Chelsea FC: The Road Ahead for Avram Grant

We all knew Mourinho loved to talk.

Perhaps he did that little too much of that for his own good when he called Arsene Wenger a "voyeur" or the constant mind games being played with Rafa Benitez prior to matches, but "The Special One" did what he had to do.

And the media loved him for that.

He provided the Chelsea faithful with trophies to show for his hard work while still managing to please the press with an arrogance that managed to amuse even the most casual football fan.

Mourinho delivered his usual controversial antics and the media would often laugh along with his methodical rants.

Heck, we love him so much that we even made him his own puppet talk show with his own sidekicks.

But after a tenuous relationship with owner Roman Abramovich, the Chelsea faithful were left in a situation where laughing wasn't a part of the equation.

The majority of the supporters are still screaming and crying out for their beloved Portuguese manager even as the 2007/2008 begins to draw to a close.

Needless to say, it's never easy to live up to the expectations that were exceeded by Mourinho. For Avram Grant, the situation just gets worse when you're always being compared to your predecessor.

After constant lectures of how Chelsea would play attractive football, Grant's side has failed to replicate his words with actions as Chelsea are still grinding out results with their multi-million cast of stars.

Had it not been for a change of tactics towards a more "Mourinho-esque" approach with more long balls towards Didier Drogba, chances are that Chelsea probably wouldn't have emerged victorious against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge a few weeks back.

Cries of "You don't know what you're doing" and "Jose Mourinho" from stands at Stamford Bridge only add to the precarious situation surrounding Grant's position. He's failed to live up to Mourinho's high standards, despite having only lost twice (Manchester United and Arsenal) in the Premier League since taking over.

It's almost become something of a cliche nowadays, but if Jose Mourinho was still at Chelsea, that certainly wouldn't have happened.

Of course by that, I'm not referring to the consistently questionable use of tactics and control over player personnel as witnessed in the Carling Cup final and Premier League clash against London rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

That's not mentioning how Chelsea crashed out against Championship minnows Barnsley in the FA.

Because unless you were living under a rock this week, it would have been impossible to have not heard about Avram Grant's spat against the media following a press conference in Chelsea's 1-0 win over Everton on Thursday night.

Well, maybe it wasn't a spat, but it almost certainly was something you probably would have heard or expected in a conversation between two five-year old kids at your local playground. 

It then put more pressure on Grant to deliver heading into his crucial fixtures against Liverpool and Manchester United; in both the Champions League and Premier League, respectively.

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