The 39 Steps

By dixon9
February 29 2008

Our beleaguered man at the helm of Chelsea Football Club, Avram Grant, today showed a new side compared to the normally calm, relaxed and slightly mischievous humorous disposition that we normally see in the Israeli when he lashed out in an unprecedented attack on the media. It’s clear that he won’t take the flak lying down!

“Pressure?” Pressure is when you can’t afford to buy enough food to feed your children!” a certain Portuguese once said and although he was referring to the title race rather than accusations about the atmosphere in the club, I couldn’t help feel that Grant is getting his first real taste of a Premier League circus constantly prodded and probed, searching for cracks or indeed creating them if they’re not there by the British media.

"You're trying to hurt the team, hurt the club because we lost one game."

"You didn't behave too nicely. Now I don't respect you too much because we lost one game and you've taken it too far. I don't like it.

"You hurt my players, you hurt the club and this is not the right way."

"If you speak about the last game, we didn't play well and we lost - the other five months, it was okay."

"Sunday was a bad game, a bad day in the life of the team. It happens sometimes. We lost the game but we are fighters and we move on."

"I'll do what I want. Nothing was different to other games. What was different was we lost."

"Just because we lost one game, now this is wrong, that is wrong.  

"I don't want to defend myself about this. The spirit is very good in the team; the situation is very good with the team.

"We're sorry about what happened against Tottenham. I'm sorry, but we did a good job in the previous five months."

Of course, Grant does have a point but what surprises me is that his phrasing and emotion leads me to believe that he is actually surprised by some of the questions he was being asked.  Get used to it mate I’m afraid!  Welcome to the Premier league!

Grant was also lambasted by the media and many fans for apparently not letting the players know who was in the side for the League Cup final until a few hours before kick-off:

"All the players knew the day before that they were playing. But, if I want to name the team three hours before the game, I'll do that”

"No one has criticised me for the team that was selected. They all look forward. All the players knew the day before that they were playing.

This bit doesn’t quite add up.  Terry has already been quoted as saying that it was the case that the players were left hanging on – and that they all had to accept the situation – and Grant appears to be saying the same above but yet contradicting himself by also saying that the players knew the day before that they were playing! Just English as a 2^nd language problem?  Possibly exacerbated by emotion?

Anelka appeared lost out on the left in the 4-3-3 against Spurs, and many of us were and are crying out for Grant to pair the Frenchman more directly with Drogba.  There was also the other issue of Lampard and Terry playing just after coming back from injury.

"Criticise me for that. If I put Anelka on the left side, it's my decision. I'll take criticism on that."

"He had a bad day, but I take the responsibility for everything - for my staff, for my selection. If I decided to play some players after injury, that was my decision."

Journos then went on to ask him about his relationship with Abramovich – and of course that old ridiculous chestnut that so many plebeians need to believe - that our owner is involved in team selection:

"I have no problem in relation with anyone at the club. It's not been easy but we've won a lot of games together. I speak with Roman Abramovich a lot of times. No-one was happy with what happened in the game on Sunday."

"Roman Abramovich has never told me one player that he needs to play, never told me to pick the team this way or that. I'm in charge. Please, you need to respect my professionalism.  

"You're (the media) trying to hurt the team, hurt the club because we lost one game. Wait with the knife a little bit."

"I'm in charge. Please, you need to respect my professionalism."

The fires were stoked even further when Grant was asked about his relationship with the players and what did he think about reports that Frank Arnesen wants Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard as our next manager:

“Agents came to football to make things easier for the players. But sometimes they link things to the papers they don't need to and sometimes it hurts the team.”

So what about this famous “Gunfight at the OK Coral” bust-up between Ten Cate and Terry at Cobham?

"No team in the world is without fighting.  Sometimes it happens. Everything was okay a minute later. They shook hands, hugged."

"I liked what Alan Shearer said. If you're a player, you know things like that happen. It was a discussion, you move on. They shook hands a minute later.”

He does have a point doesn’t he?  No club is 100% harmonious, all sweetness and smiles is it?

"I respect the media in England - even though you gave me no credit at the beginning, but since then I've heard a lot of lies and now I don’t respect you so much!"

”So take that!