will be the first to congratulate them, but at the moment I will not give up. We believe, even if the chance is not like before.'

  Chelsea must take three points at Goodison if they are to have any hope of catching United. They also must overcome Liverpool over two legs in the semi-final of the Champions League if Grant is to realise owner Roman Abramovich's dream of a place in the Moscow final next month. In truth, reaching the final of Europe's elite competition, although a magnificent achievement, would represent the only example of Grant outstripping his predecessor Mourinho.

  Grant appears convinced he will be at Chelsea next season, although the cacophony of boos that greeted the draw with Wigan suggested the majority of fans feel his time is up. He said: 'We have done a great job and anyone reasonable will tell you the same. One hundred per cent of people never think the same, especially in football.

  'I respect the fans, because they're there before any manager and after any manager. I respect the last fan sitting in the last row, but I know as well in this room that 20 people do not think the same.'

  Grant has started compiling a list of transfer targets with Abramovich and director of football Frank Arnesen — even considering moves for AC Milan's Kaka or Barcelona's Leo Messi. Hamburg midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who yesterday urged Chelsea to follow up their £20million interest in him, is another in the frame.

  Heading out is Tal Ben Haim, Didier Drogba has also made it plain he sees his future elsewhere. But a more immediate problem for Grant is Drogba's likely absence tonight. The striker still has the knee niggle which sidelined him on Monday. Frank Lampard has also not trained after missing the Wigan game to be at the bedside of his sick mother Pat and is unlikely to feature at Goodison.

• fatone

  17 Apr 08, 10:49

  

  looks like end of season=bye bye

  hopefully mourinho come back..more entertaining

• 4getmenot

  17 Apr 08, 11:16

  i doubt mourinho will ever wanna come back to chelsea after what they did to him...but you have to give credit to grant, hes right in some way.. chelsea is still in the title race and are in the semis of the CL..

• zocoss

  17 Apr 08, 11:22

  GRANT LINES UP CHELSEA SPENDING SPREE

  

  Roman Abramovich is ready to hand Avram Grant a blank cheque so he can turn Chelsea into stylish champions next season. The billionaire Russian owner is pinning his faith on Grant's ability to deliver a team that will enable the club to dominate the game both at home and abroad.

   

  The 52-year-old Israeli expects to be in charge of the team next season despite continued speculation over his future. But while he stopped short of admitting that he has been promised a £100m kitty to spend, he did reveal that cash would be no object as they look to re-build the squad in the summer.

   

  Grant understandably refused to put names in the frame but is clearly planning to raid Europe and match the spending of their English rivals. "We know the vision of the club and the money won't be a problem if we find good players to bring here," Grant said.

   

  "So you could say £80 million or £100 million but we don't have the advantage that we had two or three years ago. "We know that Manchester United will spend a lot of money and Arsenal will buy a few players as well as Liverpool. We will do the same. We want to improve."

   

  Grant was vilified by the fans after the club's 1-1 draw with Wigan on Monday night effectively banished their title ambitions for another season. Chelsea are five points adrift of Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier and their chances will disappear all together if they fail to beat Everton at Goodison Park. Yet Grant insists he is not feeling the pressure.

   

  "We feel pressure all the time but it is a good pressure - I don't want to live without this pressure," he said. "We are still fighting and will continue fighting even if the chances have been against us from day one. "If the club is not happy with me tomorrow or 10 years from now it is okay. It is a good relationship and that is what it needs to be.

   

  "I need to do my job for Chelsea and that is what is important. "Nobody told me I had to win a trophy this season but I want to win one. Most of the fans respect what we did for them and we respect what they did for us. "We took a lot of points with so many injured players and with so many problems. "But there was a good spirit shown by the team. The fans are like us, sometimes we are disappointed also. But most of the time we did a good job.

   

  "I was at the game against Rosenborg earlier this season (Mourinho in charge) and heard the booing at half-time - I had never heard that before. But most of the time the fans are behind us. You cannot win every game and I think they know it." Yet Grant's preparation for their 'must-win' clash against the Toffees has been hampered further by an astonishing outburst from Israeli defender Tal Ben-Haim.

   

  The comments could earn Ben-Haim a club fine unless he can produce an explanation. "It is an internal matter and we will deal with it like this - we know we need to hear from the player first if it is true or not," Grant said. "I don't think Jose promised Tal Ben-Haim that he would play before John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and Alex but maybe yes. I will ask Tal. "It is internal business but in my opinion if the player was wrong we need to deal with it in my way."

   

• purpledragon84

  17 Apr 08, 15:05

  when he says "blank cheque" does he mean it? its like "woah..." lol.. better than playing FM.. lolol..