Chelsea sack Grant

[RedForceRising]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3605961,00.html

Chelsea have sacked manager Avram Grant after only eight months in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Grant has been under severe pressure in West London since replacing Jose Mourinho last September.

And the Israeli, who steered Chelsea to a second-placed Premier League finish, has now been handed his marching orders after the Blues ended the 2007/08 campaign without a trophy.

Grant's last game in charge of Chelsea was the UEFA Champions League final penalty shoot-out defeat to Manchester United on Wednesday.

A statement on the club's official website read: "Chelsea football club can confirm that Avram Grant has had his contract terminated today (Saturday 24th May). This follows meetings over the last two days.

"Everybody at Chelsea FC would like to thank Avram for his contribution since taking over as manager last September.

"We will now be concentrating all our efforts on identifying a new manager for Chelsea and there will be no further comment until that appointment is made."

The likes of Internazionale manager Roberto Mancini and Frank Rijkaard will now be strongly tipped to take over at Chelsea.

- Thanks to Red Man Walking for breaking the news, Banana for reminding us and Adam for this gem " ADAM_85: to be fair, it broke at around 22:57 wednesday 21st May"


Ouch.... Mourinho rubs salt in Grant's wounds

ALMOST IS NOTHING - MOURINHO

Jose Mourinho has described Chelsea's season as "really bad" and insists the London club's campaign could only be described as great by someone with "the philosophy of a loser".

The former Chelsea boss was speaking before his successor Avram Grant was sacked, but was critical of the 52-year-old Israeli's short stint in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho, when asked if the season had been a good one as depicted by Grant, told The Observer: "That depends on your philosophy of leadership.

"In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football 'almost' means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.

"After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season, which in my philosophy means a really bad season. Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect."

Mourinho admitted to being "very sad" at Chelsea's defeat in Moscow to Manchester United, adding that the supporters, the board and many of the players "deserve more".

However, he sounded a note of optimism, adding: "I believe that after an empty season new success will come to Chelsea. And I will always be a Chelsea supporter."

[yangch0000]

it has been coming. hardly surprising
finishing second in the league and reaching the cl final are already a bonus to their much disrupted season.

[UgraUgra]

Abramovic is fool. I don't like Grant but he is a good manager. He just needed more time to rebuild squad.

[greenhoff]

No surprise from a club like Chelsea,Grant was a good bloke made a scapegoat.Take the money and run Avram...

[Keano!]

Well that's not a huge surprise.

My eyes are now looking at the players who will leave and who'll take over?

Mourhino is bound to be thrown into the hat despite being heavily linked with
Inter Milan.

Grants time at the top lasted longer then I expected and he, TBH, did remarkably
well considering what he had to follow and the pressure on him.

[tallgirl]

I've just seen it on skysports news and it's no suprise but they didn't really give the man a chance but then thats chelsea for you. I can't wait for the day to see when Mr Abramovich takes all his pennies and leaves chelsea skint!

[cimbomGS]

I think changing manager is big mistake if it is happen every season.
I believe, team's boss will be stay at least three season. He can choose their players for his squad and he can form his style and tactics..

[Red Devil]

Hardly a shock. BUT, very bad none the less. Abramobitch does not like coming second, and it shows.

He has sacked a manager who finished second in the Prem; won the Carling Cup; finished runners up in the Champions League - thats a terrible record for a team off the Tesco shelf!!

[-zuco-]

Spurs won the Carling Cup RD ;)

[The_Red_Prince]

Chelsea really dont know how to stabilize a club.Avram Grant was'nt a bad manager.He almost led Chelsea to a premier league title(but United beat them to it.) and he reached the champions league final for the first time in Chelsea's history.Really,i cant wait till abramovich packs up his money and goodies and jets off.

[Dynamite]

No suprise & not a good decision, He did well as a manager & deserved more respect than that

[RedForceRising]

I'm a bit surprised by some of the statements about Grant.

First of all, I'm not sure he actually is a good maanger. With the squad that Chelsea have, he would have had to be really, really bad to not get where they got.

Chelsea's form has picked up recently, but I don't think it's down to the system he's employed, rather the players recognizing they have to do whatever necessary in order to win.

We've heard that Steve Clarke gave the half-time talks, during the Carling Cup final John 'The Slipper' Terry was trying to psyche up the team and Drogba couldn't even look him in the eye when Grant tried to give him instructions during the final.

He simply does not ommand the respect of these footballing stars, because he has no reputation or success to respect.

I love what is happening at Chelsea. Abramovic is going to pay for Mourinho's success. Roman probably really thinks that enough money + great manager = titles, because they did it twice. As soon as Mourinho couldn't deliver, he probably thought Mourinho was slacking, instead of accepting that you can't win all the time. God help the Chelsea fans, if he ever decides he's had enough of his toy and wants the money back that he's loaned chelsea.

*sings* Stamford Bridge is falling down, falling down......

[NateR]

Somehow, i don't think Grant would be as disapointed about this as most would think. I've read, that he doesn't really like the media attention he's been getting and so well...its better for him this way.

Respect to him though, he did a great job. yeah he was lucky to have great players when he took over, but its still no easy job to take them from the postion they were in, all the way too the final day challenging for the title.

[burnzy1987]

after reading others posts they have covered all the relevant points regarding the sacking...so the only thing i can add is HA!

[rooneytunes]

Abramovic is fool. I don't like Grant but he is a good manager. He just needed more time to rebuild squad.

Agree...Lets be honest,He's done great ! Only lost league on last day ! lost league cup final,champions league to a penalty shoot out ! harshly treated imo !

[erwinvr101]

they didn't give him a chance, when in fact, he has actually done a good job at chelsea. if you consider the time when chelsea missed some players because of the african cup and i think with drogba out for quite a time due to injury, plus the fact that his players didn't give as much respect to grant as they did to mourinho, finishing second in the PL and making the finals of CL was not a bad achievement. It's actually a good achievement

[CaptainRoyKeane]

Harsh, everyone treated him with no respect and he got them to the champions league final, the style to jose's is barely different! So yeah Chelski made another mistake! Read todays early papers and they want Sparky, thats right Mark Hughes, i hope not!

[dlan4327]

Man the Russian one moves fast. :D

[-zuco-]

I'm a bit surprised by some of the statements about Grant.

First of all, I'm not sure he actually is a good maanger. With the squad that Chelsea have, he would have had to be really, really bad to not get where they got.
By that rationale, you think Mourinho is a bad manager
because he never got to the Champion League Final.

[abojodeh]

he deserves a respect :mad:
but where is money(abramovic) idiots(drogba) and bums(lampard +terry) there is no respect
he did something that maurinho didnt do REACHING THE UCL FINAL

[versa]

Despite his gruntings and more gruntings, and that he is from our biggest rivals, I actually feel a bit sorry for Grant, purely from an objective point of view.

Given the sudden shock departure of The Special One, and the disillusion and unhappiness amongst the players, Grant somehow still managed to galvanise the team into a fighting unit, were in 4 competitions at one stage, pushed us all the way to the wire in EPL from a far distance behind and were in the CL Final for the very first time. That must have surely out-performed many decent expectations back then when Mourinho left so suddenly. I am pretty confident that Chelski would be even more daunting for us next season, even at status quo. For the neutrals and being perfectly honest, we could have been caught out by them if there were a just few more EPL matches to go.

Personally, I don't advocate this chop-and-change approach, either on managers or on players. Before the players could have enough time to gel together and develop a good understanding to form a core group challenging for future honours together, or before the manager has the time to fully work out his ideas and methodologies, they are gone for good. And the entire process has to repeat itself and painstakingly develop again.

In addition, it only betrays Abramovich's impatience for success and I seriously doubt it is a clear-cut superior move. Perhaps finishing second to us again and again in the EPL and the CL on home soil is just too painful to bear. Having said that, I must reiterate that on this aspect, I respect him for his willingness to part some of his personal wealth to drive Chelski to greater heights and further glories. It does take passion and a lot of heart to do such a thing in the very first place, billionaire or not. Wish I can boast the same about our Glazers.

And thank God United did not employ the same approach. Fergie would have long gone too and history would have been so different for us, isn't it?

But then again, who wants to point that out to Abramovich? He has billions to burn and I reckon burning some more millions won't hurt.

[Lucky7]

Who's next at Stamford Bridge?

Roberto Mancini: The Inter Milan manager reversed his decision to stand down this summer, but his representatives have reportedly been in regular contact with Chelsea. 5/2

Guus Hiddink: Led Russia to this summer's European Championship finals and a vastly experienced coach at both club and international levels. He has his Russia contract funded by Abramovich. 5/1

Frank Rijkaard: Prepared for another challenge after five years at Barcelona, during which he has won the Champions League. 2/1

Michael Laudrup: Celebrated at Barcelona, the former Denmark international has engineered a transformation at Getafe. 8/1

Luis Felipe Scolari: Still strongly tipped to take over at Manchester City, but as a World Cup winner with Brazil he also has the pedigree that would appeal to Chelsea. 8/1

Jose Mourinho: Even to consider re-appointing the 'Special One' would mean the most extraordinary U-turn by Abramovich. 8/1

Mark Hughes: The one homegrown contender, the Blackburn manager has been touted in the light of his Chelsea connections. 10/1


Avram Grant at Chelsea

2007
Sept 20:Appointed director of football. Put in charge of team alongside assistant Steve Clarke following departure of Jose Mourinho.
Dec 29: Subjected to chants of 'You don't know what you're doing' as he made two substitutions against Newcastle.

2008:
Jan: Signs Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka for £15million.
Feb 24: Loses Carling Cup final 2-1 to Tottenham.
March 8: Beaten 1-0 by Barnsley in FA Cup sixth round.
April 14: Late Emile Heskey equaliser dents Chelsea's title hopes as Wigan draw 1-1.
April 26: - Late 2-1 defeat of Manchester United keeps title race alive. Manager of the month.
May 11: Finish runners-up in the Barclays Premier League.
May 21: Lose the Champions League final to Manchester United in Moscow on penalties.
May 24: Sacked by Chelsea.

Record
P54 W36 D13 L5

[carlyluvsunited]

That's disgrceful the way they treated Avram.

2nd in the EPL ...

2nd in the Champs League !!!

He has only lost 5 from his 54 games in charge !!

Yes he does look miserable and a bit boring ...

But I saw a lengthy interview with him and do you know what ... ?

He's quite a funny and likeable man !

He has such a subtle sense of humour !

I for one wish him luck with everything he does.

[haggler]

who will take over ? its a one year gig so if they can get a four year contract its mooney for ol rope ---- sparky wont take it thats for sure

[carlyluvsunited]

I'll do it ...

I'll get them relegated ...

Sell Fat FRank, Drogba, Essien et al to .... Grimsby ... for fifty quid

Get sacked ... claim 8 million and thats that !!

Easy money ... :D

[frenchie]

Chelsea really dont know how to stabilize a club.Avram Grant was'nt a bad manager.He almost led Chelsea to a premier league title(but United beat them to it.) and he reached the champions league final for the first time in Chelsea's history.Really,i cant wait till abramovich packs up his money and goodies and jets off.
almost wining the league,almost wining the carling cup and almost wining the c l.not good enough,if united almost won everything,without fergie in charge,red tempers would surely be flying.chelsea will keep changing boss untill the right gaffer is in place.a club that wants to challenge on all fronts needs a good boss.grant was a nice fella,that should never have been given the job in the first place,and all the clap trap about him being made a scapegoat is totally wrong,he new what was required and didnt deliver the goods,but has now got a fab payoff,so he'll not be complaining.

That's disgrceful the way they treated Avram.

2nd in the EPL ...

2nd in the Champs League !!!

He has only lost 5 from his 54 games in charge !!

Yes he does look miserable and a bit boring ...

But I saw a lengthy interview with him and do you know what ... ?

He's quite a funny and likeable man !

He has such a subtle sense of humour !

I for one wish him luck with everything he does.
once again second isn't good enough.nice bloke course.no personality,no charm,and no tactics,hence man u winning prem and c l.be honest if jose were in charge would chelsea still have won nothing last term?.

I'll do it ...

I'll get them relegated ...

Sell Fat FRank, Drogba, Essien et al to .... Grimsby ... for fifty quid

Get sacked ... claim 8 million and thats that !!

Easy money ... :D
come on carly lets be sensible,why does everone get so wound up over chelsea?.

[-zuco-]

once again second isn't good enough.nice bloke course.no personality,no charm,and no tactics,hence man u winning prem and c l.be honest if jose were in charge would chelsea still have won nothing last term?.

They were in a crap position when Jose left and Grant made a brilliant
comeback to finish second behind us. Grant was better than Jose this season.

come on carly lets be sensible,why does everone get so wound up over chelsea?

You need to develop a sense of humour.

[frenchie]

They were in a crap position when Jose left and Grant made a brilliant
comeback to finish second behind us. Grant was better than Jose this season.



You need to develop a sense of humour.
no mate chelsea were in a position that could have been changed if jose had stayed,but then i suppose there is such a thing as hindsite.i have family who are chelsea fans and it tore em apart with all the comings and goings on last year,avram was bought in to spite jose,so it seems that unless people are directly involved then they never know the ins and outs of situations.as for a sense of humour zuco mate i'm a laugh a minute...

[-zuco-]

no mate chelsea were in a position that could have been changed if jose had stayed,but then i suppose there is such a thing as hindsite.i have family who are chelsea fans and it tore em apart with all the comings and goings on last year,avram was bought in to spite jose,so it seems that unless people are directly involved then they never know the ins and outs of situations.as for a sense of humour zuco mate i'm a laugh a minute...

Things were getting worse and worse as Jose left.
What makes you think he would have turned it around?
Do we have a psychic member? Can you tell me next
weeks lottery numbers? :)

I'm not sure what hindsite is, but hindsight is wonderful
thing. Hopefully you will show me your sense of humour
soon, I'm dying to see it ;)

[versa]

Goal.com


English tabloid The News Of The World claims to have heard from friends of sacked Chelsea boss Avram Grant in Israel. He has apparently told his nearest and dearest that he is hurt and betrayed after his firing...

Grant was sacked yesterday after the Chelsea board deemed a trophyless, near-miss season unacceptable.

The Israeli, though, feels that his treatment was entirely unjustified.

He apparently told friends, "I took on the job at a very difficult time but Chelsea have pulled the plug on me. I feel very hurt, upset and angry."

What was especially surprising about Grant's sacking is that it was complete, i.e. he did not take on a director of football role or otherwise "move upstairs." This was apparently decided after two days of meeting.

A friend explained, "Avram said he doesn't trust them any more."

"It was not a friendly meeting at all. Avram does not want anything to do with the club now. He didn't even want to discuss his compensation, which will run into millions. He told Roman to speak to his lawyer."

Another added, "Avram thinks Chelsea are totally ruthless."



And guess who is putting his foot in?!


goal.com

Mourinho: Grant Is A Loser

Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has labelled his recently sacked successor Avram Grant a ‘loser’ following the club’s first trophyless season in four years…

The Special One parted company with the Blues back in September after irreconcilable differences between he and club owner Roman Abramovich culminated in a rocky start to the season.

Grant took over on a caretaker basis but was handed the job permanently in December, much to the surprise of many observers who were predicting a big-name replacement.

But following Chelsea’s failure to collect a trophy, despite pushing Manchester United right to the wire both in the Premier League and the Champions League, Grant has received his marching orders – to the surprise of few, it must be said.

And Mourinho has stuck the boot in, claiming the Israeli was destined to fail due to lack of a winning mentality.

“In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football ‘almost’ means defeat,” he said.

“Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League, and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.

“After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season.

“In my philosophy that means a really bad season.

“Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect.”

[frenchie]

Things were getting worse and worse as Jose left.
What makes you think he would have turned it around?
Do we have a psychic member? Can you tell me next
weeks lottery numbers? :)

I'm not sure what hindsite is, but hindsight is wonderful
thing. Hopefully you will show me your sense of humour
soon, I'm dying to see it ;)
zuco you are a clever one.hindsight my dear is that if chelsea had known through the summer what a giant mess up they were about to make by getting rid of jose,they surely would have thought twice before doing it. as for lotto numbers,you'll be lucky twinkle,if i knew those i wouldn't be sat on here reading you venting your spleen at me....i do agree with you that the situation at chelsea was getting worse though at the beginning of the season,maybe grant was brought in to quiet the critics,backfired big time though if thats the case.now about my sense of humour,you are having a really crabby day,that time of the month is it. you should be happy as larry the same as all united fans,but hey ho takes all sorts .

[-zuco-]

I am happy, I just didn't like the negative vibe you put onto the two threads I've noticed you post in so far ;)

I'm also male by the way :rolleyes:

The fact remains, Grant pulled Chelsea from the gutter
and was very close to winning three trophies. I know
you're going to say that close isn't good enough, but
it's his first season, he took over part way through it
and did a very good job. He is very under rated in my
opinion. that's all from me on this topic, feel free to have
the last word, you know you want to ;)

[frenchie]

I am happy, I just didn't like the negative vibe you put onto the two threads I've noticed you post in so far ;)

I'm also male by the way :rolleyes:

The fact remains, Grant pulled Chelsea from the gutter
and was very close to winning three trophies. I know
you're going to say that close isn't good enough, but
it's his first season, he took over part way through it
and did a very good job. He is very under rated in my
opinion. that's all from me on this topic, feel free to have
the last word, you know you want to ;)
and i'm a lass,but thats neither here nor there.i know what your saying and i'm really sorry if you think i'm negative,i sometimes wish we could all worry about ourselves rather than nag on about things that don't concern us,my problem,didn't realise i was offending you.

[-zuco-]

and i'm a lass,but thats neither here nor there.i know what your saying and i'm really sorry if you think i'm negative,i sometimes wish we could all worry about ourselves rather than nag on about things that don't concern us,my problem,didn't realise i was offending you.

I wouldn't say you were offending me Frenchie, just that in my opinion you
shone a negative light on the thread. We allow everybody to have their
opinion of course, but saying people should move on could be perceived as
an insult to the members who are happily posting in this particular thread.
It takes more than a bit of banter to insult me, don't worry about that :)

P.S. Did you get your nickname from Grease the movie? :)

[frenchie]

I wouldn't say you were offending me Frenchie, just that in my opinion you
shone a negative light on the thread. We allow everybody to have their
opinion of course, but saying people should move on could be perceived as
an insult to the members who are happily posting in this particular thread.
It takes more than a bit of banter to insult me, don't worry about that :)

P.S. Did you get your nickname from Grease the movie? :)
no i didn't just sounds nice,don't you think?.did you get yours from the movie then?.

[-zuco-]

Frenchie sounds good yes, quite original ;)

My mates started calling me zuco years ago cos
apparently I'm a smooth talker in real life. I can't
see it myself though. Named after Danny Suko I
think it's spelt. I preferred the spelling 'zuco' :p

[frenchie]

Frenchie sounds good yes, quite original ;)

My mates started calling me zuco years ago cos
apparently I'm a smooth talker in real life. I can't
see it myself though. Named after Danny Suko I
think it's spelt. I preferred the spelling 'zuco' :p
yeah i know,very original.funny how you thought i had no sense of humour,and very boring a few minutes ago,changed your mind yet?....

[-zuco-]

yeah i know,very original.funny how you thought i had no sense of humour,and very boring a few minutes ago,changed your mind yet?....
Its sometimes hard to recognize humour from
the written word,smilies help with that ;) :p :o :)

[frenchie]

Its sometimes hard to recognize humour from
the written word,smilies help with that ;) :p :o :)
true,true.i think i'm a fun loving,football mad,absolute nutcase,but i never thought of myself as negative,so i was quite taken aback by your comments,but note how i learned from that.?????

[-zuco-]

true,true.i think i'm a fun loving,football mad,absolute nutcase,but i never thought of myself as negative,so i was quite taken aback by your comments,but note how i learned from that.?????
Yes you did, well done, have a banana :)

http://survivalofthesickestthebook.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/banana.jpg

[frenchie]

Yes you did, well done, have a banana :)

http://survivalofthesickestthebook.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/banana.jpg
you cheeky thing....i dont like bananas......

[-zuco-]

What do you like? I'll see if I can oblige ;)

[frenchie]

What do you like? I'll see if I can oblige ;)
that is a secret and i can't tell you,but thankyou for your very kind offer... he he he

[-zuco-]

Me thinks you is batting for the other team :eek: :p

[frenchie]

Me thinks you is batting for the other team :eek: :p
no you don't,i am all girl and wouldn't go that way,ewh

[-zuco-]

Fair enough, we better stop spamming this thread now or RD will eat us alive :p

[RichardsReds]

I shouldn't be but for some reason i was surprised. Perhaps i thought there was more to the Grant Abramovich relationship being as it was strange he got the job in the first place.

[frenchie]

Fair enough, we better stop spamming this thread now or RD will eat us alive :p
ok chuck,speak soon take care..first names angie....

[-zuco-]

ok chuck,speak soon take care..first names angie....
Nice to meet you Angie, my name's Danny ;)

[frenchie]

Nice to meet you Angie, my name's Danny ;)
cool.nice to meet you too..

[RedForceRising]

ALMOST IS NOTHING - MOURINHO

Jose Mourinho has described Chelsea's season as "really bad" and insists the London club's campaign could only be described as great by someone with "the philosophy of a loser".

The former Chelsea boss was speaking before his successor Avram Grant was sacked, but was critical of the 52-year-old Israeli's short stint in charge at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho, when asked if the season had been a good one as depicted by Grant, told The Observer: "That depends on your philosophy of leadership.

"In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football 'almost' means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.

"After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season, which in my philosophy means a really bad season. Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect."

Mourinho admitted to being "very sad" at Chelsea's defeat in Moscow to Manchester United, adding that the supporters, the board and many of the players "deserve more".

However, he sounded a note of optimism, adding: "I believe that after an empty season new success will come to Chelsea. And I will always be a Chelsea supporter."

[Red Devil]

Grant is now widely tipped to be heading to
















manchester citeh!!!!

Whilst Sven is off to mexico!


Just In: Hiddinck says No to Chelski!