Avram Grant lashes out at childish Chelsea players

zocoss SG

Avram Grant

The Champions League Final in May was Avram Grant's last match as Chelsea boss.

Avram Grant has accused his former Chelsea players of behaving like highly paid children. The former Stamford Bridge boss also lashed out at Nicolas Anelka, claimed that he came close to signing Kaka and insisted that Roman Abramovich did not want to sack him.

'The level of performance at Chelsea is very high, the players perform at a high level and so are their salaries - but some of the players there have problems that you can't find at a children's team,' Grant told Israeli TV.

Kaka

I'll have a Brazilian: Kaka held talks about a move to Chelsea, according to Grant

Sportsmail revealed in the summer how Chelsea were pursuing an £80million move for AC Milan's briliiant Brazilian Kaka. And Grant said he held talks with the 26-year-old World Player of the Year.

'I wanted to sign Franck Ribery (from Bayern Munich) and really wanted Kaka because I thought Chelsea should play a bit different.

'He is the best player in the world and I had negotiations with him, but it fell through.'

Nicolas Anelka has been transformed under Luiz Felipe Scolari, hitting 15 goals for Chelsea already this season.

But it is perhaps unsurprising that he struggled to find form after his £15million January transfer from Bolton after it emerged that Grant told the player he wasn't needed.

'Some of the players there have problems,' said the coach. 'I didn't really need Anelka last season and I told him so. 'He is a very good player, but needs to have more passion.'

The 53-year-old has been out of work since the summer. Chelsea sacked him despite leading the club to second in the Barclays Premier League and finishing runners-up to Manchester United in the Champions League Final.

But Grant claims that Russian owner Abramovich was bullied into disposing of him. 'He thought I should stay but in this team the owner doesn't take all the decisions,' said Grant

youyayu SG

oh old man get lost..

if not for him JM would nv go

zocoss SG

Avram Grant

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 criticised 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.

gigabyte14 SG

scolari > mourinho > grant

I-like-flings(m) SG

childish highly paid children?? ya i agree v including the manager and the owner

1greatguy SG

GRANT: I DID NOT SAY THOSE COMMENTS. ANYONE WHO BELIEVE THE REPORTS IS A RETARD!

LINK

Avram Grant has denied quotes attributed to him describing his former Chelsea players as 'childish'.

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 criticised 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."