Jose twists the knife: His crowing is the last thing Grant needs

You open the newspapers and see yourself roundly criticised. Wrong team selection. No fire in the players' bellies. Could anything compound your misery? How about a reminder from The Special One of just what Chelsea fans are missing ...

Jose Mourinho emerged from a period of unaccustomed silence to defend his record, in typically understated fashion.

"The English like statistics a lot, especially the number 100," said the former Chelsea boss. "It's a fascinating number. For example, games as manager in the Premier League. Do they know that the percentage of wins by Arsene Wenger in the English league is 50 per cent? And that Alex Ferguson, in the same number of games, barely managed to achieve three points in half of them?

'And my Chelsea beat those numbers completely, reaching well over 70 league wins, winning two championships in a row without blinking and leaving the directors of the Premier League on the verge of a nervous breakdown?

"Does that make me a better manager than Wenger or Ferguson? No. But I also don't think it makes me a worse manager than them."

These pearls of wisdom are contained in a new book, Jose Mourinho — Born Winner, published in Portugal. Grant does not even warrant a mention but Mourinho can at least empathise about the idiosyncrasies of managing a club owned by billionaire Roman Abramovich.

"The thing I've noticed in England is the difference between the way Chelsea are treated and the discreet way that Wenger and Ferguson have managed to get through all the rainy spells," said Mourinho.

"People look at Chelsea as a rich club, thinking the owner's money can buy this world and another, if need be. Nobody knows the conditions in which we had to build our victories because they happened against all expectations and the wisest commandments in football.'

No one knew better than Mourinho how to inspire his players by building a siege mentality. It is a skill Grant has yet to master. Lucky to win against Middlesbrough and poor in victory against Fenerbahce, they were shocking in the first half against Wigan. Using Frank Lampard's last-minute absence as an excuse was pushing things a little far.

Criticism of Grant's selection was misplaced — a team including Cech, Terry, Ballack, Essien and Anelka should have been strong enough to overcome Wigan — but watching his reaction to Emile Heskey's late equaliser made painful viewing. He momentarily turned away before pacing his technical area, gasping for air like a goldfish that had leapt out of its bowl.

He still has the opportunity to prove everybody wrong if Manchester United somehow conspire to shoot themselves in the foot, or if he can succeed where Mourinho failed and win the Champions League.

Having recovered remarkably quickly from surgery to his damaged face, keeper Petr Cech was predicting a similarly rapid comeback for his side. "We're not throwing the towel in yet," he said.

But it's hard to imagine Sir Alex Ferguson, a past master at mind games, losing too much sleep.

Expect Fergie to have his troops primed and ready for battle for the remaining games, laughing off Mourinho's jibes at his record.

And unlike Mourinho, Grant is unlikely to need a book to catalogue his achievements at Chelsea since taking over last September. Barring a miracle, a sheet of A4 will suffice.