Chelsea FC: Avram Grant Needs To Curb the Irony

For those few people that were desperate to know what Alan Curbishley thought about the title race, it has no doubt been a good week. Clearly, Avram Grant isn't one of them. However, the problem for the Chelsea manager is that his comments clearly show he is in danger of letting things get to him.

The end of the season is always a tense and nervous time, no matter where in the table or which division you're in. Chelsea though, are climbing a mountain of tension at home and abroad. First, they had to contend with two games against their arch-European rivals Liverpool, which for once fell the way of the men from Stamford Bridge.

Sandwiched in between was a home game against domestic title rivals Manchester United, and when you add the passing of Frank Lampard's mother into the mix, it's clear it has been no ordinary seventeen days. The strain is now clearly beginning to show.

Last weekend's game was preceded by cheeky comments from Grant over the choice of referee, and how he needed to be fair. Comments on how the pressure was all on United followed the win.

During the week though, things changed, Rafa Benitez took control with a measured jab at Didier Drogba and his past antics, which not even the most ardent Chelsea fan could deny. While Drogba replied in the right way at Stamford Bridge, Grant collapsed to his knees at the finish as the emotion drained out of him, or perhaps some would say a throwback to the Special One. 

Then came Friday's response to Curbishley's comments ,and suddenly the man who was trying to get under the skin of others had his torn.

What was most remarkable about the whole scenario was that it came just a day after Grant had paid his respects on Holocaust Memorial Day, a day which surely highlights the insignificance of who deserves to win what and how attractively they do it. The mountain is getting higher, and the great irony is that as the final week of the season will start, Grant will line up opposite a man who years ago cracked at exactly the same point of the title race.

Kevin Keegan's tirade on the final Monday night of the season is as famous as football interviews go. Now, after his triumphant return to Newcastle, his resurgent side, led by the Liverpool old boy Michael Owen, could push Chelsea to the limit and put the final nail in their title hopes. 

That would leave Grant to load all his dice on the Champions League final in an attempt to bring glory, and perhaps safeguard his job. No easy task when he'll have to overcome himself, Manchester United, the master of mind games Alex Ferguson, and win in no-other location than Roman Abramovich's backyard.

Oh, the irony.