“Now I think Chelsea is more realistic” – Former Chelsea boss gives his views on current club affairs

Avram Grant’s managerial career is largely a mixed bag of success. But he’s always been a regular in the management business having managed domestically and internationally.

He found himself as the manager of Chelsea in 2007, replacing Jose Mourinho. Before that he was the Israel manager and went from there to England, becoming the technical director at Portsmouth.

Being a close friend of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, he was then appointed as his director of football at the club. From there, he replaced Mourinho as the club manager.

Grant took Chelsea to a second place finish in the Premier League and came runners up in the Champions League. But his contract was still terminated by Abramovich at the end of the season.

It was a similar fate for Carlo Ancelotti after finishing second in the Premier League. But Grant believes the trail of thought for Chelsea might be changing, and that this is a good thing.

Speaking to The Athletic, Grant said:

“I left after we finished second in the league and runners-up in the Champions League [in 2007-08]”

“Ancelotti left after finishing second place in the table [in 2010-11]. It wasn’t enough. I remember telling Chelsea to not take second place for granted, to think about the 10 per cent needed to finish first next time.

“You can’t regard second as nothing.

“Since then, they haven’t finished second again. Last season, they were happy with third and winning the Europa League.

“When [Rafael] Benitez did that in 2013, everybody said: ‘This is not for Chelsea. The title is what we want.’

“Now I think Chelsea is more realistic. They are still a very ambitious club but they respect achievements more.”

 

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