Avram Grant believes that his tenure at Chelsea would have turned out differently if he had been manager at the start of the season, saying that he feels he could have guided Chelsea to the Premier League title.

Grant points out that when he took over no-one expected Chelsea to win anything, they were fifth in the table and had just drawn their Champions League game with Rosenborg.

He also states that no-one thought that Chelsea would finish second in the league or be runners up in the Champions League.

“I tell you this: If Chelsea had played at the beginning of the season like they did at the end then they would definitely have been champions of England ahead of Man United.”

Of course Grant has a valid point, the supporters were flabbergasted when Mourinho left and even the appointment of Sir Alex Ferguson would not have won them over. It never stopped Grant from beavering away and getting the results.

Chelsea’s performance in the Carling cup final though, was appalling and inspiration from the touchline was not forthcoming, Grant’s tactical nous seemed non existent as Chelsea were easily beaten to a trophy that they should have secured.

The fans and media piled on the pressure. To his credit Grant rose to the challenge and against all odds it was Chelsea, and not the earlier runaway leaders Arsenal, who gave Manchester United the fright of their lives on two fronts, in a fitting finale to the season.

So credit where it’s due. Chelsea may have had a formidable squad for Grant to manage, and although they ended up winning nothing, he did put them in with a shout at the death. In the end he did everything right and while it would have been a travesty for United to have missed out on the Premier title, Chelsea did do enough during the game to deserve the Champions League.

I have to admire him also for walking away from a Chelsea hierarchy that threatened to walk over him, by turning down his old position and saying its time to move on.