Chelsea's 'F-word' May Stand for 'Fired'

All is not well in West London following Chelsea's defeat in the Carling Cup on Sunday. A number of players are upset at not being included in the first team and many fans are questioning Avram Grant's tactics, as he deployed grumpmeister Nicolas Anelka as a left winger, where he barely touched the ball. Players the have got the hump include Joe Cole, who only came on as a substitute in extra time and Michael Ballack, who may be playing the best football of his Chelsea career, while there are murmurings that the club has gone 'backwards' under Grant's stewardship. This pile of rumours has been tempered by the announcement that Grant will be given £100 million to spend over the summer, which is just going to push up prices for every other club.

Celebrity smoker Henk ten Cate appears to have been a target for players' frustrations, admitting to having a training ground bust up with John Terry. He had this to say:

"We are both kind of emotional, but we respect each other fully. We just had a discussion about the intensity of the training session. That's a normal part of the game. There have been a few F-words, no doubt. But that's common in England."

This sort of schoolground vocabulary is amusing, but it leaves you wondering whether Terry used the C-word as well. Ten Cate has been at Chelsea for less than 6 months and his style has not been appreciated, with some players suggesting that his man management leaves a lot to be desired. Add this to the suspicion that he's the replacement for Steve Clark, who is a Chelsea man through and through, and Ten Cate's position may become untenable.

It may not be Ten Cate who is in the most danger, however. Responsibilty for failure in the Carling Cup has to fall on Grant, who also handled the privileged players very badly in the buildup to the final. It turns out that the starting 11 were named just before kick-off, while the players who weren't involved in the game didn't even get a hotel room. It is hard to feel sorry for these players, as they must have hated the extra 30 minute drive in their Bentleys and Chelsea tractors, but upsetting influential members of the team is not the best way to prepare for a cup final.

The fans' accusations of 'backwardness' are serious, but it is easy to see where they are coming from. Apart from the bombastic 6-0 victory over Man City which secured Grant a permenant contract, Chelsea's results under Grant have been positive, yet uninspiring. Fabio Capello can testify to this, after he was sacked by Real Madrid after a year for his negative football, even though they won La Liga on the last day of the season. Grant's situation is not helped by the news that he may be kicked off his UEFA Pro License course, for failing to attend a number of seminars.

It's unlikely that Abramovic would be rash enough to sack Grant before the end of the season and bring in his third manager of the season, but if he has lost the respect and control in the dressing room, keeping him around will surely only serve to damage the team.