Grant Begins to Find Acceptance in Battle for Hearts and Minds

Avram Grant had stood, eyes closed and arms aloft, on the touchline at the final whistle in silent thanks, but there was a yelp of celebration as he turned to the tunnel and even a punch of the air as emotion overcame him. All were acknowledged gleefully by the delirious Chelsea supporters nearest the dugouts. The Israeli has endured much since taking on the expectation that comes with this job. Now, as the season approaches its climax, he may have found acceptance.

It has taken time for the watching world to feel that Grant truly belongs but, as he has often insisted, his record increasingly stands up to scrutiny. Results have been secured against Arsenal, Liverpool and now Manchester United to wreck the theory that this is a manager who cannot inspire his players against the best. His side are joint top of the Premiership with United, who are creaking to the campaign's conclusion, and they are favorites to edge beyond Liverpool in Wednesday's Champions League semi-final having gleaned a precious away goal from the first leg. The momentum, on both fronts, is with Chelsea.

Against that backdrop, with this side clinging to the possibility of securing silverware, the reality that Grant's position effectively remains under threat seems remarkable. Stories of internal disquiet at the club have persisted, but there was a warm reaction from all his players bar Didier Drogba as they departed the turf here. John Terry accepted his manager in a bare-chested hug and a slap on the back. Victories over league leaders do wonders for morale as will the sight of Frank Lampard returning to training, if not necessarily first-team action, at Cobham yesterday following the death of his mother.

As far as Grant is concerned, the most intense pressure has been transferred to others for now. "I am happy and have always believed in the team," said Grant. "But I have always believed in myself, too. I was like that at the end because, during the game, you need to control your emotions as you need to think what to do. At the end of the game I think it was down to excitement. But nothing has changed. We know what we need to do. We knew that, coming into this game, nothing else was important but to win it.

"We have come such a long way since the game at Old Trafford [his first in charge after succeeding Jose Mourinho], when it was the decisions of the referee that lost us the game. In this match, at our place, I knew they wanted a draw. But after what happened at Old Trafford we didn't want to let them have that.

"I said it before that the pressure is on them now because Chelsea have come from nowhere. At the start we were not only behind them but also behind Liverpool, Arsenal, even Manchester City. They fought with Arsenal and when they went top they thought that they would be champions. But now there is pressure and I hope this pressure will help us. I like Alex [Ferguson] as a manager and as a person but I don't think he'll be resting now."

Perhaps Grant will rest a little easier. Skepticism remains as to his long-term suitability to lead a high-profile club such as Chelsea. This club has gorged itself on trophies in recent seasons under the charismatic Mourinho and the same fans who shared the Israeli's delight on Saturday will not accept elimination on Wednesday. Should Liverpool revive then the backlash will inevitably be aimed at the man in the dugout rather than the players out on the pitch. Yet, for the first time, Grant could enjoy his celebrations, those around him having delivered precisely what was required: a slick, attack-minded performance that floored bitter rivals.

He is a man still building his reputation in England. "When big clubs over here take on coaches who have not worked before in this country, people sometimes have questions about them," he said. "It's always like this. I think the question [over me] has lasted too long. Sometimes it was not even connected to the results. But I need to do my job and I think we are doing a great job for a team that was on the way down. We'd lost many points at the beginning of the season so we needed to recover.

"My players showed great courage in the game today because it was not easy. Now we will see what happens in the league. United could drop points. They have dropped points against West Ham in the last few years and Wigan is not an easy place to win. I believe it can happen. But from early on in this job I wanted to know how my team reacted after both good times and bad times. From the few bad times we've had, we have reacted very well. Now we are in the good times but we also need to react. Liverpool will be very, very tough." At present, Chelsea are a side propelled by conviction.