Avram Grant: Chelsea's Ultimate Winner?

Having just returned from Texas, I've been amiss in not tossing in two cents on the marvelous Chelsea-Liverpool second leg Champions League semifinal.

It's not the final I expected or wanted, but I have to say the lasting image for me aside from Frank Lampard's emotional tugging at his black armband is Avram Grant dropping to his knees upon the final whistle.

Grant has taken so many punches from the fans and media that he' s been begging for a kick. Ironically, it may be Grant who gets in the last boot should he manage to get Chelsea to lift the Champions League cup and the premiership championship. The latter will be most difficult given Manchester United's edge in goal differential. But how ironic would a Chelsea double be (treble if you count the Carling Cup)?

Whomever followed Jose Mourinho at Chelsea was doomed to fail, no doubt. Few could live up to that charisma and back-to-back Premiership titles are impressive enough. Perhaps that's why Roman Abramovich ultimately went with the familiar Grant, a low-profile man whose top-line resume achievement was guiding the Israel national team. He's been slammed for his player selection and in-game management, but it's difficult to argue with the results. Grant has gone where not even Mourinho could with Chelsea and he's 90 minutes away from securing Abramovich's ultimate goal.

Is it enough to keep his job? Doesn't truly matter at this point, John Terry's support not withstanding. This just might be Chelsea's last great stand, especially with the impending departure of Didier Drogba. And what of Terry, Wayne Bridge and a host of others? Might it be enough inspiration to unify this team for one last run at a major trophy? Grant might be the lasting figure.

Stay tuned, May 21 is around the corner.

Champions League: Chelsea-Olympiacos: Grant's Moment of Truth?

Chelsea hosts Olympiacos in the return leg of its round-of-16 tie with Olympiacos today (2:45 p.m. ET, ESPN2 live). The teams drew 0-0 in Greece, putting the visitors at a slight advantage today (see AC Milan-Arsenal) because of the away-goal rule.

For all the criticism heaped on Avram Grant, Chelsea has been in pretty fair form for the better part of three months. Losing the Carling Cup final was a big hiccup, but one has to wonder how much of a priority it was for the Blues since they're still very much alive in the Champions League and FA Cup, and still have a prayer in the Premiership.

Since losing Dec. 16 1-0 to Arsenal, Chelsea has lost only once--to Tottenham in the Carling Cup--and tied three other matches. It has won 13 times during that stretch, including nine in a row before tying Portsmouth Feb. 2. Only Arsenal's hot start and United's tremendous form have kept Chelsea at bay in the Premiership. Chelsea has 58 points, seven back of Arsenal.

At home today, Chelsea certainly has momentum in its favor; it even got a reversal on Frank Lampard's red card, meaning he won't be missing from the team due to suspension.

Yet for all these positives, Grant is still under the spotlight. His starting eleven is the biggest concern. Will Joe Cole play? What is Anelka's role? Is John Terry at top form? When will he finally pair up Drogba with Anelka?

Chelsea The Offside speaks from the heart when he says today that failure is not an option for Grant--a 4-1-2-1-2 with Drogba and Anelka?

CL The Offside points out that for the first time in a long time Chelsea is healthy, and with a wealth of superstars available--27 he says--that the Blues should sweep into the quarterfinals 2-0. They also offer predictions on the rest of today's matches.

The Times Online blog, meanwhile, has an interesting read on Chelsea's untouchables. Ignoring the just awkward, awful prose for a second, he lists Makelele, Essien, Lampard, Ballack, Terry, Carvalho, Drogba, Cech and Ashley Cole as the original list of irreplaceable players. If anyone finds the point to this blog posting, please let me know, but I think the point's he's desperately trying to make is that Essien and Drogba are keepers, the rest, well, aren't, I guess?

Avram Grant’s Chelsea Ship Taking on Water

Has Avram Grant lost the reins at Chelsea? Sunday’s Carling Cup loss to Tottenham is the 10 percent of iceberg showing above the surface of a simmering ocean of discontent (how’s that for prose?)

There’s plenty of evidence swirling that Grant is over his head, that he cannot lead the most expensive team on the globe, and more importantly, that he cannot manage these men.

Where was Michael Ballack during the Carling Cup final? The German has been a flop for the most part at The Bridge, but of late, he’s been in good form. Yet, he play fewer than 15 minutes in a cup final? Why was Anelka playing wide? Why was Lampard playing at all?

Then the John Terry row: It’s no secret the captain and first-team coach Henk ten Cate had a blowout apparently over Terry’s insistence to train harder the day before the Carling Cup final. The two were in each other’s face and had to be pulled apart.

Ten Cate is trying to turn down the heat in today’s Times of London:

"We are both emotional guys, but we do respect each other fully. On Saturday the distance between me and him was nowhere less than five metres. So that we were with our heads against each other, as they wrote, is total nonsense. The discussion was about the sharpness of the training, as we have more often. That is part of top football. At Chelsea we have a group of 27 players and three goalkeepers. Half of them were allowed to go to the final so you understand that things went sharp. John found that we should train even more fanatically, I didn't agree on that with my eyes on the final. We had an argument about that. That is all."

101 Great Goals also reports Roman Abromovich isn’t pleasant to be around following Tottenham taking its first silverware in nearly a decade at his team’s expense.

Luvfooty has more on Grant’s impending doom.