Reuters Soccer Blog

Grant can’t match Mourinho at the microphone

It’s true I had been up half the night worrying about our half-finished loft conversion during the worst gales of the winter but even so I should not have dropped off to sleep during Chelsea coach Avram Grant’s news conference this week.

Grant is under fire in the Press after Chelsea surrendered both the Cups they held with poor performances against Tottenham Hotspur last month and lower division Barnsley on Saturday.

One might have expected a few fireworks, a bit of tension, emotion — something. My tabloid colleagues tried hard but the Israeli’s expression hardly flickered. It was during another repetition of how disappointed the players were and but how determined nevertheless to win something this season that my elbow slid off the arm-rest and I was jolted awake.

The trouble is Chelsea watchers were spoilt by three seasons of Jose Mourinho. Six months after he and Chelsea parted company we are filled with nostalgia for the apt quote, the off-the-wall metaphor, the acid aside, the humour, the controversy, the fun. There was always a sense of anticipation before the presser and usually a frantic scramble afterwards to try to fit all the good bits into a 500 word story.