Grant: I Picked Up Pieces at 'failing' Chelsea After Mourinho

Avram Grant, the former Chelsea manager, has claimed he turned the club around following the departure of Jose Mourinho in September last year and paved the way for Luiz Felipe Scolari to make a successful start to this season.

"When I came to Chelsea the team was in bad situation - I improved it. The players and I together took a team on the way down to a historical moment and a great season," Grant said last night, referring to the club reaching its first European Cup final under his stewardship.

Mourinho won every domestic title during his three years in west London but departed in acrimonious circumstances after failing to guide the club to victory in his last three games. Grant did not win a trophy during eight months in charge but did take Chelsea to the Carling Cup final and a runners-up place in the league as well as losing that European final to Manchester United. Scolari, who took over last summer, has the team second in the Premier League and safely into the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Grant has also claimed that apparently critical comments he made to an Israeli television channel this week were "taken out of context". On the show the 53-year-old reportedly said "the level of performance at Chelsea is very high, the players perform at a high level and so are their salaries" but added that "some of the players there have problems that you can't find [in] a children's team".

But last night Grant said: "I've only positive things to say about the Chelsea players I worked with. They always show big commitment and professionalism to the club. I wish everybody at Chelsea good luck this season. I have never criticized any of the players of a club I have worked for and never will. If I have something to say, I always say it directly to that person."

He also claimed the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, did not want him to lose his job - "Roman thought that I should stay but in this team the owner does not take all the decisions" - and that he did not want Nicolas Anelka, who was bought last January and struggled last season but is now the top scorer in the Premier League. "I didn't really need Anelka last season and I told him so. He is a very good player, but needs to have much more passion in his game," he said, adding that he had tried to sign Milan's Kaka and Bayern Munich's Franck Ribéry.