a question for all you Grant supporters...

[MannyJello]

...who do you blame when your team comes out completely flat in a cup final against your biggest rival??

[BlueBeard]

A f*ckin' good question, MannyJello, I'm waiting for answers......

[loz]

Today I blame 15 people, Grant and all 14 of the players who played (possible exception being Joe).

If you think we can absolve the players of blame for that performance and pin it all on Grant then that is just stupidity.

[BlueBeard]

Grant is the manager

Grant picks the team

Grant chooses the tactics

Grant makes substitutions

Grant takes responsibility for f*cking up big time

[wicksy]

Grant was outwitted by Ramos for sure. Spurs played with passion, organisation and plenty of flair - we had none of that.

Strange team formation for which he has to accept responsibility. SWP was so poor and Joe on the bench....

[SiameseJesus]

Grant is the manager

Grant picks the team

Grant chooses the tactics

Grant makes substitutions

Grant takes responsibility for f*cking up big time

Exactly, why play Anelka on the f**king left???? ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[bjd]

Loz, i know what you mean, but i have to say im furious. You simply cannot argue that Sperz deserved that today, if was awful watching that first half

Some of the performoances today were outrageous. But ont he other hand (and this is of course heat of the moment typing)but i cannot believe he played Anelka out left in a cup final, and then kept him there for so long (i felt sorry for him)

Ive just got to say i cannot see Grant as the man taking us forward. Did you all spot JT doing the extra time team talk ?

I'll sleep on it and let you know if i feel any different on Monday.

[loz]

There were 11 players out there doing next to nothing to try and win the game. DO you think that was Grant's instructions? Did he say

'GO out there, play at 40%, don't bust a gut, don't chase down loose balls, play simple passes straight to Tottenham players etc etc'

Make no mistake I agree that Grant got a lot of things wrong today but he was also let down by football players who can do a sh*t load better then did today.

[abramovich]

Grant has to take most of the blame for this one. Yes players are supposed to deliver on the pitch but he had a full squad to choose from and made bad mistakes, for instance, picking Lampard and SWP instead of Ballack and J.Cole.

I supported him right from the start and still will do as long as he is in charge but he failed yet again to prove that he belongs here. Big matches like that are the true test of a manager.

[quizgod]

The crux of it all is GRANT!!!!!

Once again his poor team selections and then when bringing on subs, why for ffs take of essien.

Think we would have been better off with Drogs taken off and Anelka playing down the middle.

Grant does not use players to their full potential.

the only player who is comfortable playing on the left side is Joey, and for most of the game he was warming the bench.

Roman, you wanted exciting football, You got rid of the best manager, and given us Grant....and look at what has happened.

The club need to do something fast, get Ten Kate and Clarkey to run the team, clarkey knows Chelsea best and he must be upset with this.

Grant has said this trophy was not his priority and he had other things more important.

Interesting stat, jose has been in 3 finals and won 3 times.

Grant has been in 1 and HE STUFFED IT UP!!!!!

If we play like that in the FA or CL, then we are out.

[jack h]

I blame in no particular order

all the players not one of them is as passionate about chelsea as the 90's players i grew up watching they might have been inconsistant but they wouldnt have put us through that

Grant, im not one of his haters but this is disgracefull

Jose for leaving us with a squad that has no creativity and that plays the worst football in the league. If it was one signing that he didnt want that got him the hump and ruined the squad we had in his first two seasons then he isnt as good as i once thought he was

(most o fthis has been said in the heat of thr monment)

[BackInBlue]

We buy a striker for 15 mil then put him on the left wing in a cup final.

Our best midfielder in the past two months who has carried us through a rough period doesn't come on till the 85th minute.

Our most experienced player who always performs in a big game stage is nowhere to be found.

If Grant isn't to be blamed for all that then who is???

[The Moos]

Today I blame 15 people, Grant and all 14 of the players who played (possible exception being Joe).

If you think we can absolve the players of blame for that performance and pin it all on Grant then that is just stupidity.

Cech wasn't bad either.

[callista]

In the end the manager always cops the flak ultimately because that's what he's paid for.

The fact that some or almost all the players seemed to be elsewhere is immaterial because in the end you have to come back to the fact that it is the manager's job to motivate etc then to perform.

That said, I think sometimes players should be blamed a hell of a lot more but they always manage to hide behind the poor manager!

But like any job if you aspire to be the boss you have to take the flak when everything goes tits up because THAT IS YOUR JOB and why you are where you are.

That doesn't just apply to football that's in every walk of life.

That's the reason why I've never become a manager at my firm despite being asked - I don't want that responsibility - Grant has agreed to take that extra weight on so rightly or wrongly he gets the blame whether he deserves it or not.

[wicksy]

In the end the manager always cops the flak ultimately because that's what he's paid for.

The fact that some or almost all the players seemed to be elsewhere is immaterial because in the end you have to come back to the fact that it is the manager's job to motivate etc then to perform.

That said, I think sometimes players should be blamed a hell of a lot more but they always manage to hide behind the poor manager!

But like any job if you aspire to be the boss you have to take the flak when everything goes tits up because THAT IS YOUR JOB and why you are where you are.

That doesn't just apply to football that's in every walk of life.

That's the reason why I've never become a manager at my firm despite being asked - I don't want that responsibility - Grant has agreed to take that extra weight on so rightly or wrongly he gets the blame whether he deserves it or not.

Under José, Clarky often did the press conferences. What is noticeable is that Grant does EVERY press interview, so he clearly wants to take the credit when things are going well. In which case he deserves to take the flak now...

[callista]

I blame in no particular order

Grant, im not one of his haters but this is disgracefull

Jose for leaving us with a squad that has no creativity and that plays the worst football in the league. If it was one signing that he didnt want that got him the hump and ruined the squad we had in his first two seasons then he isnt as good as i once thought he was

(most o fthis has been said in the heat of thr monment)

Grant did nothing disgraceful and I'm no fervant admirer as chippy will attest.

Doing something disgraceful is beating up a defenceless person or robbing someone - Grant is just a football manager who just lost a cup final.

And if we thrash Olympiakos out of sight at Stamford Bridge, will Grant be back to becoming a wise choice by Roman and with the odd exception Jose did in fact leave us with overall one of the strongest squads in Europe?

I agree with you, that you've said things in the heat of the moment.

Calm down and then think about the result rationally and if you still feel that way well fair enough.

[callista]

Under José, Clarky often did the press conferences. What is noticeable is that Grant does EVERY press interview, so he clearly wants to take the credit when things are going well. In which case he deserves to take the flak now...

Well yes I agree, that is why he is the manager and is paid accordingly. Well when things go wrong you have to come out and also take the flak and I'm sure he will do do so - in that respect I don't have sympathy for him because he has said how many times how much he loves this job and relishes the opportunity he has been given. Presumably if when Jose left and the offer was made he had deep down been afraid that it was all too much for him then he would not have taken it.

As you suggest he clearly is happy to be out in front when the team are doing well so he can stand up now and do the same.

The problem for Grant is that the reservoir of good will towards him is about as thick as Posh Spice's waist with many fans and that does not stand him in good stead on days like this I would suggest.

[Jack]

The bottom line is that if Jose had put a team out and we'd played that badly we'd all forgive him - because we all know he occasionally got it wrong. The fact is that Jose got it right in the big games more often than he got it wrong. I can only really pick out the FA Cup semi against Liverfool when the team he picked was lop-sided and played badly for over an hour - otherwise in the big games he came up with the goods. Jose knew that he had to win the Carling Cup first time round to convince himself, the players and the fans that winning was possible. I remind you all - before we played the home game against Bolton in 2004, Jose told the press that the club "does not smell of success". His intention was to change that, and by God did he ever do the business! Grunts' remit is to carry on the success Jose built AND change the style of play, make us more pleasing on the eye. Result? Complete failure to do the first thing first, by which I mean win the f**king trophy and then play some football. Grunt is now dead in the water, if he wasn't already when he took over.

You may guess I'm not convinced that Mr Grunt can organise the proverbial in a brewery - a joke figure-head who says nothing meaningful, who cannot make a decision, who cannot motivate the players OR the fans. The garbage this week about JT and Lamps not playing was a joke - Jose would have named the f**king team just to make a statement - we're not afraid of you. Grunt? Kacked his pants and said nothing!

The bloke has to go if we are to continue to move forward. I said when he took over that many of our players would leave and I see no reason to cange my mind - the coach will drive them away with his nonsensical crap. JT and Lamps looked well pissed off - were they upset at losing or were they pissed off with the way they were asked to play by this nonce?

Many have said 'wait till Grunt has his players in, give him a chance'. Well I know exactly where we are going to end up if we wait for that - behind the Arse and Manyoo, behind liverpoo and Everton, behind Spuds and Villa, and fighting it out with Pompey and Blackburn for a Uefa cup place.

...and that'll make us the biggest club in the World for sure

[loz]

Didn't Jose do exactly the same thing in a CL game when he claimed all week Drogba wasn't fit and then Drogba played?

[Chippy]

I always try and sit back and takea breath before I point the finger of blame as there are so many contributing factors that can be the difference between winning and losing a football match,

I am willing to admit the tactics (mainly the Anelka wide) never worked and should have been changed,

I dont think Frank or JT had good games and would with hidsight have preferred Ballack and Alex,

I dont feel as a team the players got up for this in anything like the way the Spuds players did and for that reason I wont blame Grant,

ok he is there to motivate the team, along with Cate and Clarke but a Cup final whatever the threes motivation techniques are should be enough to get the players fully up for the task, add to that that I believe even with the Anelka Drogba thing up front not working and left for the whole game the same, we still should have won the game, if the players had been really up for it, I think we would.

If that is true why is that Grants fault?

He played Frank and JT like 90% of us would have, he played Drogba and Anelka like 80% of us would have,

we have to give some credit to the opposition who have set their sights on this competition playing well all through and beating an Arsenal side out of sight that before people call it a rerserve side was IMO a better side than we narrowly beat in last years CC Final.

we have no god given right to win and it hurts to lose a final let alone to them lot but three defeats so far is not the record of a bad manager and he may have learned something today,

I still hold out hope and cant wait to get this behind us,

I have gone on other sites when the team has lost and they are quite upbeat (specially in CC games) and not often do they call for the manager to be replaced, I dont mean a Toon Forum obviously.

I just hope this kicks the players up the arse and shows them they have to do more than just turn up to win.

Oh and Jack,

I wont try to answer your post as I have been through all the same things just one bit surprised me,

the bit about Lamps and JT looking pissed off was it at losing or at Grants tactics, to me if they were not pissed off at losing there lies the problem.

[Jack]

Didn't Jose do exactly the same thing in a CL game when he claimed all week Drogba wasn't fit and then Drogba played?

Maybe - but this was different. It was used by the media to create the impression that Grunt couldn't make a definitive decision - even today Sky were claiming it was a last minute decision. Spuds knew their team - not to say that we didn't know ours, but nothing was done to dispel the rumours, the impression that our manager was dithering, was indecisive. Jose would have seen this as a weakness - Ram-arse and Poyet used it to gee their players up; they can't decide who's playing, they're in-fighting, forget about them we know our team lets concentrate on our performance. A minor point in the big scheme of things, I know, but the little things are what make the difference. They came out concentrated, focused on their own performance and blew us away from the first minute. We looked like we didn't have a clue how to play the game and I lay that squarely at one mans feet - Grunt.

[wicksy]

I

He played Frank and JT like 90% of us would have' date=' he played Drogba and Anelka like 80% of us would have,

quote']

Would we? I didn't think a cup final was the occasion to try them together for the first time. And that's not hindsight!

[callista]

That's what I mean Jack about reservoir of support which Grant does not really have yet.

Jose had that very much so, even if he f**ked up in the CL semi finals against Liverpool for example and got out thought by Benitez he still had the fans onside mostly.

So if mistakes were made you forgave him pretty much because you knew that on balance his decisions usually panned out and we won more than we lost. He brought the bacon home bottom line and that's what fans remember.

Grant is already operating on a deficit of support really so when things do go wrong then it's instant retribution and anger from the fans towards him personally - he's crap, he's stupid, he's tactically naive etc be it true or not.

The bottom line is that if we are to believe Kenyon and co, Grant has apparently been brought in to do the following:

(a) to build on the success Jose brought the club

(:) to being more attractive play to our game

© change our media image to becoming less confrontational/controversial and bringing the focus back on the squad not the manager (I'm guessing on this one but I suspect it's true)

So far on balance right now he's only managing to do ©.

However, the season is not over and he still has great chances to work wonders and I'm prepared despite my continuing reservations on his managerial nous (merely increased tonight) that he deserves a break from everyone until the end of the season.

[Chippy]

I

He played Frank and JT like 90% of us would have, he played Drogba and Anelka like 80% of us would have,

quote]

Would we? I didn't think a cup final was the occasion to try them together for the first time. And that's not hindsight!

Nor me mate my BPL had Anelka and Sweep back in his inside right role, thats why I guessed 80%

maybe if they had not both played people would (in hindsight) be saying they should have

[Jack]

One more thing before I go - the level of support for Grunt has shocked me. Keep living in that haze of delusion, people, it looks good on you.