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Will Avram Grant Keep his Job?

It was an enduring image of a remarkable final, but the loss of the European Cup may also prove to be the defining moment of Avram Grant's tenure as Chelsea manager. Moments earlier, he held John Terry as the club's captain broke down in his arms after missing a penalty that would have made Chelsea the European champions for the first time in their 103-year history. The margins were so narrow that Peter Cech later admitted he briefly thought Terry had scored.

However, despite Chelsea's performance on Wednesday, all Grant has really achieved is to lead the club to a treble of runners-up medals, whereas Mourinho ended each of his three seasons at Chelsea with at least one major trophy. Grant's position was certainly still looking tenuous yesterday after senior club figures continued to offer no guarantees about his future as Chelsea manager. People have even begun to bet on whether or not he will stay: Blue Square online sports betting has 2/5 odds that he wont have the position in August.

In an interview, chief executive Peter Kenyon avoided the subject and talked instead about the club's plans in the transfer market. Grant remains hugely involved in that process, but there is genuine uncertainty over whether he will remain manager, revert to director of football or walk away completely.

Indeed, sources close to Grant have confirmed that he was seriously considering leaving the job in a blaze of glory should Chelsea have triumphed against Manchester United on Wednesday. Yesterday, though, Grant admitted that he would like to remain manager next season. "Yes, why not?" he said. "I really don't like to speak about this. I can tell you that there is no news about this."

After Wednesday's tense final, the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, had put on a major party for the entire Chelsea staff, but he has offered no public or private reassurances to the Israeli. Abramovich will not want his friendship with Grant to cloud his thinking and has been genuinely struggling to come to a final decision.

Football Betting Odds courtesy of Blue Square

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