"I'm pleased we've taken 12 pts during Xmas period"- WTF!?!

[MannyJello]

From the BBC:

Avram Grant, interviewed after the match:

"I'm pleased we've taken 12 points during the Christmas period. We started slowly but we seem to do that when we play early in the afternoon. But in the second half we showed a lot of character. We scored two goals and I thought we could have scored more."

Read that again:

"I'm pleased we've taken 12 points during the Christmas period. We started slowly but we seem to do that when we play early in the afternoon. But in the second half we showed a lot of character. We scored two goals and I thought we could have scored more."

Maybe the BBC misquoted him, I thought, so I watched the raw video of his interview on that website. Nope, didn't misquote him. In fact, Grant went out of his way to insert that. He was asked straight off about whether he was more pleased with our second half performance versus Fulham, and said, "First I am very pleased we took 12 points in the Christmas period..."

Let me recap --

Win versus Blackburn: 3 points

Draw versus Villa: 1 point

Win versus Newcastle: 3 points

Win versus Fulham: 3 points

Okay, let me break out the abacus ... carry the one, keep the decimal point in the right place...

there you have it! 10 points

so, there's a couple of explanations here:

1. Grant fell asleep at the end of the Villa match and didn't see the PK by Barry

2. Grant ascribes to the "new math," whereby we are in first place by a comfortable 8 points

3. Grant doesn't know what the hell he is talking about

this is almost better than Bridgey's "we got the 3 points" quote after the Carling Cup win (or was it an FA Cup win?).

[JT26CFC]

maybe too much champagne on new years

[geezer]

Just checked on the BBC website and it clearly quotes him as saying "I'm pleased we've taken 10 points during the Xmas period".

Don't get too sucked in to typos.

[BlueBeard]

Naah, Grant actually said "I'm pleased we've taken 12 points" - I saw the post-match interview, made me laugh at the time

[coco]

Naah, Grant actually said "I'm pleased we've taken 12 points" - I saw the post-match interview, made me laugh at the time

I'd be laughing if we had got the 12 points.

[geezer]

Naah, Grant actually said "I'm pleased we've taken 12 points" - I saw the post-match interview, made me laugh at the time

Oh........my......god...........

[Guest Brian M]

10 points out of 12 is a very good return given all our injuries, etc.

How many points did Arse, Liverfool, Manure, Man City, take from this period? Anyone?

[Jimboola69]

10 points out of 12 is a very good return given all our injuries, etc.

How many points did Arse, Liverfool, Manure, Man City, take from this period? Anyone?

For some reason Scousescum are playing less games than everyone else.

This is either some sort of scally masterplan, OR they are not releasing the dates of fixtures so that their houses are not 'robbed'!!!!

[MannyJello]

Just checked on the BBC website and it clearly quotes him as saying "I'm pleased we've taken 10 points during the Xmas period". Don't get too sucked in to typos.

Well, they changed the text, but it wasn't a typo. That's now a cover up. You can still see the raw video where he said "12 points" if youclick here.

10 points out of 12 is a very good return given all our injuries, etc. How many points did Arse, Liverfool, Manure, Man City, take from this period? Anyone?

Agreed, Brian, it is a good return on form. Here are the standings from the Christmas fixtures, with the eight teams that are playing tomorrow in italics...

Chelsea 10

Arsenal 10

Man Utd 9

Aston Villa 8

Liverpool 7

West Ham 7

Tottenham 6

Everton 6

Blackburn 4

Wigan 4

Pompey 4

Reading 4

Brum 4

Man City 3

Bolton 3

Sunderland 3

Boro 3

Fulham 2

Newcastle 1

Derby 1

In other words, even if the scum win tomorrow, we'll end up no worst than tied for the best record over those 4 matches. A great result under any circumstances, and an excellent result given our current circumstamces.

[Guest Brian M]

Cheers, Manny. Now if only we hadn't let in 4 against AV!

[callista]

From the BBC:

so, there's a couple of explanations here:

1. Grant fell asleep at the end of the Villa match and didn't see the PK by Barry

2. Grant ascribes to the "new math," whereby we are in first place by a comfortable 8 points

3. Grant doesn't know what the hell he is talking about

this is almost better than Bridgey's "we got the 3 points" quote after the Carling Cup win (or was it an FA Cup win?).

I'll take 3.

I'll give you a few more options though:

1. Grant had just been told of my idea to introduce lap dancing at half time as an added entertainment and was still thinking about it.

2. He was drunk.

3. He is trying to make himself look even more fabulous than he really is by the cunning plan of fibbing.

4. He failed elementary maths at school.

I'll still take 3.

Still 10 points is good going, you can't blame him for getting trigger happy!

[Y_dizzie]

For some reason Scousescum are playing less games than everyone else.

This is either some sort of scally masterplan, OR they are not releasing the dates of fixtures so that their houses are not 'robbed'!!!!

What happened with: Our rotation system will pay off in second part of the season Rafa?

First game and a draw allready, i guess its paid of then

[bar24rat]

So what if the official version was 10 pts or the mistaken 12 pts, Blues finished top of the points accrued list for the Xmas period. I would offer that was an excellent performance particularly in view of the absentees from the squad. Perhaps those so-called morons who go under the title of supporters and whose main contribution in the game v Newcastle was to chant " you don't know what you're doing" at the time of Joe Cole's substitution may just be a touch embarrassed. When will they give Grant a break. He was 3 badly defended minutes away from 4 wins although some will argue we were lucky to be that close in the Villa game.

[ozboy]

A fair result over the xmas season, but the minimum required. We've broken a bit away from Liverpool, but not made any substantial ground on Manu and Arse. And we are by far the worse hit of the big 4 during ANC month. We will now be very dependent on Ballack to run the midfield, because Sidwell ain't no Essien in terms of domination. Hopefully Maka can cover for Mikel.

There is no replacement for kalou, and I think his pace will be missed.

If the table at the end of January is no worse for us than today, then we may be in position to make a strong run in the last third of the season.