Players power can lift Grant’s Blues
Arsenal may be top of the Premier League right now and Manchester United a close second but despite Saturday’s already infamous FA Cup defeat at Barnsley, Chelsea’s championship challenge is still hanging on for dear life.
Grant will face almost unbearable pressure from a media that has been focused on discarding him since the day he first sat uncomfortably in The Special One’s chair. But the Israeli hasn’t quite been the disaster so many people have made out, even if that statement appears fanciful as Chelsea supporters return to work today to face the abuse and mockery of a nation.
Grant’s greatest achievement has been the way his quiet, diplomatic approach behind the scenes has helped retain the dogged spirit built up so carefully under his predecessor and helped heal the wounds of a very difficult year.
What he needs now, to save face and to save his job, is his players to show the kind of drive, commitment and never-say-die attitude that made them such a remarkable force under Jose Mourinho.
Remember last season when Chelsea won over even the toughest hearts with the way they battled right to the bitter end with 10 men against Arsenal in May in a desperate bid to make Manchester United wait for their crown?
Well that spirit is still there under the surface so, led by John Terry, expect to see it in the next few weeks and especially against Arsenal and United at Stamford Bridge.
It’s easy to point to defeats at Old Trafford, the Emirates and of course at Wembley against Spurs as the reasons why Chelsea will fail in the end or to say those results prove Grant is incapable of inspiring his team in the most crucial fixtures.
But it’s an accusation the Israeli disputes. “We didn’t play well against Tottenham, I admit, we had a bad day,” he said.
“But for Manchester United it was my first match, and I wasn’t doing it for that game. Against Arsenal, we lost because of one mistake. Every game we lose here at Chelsea is a big game, not just these.”
Certainly Grant knows that after Saturday’s disaster and he must know, too, that only a league title or a Champions League can save his job now.
Fortunately for him, there are factors are in Chelsea’s favour even though they go into Wednesday’s home match against Derby, a certain three-pointer if ever there was one, third in the table.
First, they have a game in hand and so by Thursday the gap will seem less daunting. Secondly they have crucial players like Drogba, Terry and Lampard fit again and Ballack in top form. And, thirdly, the run-in for Grant’s side appears to give them hope.
Both United and Arsenal must play at Stamford Bridge, where Chelsea have not lost in more than two years, and the remainder of the run-in includes fixtures against out-of-form teams such as Sunderland, Wigan, Bolton, Newcastle and Middlesbrough. These things can count for little when the pressure hits home in a nerve-wracking title race but Chelsea have been there before — twice in fact — while many of Arsenal’s young superstars are championship virgins and yet to experience the panic of realising an entire year’s work can be wiped out in one frantic Easter period.
For that reason, Manchester United remain favourites with most bookmakers. Paddy Power, for instance, have United at 4-6, Arsenal 15-8 and Chelsea 5-1.
But the bookmakers aren’t always right. Fred Done famously paid out early on United winning the title in 1998 only to see Arsenal pip Alex Ferguson’s side at the death — and that is a salutary lesson in predicting the vagaries of English football.
The gap between United and their bitter rivals was 11 points in early March that season and Chelsea will take comfort from the lessons of the past – as well as those of the far more uncomfortable present.
Mr Done, you suspect, will be keeping his money in his pocket for now.
Even if many of his Chelsea punters — and perhaps Mr Grant, too — will be looking more closely at the sack race than the title race for the immediate future.
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