Roman rule too brutal for Grant

When it is your money that has bought everything, from the star players right down to the ball, you can insist - as was claimed by the League Managers' Association chief executive Richard Bevan at the weekend - on making a "30 per cent contribution to on-the-pitch activity" without having to take 30 per cent of the blame when it all goes wrong.

The manager takes the blame when that happens. All of it.

The manager in this case is Avram Grant, who was a penalty kick away from defeating Manchester United in Moscow, winning the Champions League trophy and securing cult status for life all the way from Fulham Broadway to Jerusalem. Not good enough though! Just as finishing second to United in the Premier League or runner-up to Spurs in the Carling Cup Final wasn't good enough.

It would have been good enough for Arsenal or Liverpool, or any of the other Premier League clubs, but different rules apply in the corridors of power at Chelsea.

Not for them the restraint of Arsenal, the history of Liverpool or the dignity of United.

The Chelsea agenda has little room for life's niceties.

Grant suspected as much on the plane home from Moscow. His fears were confirmed when they sacked him on Saturday.

The 53-year-old Israeli coach wanted to continue as manager and, to be fair, eight months was barely enough time for Abramovich and his men to assess Grant's potential as coach, tactician or motivator.

Whatever his strengths and weaknesses, it was a formidable task following Jose "The Special One" Mourinho.

But he did it to the best of his ability - and that meant three runners-up spots in eight months. What he might have achieved if given a season or two!

He was invited to take over by his "friend" Abramovich in September but my own feeling is that Grant's eagerness to accept such a challenge distorted his appreciation of what was involved at this level of the game. He handled the pressure without complaint but often looked bewildered by some of the demands of the job.

I remember thinking how much he reminded me of the movie in which Peter Sellers plays a gardener who, inexplicably, becomes the President of the United States.

What is becoming clear is that a successful manager at Chelsea needs a winning pedigree, experience of handling high-profile players and the ability to steer a course through the political minefield that exists at Stamford Bridge.

But most importantly he must indulge the owner and share his vision for the club.

Finding the right man may be a long job.