Grant, you blue it and you know it

WELL THAT’S that then — another management masterclass by the genius that is Avram Grant and another potential trophy goes down the pan.

What kind of idiot plays one up front against Wigan at home? Seems he learned nothing from Barnsley either as Plan B consisted only of Joe Cole. Joey did his best but even he can’t save us from gross incompetence. I am depressed.

Everyone assumed that we Chelsea fans would be supporting Arsenal last Sunday — personally I spared myself the wire brush and carbolic soap as I knew Arsenal would bottle it. It’s a good job they racked up some points in the early part of the season as this is relegation form. My heart goes out to Gallas — must be especially difficult for him to leave a team of serial winners to captain a team who seem to crumble under pressure… poor old Willie. As if the footballing side of things weren’t bad enough with Arsenal imploding and all, it seems that William doesn’t have any mates at the North London club — just acquaintances — his real friends are still at Chelsea. I’ll just quote the Modfather here “you’ve made your bed, you’d better lie in it”.

So Kenyon, Buck and now even Grant himself have conceded what we supporters have known from very early on — that the football we are playing is sterile. Some saw Kenyon and Buck’s public admission of this as some sort of indication that the club is preparing the way to hand Grant a gold watch and move him back upstairs. Personally I don’t think this is the case. I think this is an attempt to get the supporters back onside after weeks of constant drivel which has alienated many blues — “we played good” after every mind-numbingly dull game was fooling no one. They are trying to say “look, we know its bad at the moment — but we know this and it will get better.”

Me? I won’t change my mind; keeping Grant is akin to playing Russian roulette with the good of my team. We’ve been lucky up until now, but we’re down to four empty chambers in a six shooter….let’s quit while we’re not too far behind as our luck will inevitably run out.

TOMORROW we head up to Goodison and it’s going to be a strange game for me as I can’t go. I’ve run out of annual leave (thanks to Sky TV on that one) with my new allocation not kicking in until the 1st May. It is going to be torture watching it on tv; when I’m at a game I feel that I can influence it in some way but at home I feel utterly powerless and you watch helplessly as whatever unfolds unfolds. You see my match superstitions actually work I tell you — it’s the only reason that we have survived the Grant era — seriously. The twisting of my magic ring (behave) actually makes the opposition lose possession; anyone but me sitting in my seat brings very bad luck; rubbing my silver bracelet prolongs our attacks. You think I’m unhinged don’t you? But I bet every one of you that goes to watch football live have superstitions just as ridiculous as mine — and you know full well that they do not work from your armchair at home, so I shan’t be surprised at all if we lose tomorrow — and it will be all my fault.

Bizarrely I feel quite confident about our Champions League semi-final against Liverpool. Jose seemed to have a mental block when it came to this game and always tried to be too clever by half. Not that Grant is any great tactician but I think it is possible to sometimes over analyse upcoming games — sometimes, you just need to play. The second leg being at home will also help us but player for player we are better than Liverpool and I believe that this will tell.

But we can learn a lot from Liverpool in this case. It is amazing how far belief will take you — it often transcends form, or skill or even luck. Liverpool believe that they have an affinity with the Champions League and it does seem to work for them — I think that is partly why Mourinho’s famous match dossiers which he would prepare for every match did not work in the case of these matches.

I’ve not always been a big fan of the Champions League as such but it would be good to win it this season for a number of reasons. Firstly, it would mean that we finally got over our Liverpool hoodoo. Secondly it would mean we had won it before Arsenal.

Lastly, I think it could be the last trophy we could win before the double-league winning side is finally broken up once and for all — and it would be great to end on such a high. It would be a fitting end for some of our most cherished players before they left us. I have heard said (even by many of our own supporters) that it would be a travesty if we won it with the quality of football we are playing — but rarely does the best team in the competition win it anyway — just ask Liverpool.