By Paul WAHS
So, it appears that yet another day has passed in East London and Avram Grant is still in charge of West Ham United. It kind of goes without saying that this has rattled on a long time now and Grant has been a 'dead man walking' for a long time now. Grant has been shown nothing but complete contempt by his employers, messers Gold and Sullivan - that even Karen Brandy has chipped in, even though she is officially vice chairperson, she also enjoys a lavish media-drenched lifestyle of columns in tabloid newspaper The Sun and as one of Lord Sugar's henchmen on The Apprentice. The similarities between Brady on The Apprentice and in the newspaper are similar, but for the fear of slander, I shall no longer concentrate on her.
Grant is a manager of great pedigree - many may disagree but he has had spells in charge of Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Maccabi Haifa, two of Israel's most prolific clubs who have both enjoyed stints (albeit briefly) in the Champions League. Grant has also had a period in charge of Israel's national side, in which he narrowly missed out on taking them to the FIFA World Cup in 2006 - even though Israel did not lose in the qualifying. Upon his arrival in England, Grant was brought in as 'Director of Football' much like Damien Comolli at Liverpool now. Grant, it was reported, was a close friend of Russian owner Roman Abramovich and benefitted from Red Roman's fallout with Jose Mourinho, by being installed as the manager of Chelsea - then champions.
Grant was never a popular choice in West London - he took over from Mr. charisma himself, the self-styled 'special one' who wore his heart on his sleeve and enjoyed nothing more than winding his opposition up. Grant on the other hand, was solemn, respectful and at some times, passive. Where Chelsea saw Mourinho as a figurehead for the consumerist nature of the early Abramovich days, Grant was the grumpy old man who seemed to flap his hands about more than inspire the team. When Grant didn't win the league and was beaten in the Champions League final dramatically by Manchester United on penalties, the vultures began to circle. Grant was dismissed shortly afterwards, even though he had a 100% home record during his tenure.
In 2009, Grant returned to the Premier League and in the same role as his time at Chelsea, again - as 'Director of Football' at Portsmouth. Grant once again had a closely reported friendship with owner Ali al-Faraj and yet again, Grant was installed as first team manager after Paul Hart parted ways with the club. Grant took over what appeared to be the reigns of the Titanic, the club rooted to the foot of the Premier League and rooted in debt - many High Court battles later and an unsuccessful trip to the FA Cup Final, Grant terminated his own contract at the club he described as having "a special bond with. Grant was seen as the heroic force bravely starving off the inevitable threat of relegation - and upon Portsmouth succumbing to the decline from the Premier League, took his own job.
Grant's stock was high again when, in June 2010 - he was appointed the successor to the popular Gianfranco Zola at West Ham (who incidentally had West Ham's worst winning percentage in their history when he was in charge). Grant went to work under a new regime and there was a sense of recovery after the club signed German International Thomas Hitzelsperger, Frederik Piquionne from former club Portsmouth and managed to coax wantaway captain Scott Parker into a new 4 year deal. The feel good factor however was short lived - Grant gave the Hammers their worst possible start in their Premier League history - hitting bottom of the league and being humbled 5-0 away to Newcastle over the Christmas period. West Ham's only real joy this season has come in the League Cup - in which the Hammers stunned Manchester United 4-0 at Upton Park en route to the semi-finals (where the go into the second leg 2-1 up at time of writing. Grant's job has come under extreme pressure through the blatant flirting between the board and former Aston Villa Manager Martin O'Neill.
So where does this leave poor old Avram now - well, as it stands he is still in charge of the club - but for how long? Grant has been described by many as 'dignified' in his role under pressure and to an extent this is true - however he is increasingly close to losing the fans and the players. Now, without this turning into a discussion regarding the frankly ludicrous issue of 'player power', the players are employed by the football club to perform - especially on £90,000 (WAYNE BRIDGE!) a week. When the players begin o show poor form - surely they should face disciplinary action - take your job for example. If you are performing badly, would you turn to the CEO or owner and say "sorry boss, but my leader simply isn't good enough - I'll do better though if you bring someone else in". No, you wouldn't. And if you did, maybe you'd be going out of the door...
I am an ardent fan of Grant, But I simply cannot see how he will rise from this. It has been widely reported that there is a 6 month review clause in Grant's contract - therefore removing his now would not only be cost-effective, but also useful when the next manager comes in as he would have time to strengthen and streamline the squad. Where Grant fits in is beyond me and is beyond most - by rights he should have gone - but then again, when was the last time a captain of a sinking ship found a great replacement in time before it went down?
By the time the next skipper takes the wheel at the good ship Upton Park, Celine Dion will be preparing for a power ballad, one suspects.
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