Jose sticks boot into 'loser' Grant

nikotina

Barely hours after news of Avram Grant’s relieving of his duties as Chelsea manager, former Blues boss Jose Mourinho has dubbed the Israeli a ‘loser’.
Never short of a word or two and definitely not shy of offering his opinion the Portuguese tactician – in whose shadow Grant has lived since his appointment following ‘The Special One’s’ exit last September – Mourinho has belittled his successor’s appraisal of the West London club’s season.
Grant stated that he believed Chelsea’s campaign had been a good one, although Mourinho thinks such an assessment proffers the musings of a non-winner.
“That depends on your philosophy of leadership,” Mourinho told The Observer when asked about Grant’s ideas on how Chelsea’s season – in which they were beaten to the Premier League title by two points and lost the Champions League final – had gone.
“In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football ‘almost’ means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling Cup, almost won the Champions League, and almost won The Premier League. Almost is nothing.
“After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season, which in my philosophy means a really bad season. Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect.”
Mourinho is in regular contact with Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and speculation about a return to Stamford Bridge for the Portuguese has already whipped into a frenzy.  Mourinho has told the Russian billionaire that he still has strong feelings for the club.
“The best team lost the Champions League final, like last season the best team lost the Champions League semi-final,” Mourinho said. “That is football. I have always said that details make the difference at this level - and luck is a really big detail.
“I am very sad about what happened. In the last two years this team lost a Champions League final and a Champions League semi-final on penalties. The supporters deserve more, Roman and the board deserve more, top people like [Frank] Lampard, [Michael] Essien, [Claude] Makelele, Ashley [Cole], Didier [Drogba], [Ricardo] Carvalho, [and coaches] Steve Clarke, Mick McGiven and some others deserve happiness. I still think of them as my boys.
“Yes, I was sad. Yes, I felt deeply that it was not fair. But I believe that after an empty season new success will come to Chelsea. And I will always be a Chelsea supporter.”
The names of Frank Rijkaard, Guus Hiddink and Sven Goran Eriksson lead the list of possible successor to Grant, with a return to SW6 deemed too soon for Mourinho at the moment.