Ex-Chelsea manager takes pop at predecessor on radio Avram Grant proved he holds no grudges over his time at Chelsea by going on TalkSport to have a dig at Jose Mourinho. The ex-Chelsea (and possibly soon-to-be Portsmouth) boss was on the Breakfast show this morning and took the opportunity to bad mouth the Special One.

Every year the release of Serie A salaries is met with great anticipation and often little surprise. This year, there was plenty of surprise to go around. With Kaka & Zlatan off to the lowered tax rates of Spain, the top spot was up for grabs and it went to Jose Mourinho, whose main improvement [...]

The Wigan - Bolton match being frozen off at the end of gameweek 18 brings home a reminder of the importance of having a bench with players who are capable of contributing points if they become needed. With some notable injuries to a few marque players (ala Fabregas) having a solid line up of quality substitute players becomes even more pressing.

And the man to guide Chelsea to success until November 2009 is... With Chelsea and Luiz Felipe Scolari's quickie divorce now complete, the search for a new love in the life of Chelsea FC can begin. The bookies have made Avram Grant and Guus Hiddink the favourties. I suspect pride on the part of both Roman Abramovich [.

Chelsea announced a £65.7m loss for last year, a staggering sum, particularly as it marks an improvement over the loose-pursed past.  Though the tangible sum is less, the impact will be felt more, after Roman Abramovich as billionaire Roman Abramovich potentially lost the bulk of his fortune.  Abramovich's woes have already affected Chelsea.

It's fairly safe to assume that John Terry has been operating under the assumption that his place at Chelsea was a job for life. There has been talk of him requesting a managing role at the club when he retires and his recent behaviour with regard to telling the club which players he thinks they should sign has been another indicator of a footballer that doesn't particularly see his role as being, well, a footballer.

Avram Grant has been named director of football at Fratton Park. My apologies for twittering prematurely that Paul Hart had been sacked this morning- I watch sky sports with groggy eyes. But I think the writing is on the wall and my guess is that recent financial insanity at Portsmouth probably has the funds needed to send Hart on his way tied up.

While it is far too early to make any sort of valid title predictions based on the limited premier league action served up thus far, it is fair to say that of the so called title contenders (I'll include Man City in the equation), I am somewhat surprised at the start made by Chelsea.

It is not so much their 100% record, which means little at this stage, but the manner of their performances which have caught the eye.

Ever since Roman Abramovich sent him packing from Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2008, Avram Grant has been on a one-man mission to prove that he was a success during his brief tenure as Chelsea manager. Second place in the league and one inch away from winning the Champions League final won't earn you any silverware.

My lady friend summed it up perfectly when I relayed the new Avram Grant news: "Your alleged favorite team is getting your alleged favorite coach."
In related news, Grant appeared on a radio program in the UK this week and had this to say about loudmouth Jose Mourinho, his Chelsea predecessor: "Does it surprise you he opened his mouth?

Breaking news: Scolari sacked at Chelsea. 
He follows Avram Grant and Jose Mourinho out the door in just under a year and a half - and further proves that temperamental Russian oligarchs are perhaps not the best bosses in the world. While Abramovich spends his days begging the Kremlin for a loan, and sitting around playing FIFA 2009 on his Nintendo Wii all day, he can now add "finding a new manager," to his list of things to do.

Tout Simplement means "its just that" in French.

It is also the title of the new book by Claude Makelele which has already generated a fair bit of controversy. The former Blues midfielder claims in his book that John Terry's unhappiness with his playing time was the catalyst behind Jose Mourinho's ouster.

Tout Simplement means "its just that" in French.

It is also the title of the new book by Claude Makelele which has already generated a fair bit of controversy. The former Blues midfielder claims in his book that John Terry's unhappiness with his playing time was the catalyst behind Jose Mourinho's ouster.

While their rivals have been slow to get out of the gates this Premiership season, Chelsea have flown out and don't look like slowing down. A 3-0 win over Burnley this weekend maintained Chelsea's 100% start to the season, and results aside their play suggests that Chelsea are favorites to win the 2009/10 Premier League campaign.

I was sitting in a plush screening room at the Sony Pictures Lot in Culver City, CA just a short walk down the hallway to anything and everything Spider-Man (hell, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst may have been on premises for all I know – the studio lot was so infested with Spider-Man promos) but when The Damned United kicked-off I was no longer in warm Los Angeles.

Poor Avram Grant must be thinking of ways to get the penalty mark removed from the field of play. Eighteen months ago, John Terry slipped on the spot that cost Grant his job at Chelsea. Last night, Wayne Rooney showed how to stay on your feet not once but twice when taking a penalty to steer Manchester United to a comfortable victory at the once impregnable Fratton Park.

Ever since Jose Mourinho's heavenly time at Stamford Bridge came to an end, Chelsea have been living in the shadows of that great period in time for the club.

Avram Grant played using Mourinho's same system before eventually getting the axe while Luiz Felipe Scolari could not really bring a "Brazilian touch" to Chelsea's football style.

by FRANCO PANIZO

Los Angeles, be prepared to say goodbye to David Beckham...again.

The Los Angeles Galaxy have given Beckham permission to work out a loan deal for the winter transfer window in January. The loan is expected to last until July to give Beckham the best possibility of making the England squad for the 2010 World Cup in June.

You'd have thought that even the publicity junkie that is Sulaiman Al-Fahim would keep as low a profile as possible, after his dismal, embarrassing failures at Portsmouth, but no. Having done a round of self-justificatory chats with the UK press, who didn't balk at pointing out the flaws in every argument he put forward, he returned to the happier, compliant hunting ground of the Arabic press for his latest lecture to the masses.

If you lose ten of your first 13 games of the season there is always a distinct possibility you will be out of a job sooner rather than later.

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Portsmouth manager Paul Hart has left the Premier League strugglers with immediate effect.

Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has publicly stated his desire to see former Chelsea manager Avram Grant take over the Portsmouth reins. Grant currently holds the position of director of football at Fratton Park, but following Paul Hart's departure, Redknapp hopes Grant will jump back into management.

Israelis advance in Europe, Scots do not...
A bit of what's bouncing around Butt's Brain in the past few days:

• How a soccer game survived a hijacking attempt. Big respect to most Celtic supporters for their actions during last week's Europa League match with (John Pantsil's former club) Hapoel Tel Aviv [Jerusalem Post]

• Avram Grant plans to raid Chelsea's bench for two players in January.

Hey, look out now, it's a must-win for Chelsea. Avram Grant returns to Stamford Bridge with his ragged Portsmouth outfit to open the holiday frenzy. The match may represent the club's first real must-win of the season. Sure, matches against the likes of Arsenal away, and Manchester City were vital in my view but, following this wretched run of four matches winless, I think the consensus view will be we must grab three points against the bottom feeders.

Redknapp looks to bring in yet another of his former Pompey charges.

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David James wants to rejoin Harry Redknapp at Tottenham to boost England chances
David James has indicated that he wants to leave Portsmouth for Harry Redknapp's Tottenham to cement his place as England's No 1 goalkeeper.

(Summary is not available.)

Poor Tony Adams, he can't even win the headlines on the day he loses his job. Why have Portsmouth taken the decision to sack Tony Adams after the Liverpool game? It is an ludicrous decision to sack a manager after losing to Liverpool at home and especially a week after the transfer window closed for [.

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The former De Graafschap, PSV, Fenerbahce, Valencia, Netherlands, Real Madrid, Real Betis, South Korea, and Australia manager, and tax evasion specialist - and current manager of Russia, has decided to take over at Chelsea on a temporary "caretaker" basis.

Sorry, had to. Well, it certainly looks like Roman got his man; the man he's seemingly wanted to spearhead the Chelsea revolution for so long. After Abramovich stumped up the cash to pay for Guus' fat contract as Russia's gaffer the Chelsea board asked permission to bring him into negotiations and Russian federation has given the [.

Gianfranco Zola 1, Mark Hughes 0

Liverpool v. Chelsea LIVE in the First Annual Head of John Arne Riise Commemorative Fixture. Just think: It was only one Liverpool/Chelsea Champions League cycle ago that John Arne Riise defiantly flung his body forward in the waning moments of a settled game, achieving a state of pure horizontal outstretch that seemed to last for hours before furiously butting the crown of his head against a not-very-dangerous ball, thus sending it directly into his own goal while the Kop looked on in horror.

Autor: Konstantino Tsibis
Sí, como acaban de leer en el titulo. Hoy, 9 de Febrero de 2009, Luiz Felipe Scolari fue despedido como entrenador del Chelsea después de 25 jornadas de la Premier League.
Después de la mala temporada que tuvo el Chelsea con Avram Grant, llegando a 3 finales y sin tener éxito en ninguna, se decidió despedir al entrenador israelí.

Avram Grant's going back to a place he should be comfortable at, while getting his old job back in the process. It's not the manager's position at Chelsea, but the Director of Football role at Portsmouth. With Abdullah Al Faraj now in control of...
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Avram Grant's going back to a place he should be comfortable at, while getting his old job back in the process. It's not the manager's position at Chelsea, but the Director of Football role at Portsmouth. With Abdullah Al Faraj now in control of...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more!

Avram Grant's going back to a place he should be comfortable at, while getting his old job back in the process. It's not the manager's position at Chelsea, but the Director of Football role at Portsmouth. With Abdullah Al Faraj now in control of...
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UPDATE: According to Jordan Cross at The News, Sulaiman Al Fahim admitted that he wants to sign Zamalek striker Amr Zaki and believes the club can, but its not his decision. He said,

"It's not my decision, it is up to Paul Hart and Avram Grant but I would like to see Amr Zaki .

UPDATE: According to Samm Audu at Goal.com, Zamalek striker Amr Zaki admitted that Portsmouth is no longer an option due to an Algerian presence. He said,

"I refused their offer before, but now joining Portsmouth is no longer an option for me .

Probably not very surprising news coming out from Fratton Park in the past few moments with the board stating that Paul Hart has been sacked after refusing to accept a position as a youth team manager at the club, offered by the board.

Portsmouth currently sit bottom of the league and narrowly lost out in the game against Stoke City at the weekend, with Ricardo Fuller scoring the decisive goal in a 1-0 game.

Struggling Portsmouth have tonight parted company with manager Paul Hart. Pompey currently find themselves bottom of the league and fell to a 1-0 defeat against Stoke at the weekend having missed an early penalty on their way to yet another loss. With limited resources to work with at Fratton Park and numerous behind the scenes problems many have praised Paul Hart for working under such difficult circumstances.

Avram Grant was the technical director at Portsmouth when he was hired by Roman Abramovich in 2007 as Chelsea's director of football. A few months later, Jose Mourinho was sacked and Grant was named Chelsea's manager.

In his return, he was appointed by Portsmouth as director of football in October 2009, and within a month is a frontrunner to succeed Phil Hart who was given his marching orders.

Paul Hart became the first Premier League manager to lose his job this season when he was fired by Portsmouth on Tuesday.

The 56-year-old Hart paid the price for Pompey's horrific start to the season, where they have been in last place all season.

Sunday's 1-0 defeat at Stoke was the last straw for the Pompey board who issued this statement:

"Paul has worked under very difficult circumstances with the financial restrictions the club has faced since he took over," said Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie.