Eddie VukovicThe Suicidal Successor.... Avram 'Nice But Dim' Grant
He's a nice bloke, Avram Grant. He's no Jose Mourinho, but still quite engaging, in his own way.
What a shame, then, that he is using his early days at the Chelsea helm to make his own position far more untenable.
Ten-Cate, currently boss at Ajax Amsterdam, is expected to land at Stamford Bridge any day now as assistant coach. Grant, you see, has always worked with two assistants, and he wanted a top-class guy with European pedigree to work alongside Steve Clarke.
Now, if Grant can't see a problem with this, I'm not sure I'd trust him to pi$$ with his back to the wind, never mind manage multi-million pound footballers.
And the first thing you do is.... hire a lieutenant who is probably more qualified to do the job than you are.
Don't you watch The Simpsons, Avram? You don't hire a top coach from a top club to be your underling. You do like Smithers did, when he was pushed off by Burns for a holiday.
You hire a Homer. It's basic common sense.
Mourinho, after all, could have gotten a big name, Venables, say, to become his no. 2, but he didn't. He hired... Steve Clarke, a mediocre (but determined) figure from Chelsea's mediocre past. So that when results went south, there wouldn't be an obvious candidate sitting on the bench beside him to step into his boots.
In hiring Ten Cate, Grant is weaving a rope by which to hang himself.
It ain't Show-Friends, Avram, it's Show-Business.
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