Carling Cup / Mike Norman / 08 January 2008 / 1

"Mystical" Mike Norman assesses the impact Avram Grant has made so far at Chelsea and tells us where the bet is in tonight's match against Everton

Chelsea host Everton this evening in the first leg of the Carling Cup Semi-Final, a game that will go a long way to deciding who will be playing in this season's first major showpiece. But the statisticians amongst you will know that this is quite a significant game in assessing the impact that Avram Grant has had on Chelsea Football Club since he took over the reigns from Jose Mourinho.

In fact, you statisticians might just be licking your lips at a unique betting opportunity staring you all smack in the face. More about that later....

It's around this stage of the season that a lot of alcohol-fuelled discussions in pubs up and down the country will be about how well Avram Grant is doing in his new role as the Chelsea boss. Personally, I have seen very little difference in the club's results, very little difference in their style of play, and very little difference in where they are at now, compared to where they were at when Mourinho was in charge.

I do see two glaringly obvious differences however; the first being the lack of enthusiasm for Grant amongst huge sections of the Chelsea faithful, and the second being the blatant lack of charm, charisma, vibrancy and passion shown by Avram Grant in press conferences and pre/post match interviews. I watch him closely after a game, dressed in his black suit, looking morbid and saying very little, and I'm thinking to myself he's a bloody funeral director, not a football manager!

I really don't think we've learnt anything about him as a man either because he simply hasn't done anything to endear himself to the public. But Avram Grant replacing Jose Mourinho was always going to be the calm after the storm, so maybe we, or I, am expecting too much too soon from him. We all had come to expect the inevitable, exuberant comments when Jose was being interviewed, whilst Avram is the complete opposite in front of the cameras.

As a manager you can't knock what Avram Grant is doing at Chelsea. His squad has been depleted by injuries, suspensions, and now players away on international duty in Africa. Yet Chelsea are only six points behind leaders Arsenal in the title race, and they can be backed at [9.0] to regain their Premiership crown. In the main, Grant appears to prefer the same 4-3-3 formation that was often employed by his predecessor, though because of the lack of a full squad to choose from, it's hard to say what formation and players he will eventually favour.

But as I alluded too earlier, tonight's game is significant in the fact that it's Grant's 25th game in charge of Chelsea in all competitions - and the comparisons to Jose Mourinho's first 25 games in charge are quite remarkable. 'The Special One' won 18 of those games, drew 5 and lost just 2, scoring 48 goals in the process. 'The Ordinary One' has won 17 of his 24 games to date, drew 5 and also lost 2, scoring 45 goals in the process (source: https://www.chelseafc.com)

So as you can see, a victory for Chelsea tonight, scoring 3 goals in the process, is an absolute shoe-in isn't it? If this were to happen, it would give Avram Grant an identical record to that of Jose Mourinho in terms of games won and goals scored.

Everton are without the suspended Mikel Arteta for tonight's clash, while FIFA have ordered that Steven Pienaar must be released to join South Africa. Nigeria have been significantly more generous and have allowed Yobo and Yakubu to remain in London for the game. Chelsea have lots of injuries and Drogba, Essien and Kalou are away on international duty, though Obi Mikel has been given permission to stay and play.

I'm going to stick my neck out and go for that Chelsea [1.91] victory I spoke about earlier. The Draw is available at [3.5] and an Everton win can be backed at [5.1]. I say ignore the Grant/Mourinho statistics at your peril and think about backing Chelsea to win either 3-0 [19], 3-1 [17] or 3-2 [38]. I just hope Sky Sports News know where to send the cheque when they pinch my stats!

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1. Peter | 08 January 2008

   Nice write up. I agree that Grant has a dour personality. I think this match is a very difficult one to predict and I've decided not to have a pre match bet on it and will see how the game develops and then probably bet in running.....I may lay the first team that scores and then hope for an equaliser to ensure a profit.

   Everton did draw here earlier in the season and Chelsea have not been playing at their best recently but obviously have injury problems and seem to be missing Drogba a lot.

   Hope the game is a good one or I'll be switching channels to watch the darts!

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