Avram Grant, whose reign as Chelsea manager has been dogged by
uncertainty over his long-term future, may leave on his own terms
at the end of the season.
As his team prepare for their two-game tilt at history, Grant
refuses to discuss his plans in any detail beyond reiterating that
he has a four-year contract and he is happy at the club.
But Eyal Lachman, one of his closest friends, believes Grant may
take control of his own destiny, regardless of whether he snatches
the Premier League title from Manchester United today and defeats
the same opponents in the Champions League final in Moscow in 10
days' time.
Lachman, head coach at Ghana's Hearts of Oak and linked to a
role at Stamford Bridge under Grant, said: 'I won't be surprised at
all if Avram leaves Chelsea at the end of the season. 'We are good
friends and when we speak it is about football. Avram is a man of
decision, as we can learn from the past.'
This is a clear reference to Grant's resignations from Hapoel
Petach Tikva and Maccabi Haifa before the end of his contract, and
Chelsea's late-season surge to the brink of the double has not only
strengthened his position within the club but also boosted his
credentials outside it.
His pronouncements have grown more confident and playful and
there is a sense that he feels he has done everything asked of him
by taking Chelsea to their first Champions League final and
developing a more entertaining playing style.
Suggestions that Chelsea's squad of experienced internationals
have done it all themselves, without much input from him, draw the
observation that similar would have to be said of the club's
success under Jose Mourinho, because the same players formed the
core of his team.
But when asked if he could state once and for all that he would
still be in charge of the club's first team at the start of next
season, Grant returns to serious mode.
He said: 'I think any manager who said that would not be
right.
'Sometimes the club don't want you, sometimes the manager is not
happy with the club.
'I know what my situation is. I am doing all the preparation for
next year. I can't answer your question because it doesn't depend
on me.
'You can judge my job on what I achieve. But I will not answer
questions today about my personal future.'
As with all major decisions at Chelsea, it will be down to owner
Roman Abramovich.
But Grant would, arguably, be entitled to be upset if moved
upstairs or out of the club altogether whatever occurs today and on
May 21, and, according to Lachman at least, might take matters into
this own hands even if he won both trophies.
Grant, who dismissed an Israeli journalist's request to respond
to Lachman's comments, is happier to talk about his previous
experience of a title race which went to the final day.
'In 1995, we took the championship in the last game with Maccabi
Tel Aviv,' he said. 'It was different because it depended on us. We
needed to win, a draw was not enough, and we won.
'It is the same in any country when you fight for first place.
You do what you have to do and then look at others.'
Victory over Bolton, of course, will not be enough if United
triumph at Wigan, and Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele admits
United are favourites.
But upsetting the odds would make a third Premier League title
with Chelsea the sweetest of all for the veteran France
midfielder.
Makelele said: 'We rely on United stumbling at Wigan and that
would perhaps be the best title I've won since coming to Chelsea.
To lose the championship on goal difference would be painful.
'After Mourinho's departure, people wrote off our season. But we
have shown our courage. Chelsea are always in the fight.'