Chelsea ready to hammer nail into Grant's coffin
Reuters - Thursday 09 September 2010, 03:00
LONDON - Table-topping Chelsea make the
short trip across London to bottom-placed West Ham United on
Saturday where they could terminally damage the chances of Avram
Grant, their former coach, keeping his job.
While Carlo Ancelotti's champions have started the new
season by winning their first three games with a goal tally of
14-0, the Hammers have stumbled to three successive defeats and,
along with Stoke City, are the only club yet to collect a
Premier League point.
With league action resuming after a two-week break,
second-placed Arsenal host Bolton Wanderers and third-placed
Manchester United visit Everton, who have drawn once and lost
twice.
Tottenham Hotspur, England's fourth Champions League
hopefuls, go to West Bromwich Albion looking to bounce back
after their shock 1-0 home defeat by Wigan Athletic two weeks
ago with new signings Rafael Van der Vaart and William Gallas
set for their debuts.
Manchester City, whose cheque book is now closed after
spending more than 120 million pounds on
players during the transfer window, entertain Blackburn Rovers.
City are looking to hit back after losing 1-0 to Sunderland.
Win, lose or draw, all those clubs at least have points on
the board, unlike the Hammers whose form has shown little
improvement on last season's when they flirted with relegation
after five years in the Premier League.
Although they survived, another former Chelsea hero,
Gianfranco Zola, lost his job as manager and his replacement
Grant is also having to endure anxious moments.
FAMILIAR TERRITORY
The 55-year-old Israeli, who spent his time at Portsmouth at
the bottom of the table last season, is back in familiar
territory with the Hammers, whose only goal in their opening
three games was a penalty in a 3-1 home defeat by Bolton
Wanderers.
More worryingly for Grant, who took Chelsea to within a
shootout penalty of success in the 2008 Champions League final,
West Ham have played badly in all three league matches. They
even struggled to beat League Two (fourth tier) Oxford United
1-0 in a League Cup tie.
Their last league match ended in a 3-0 thumping by
Manchester United, prompting reports that Grant had three
matches to save his job.
However, co-owner David Sullivan told the fans not to panic
because the team was in a period of transition.
"We are building a new team under a new manager and
transition is a tough time but game by game I anticipate an
improvement over the coming months," Sullivan told the London
Evening Standard.
"When we looked at the early fixtures we knew we faced a
tough time but we only managed two points from the same fixtures
last season."
Last season Chelsea hammered a nail into Zola's coffin when
they crushed the Hammers 4-1 at Stamford Bridge in March and a
similar scoreline would only add to the pressure on Grant.
In fact West Ham will be lucky to score even one goal.
Since conceding twice in a 2-1 defeat at Spurs in April,
Chelsea have won their last six league matches with a staggering
overall goal tally of 31-0.
Another man under the spotlight will be Gerard Houllier who
takes charge of Aston Villa for the first time at Stoke City on
Monday.
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