One response from Avram Grant said it all. Asked if he regarded himself as a Special One, the new Chelsea head coach answered with a humility that confirmed Roman Abramovich has appointed a very different personality to Jose Mourinho.

”I am a normal person,” said Grant at his first press conference in his new role. “I have my own philosophy but I respect everything that Jose Mourinho has achieved for this club. He made a lot of success and things were good but I believe I can make them better.”

Such was the tone that Grant adopted throughout. Dressed down in a club tracksuit, contrasting the sharp Mourinho-style suits, he offered not one memorable soundbite, made no grand prediction and endeavoured to show due deference to the man he had replaced.

Three years of interview-theatre at Chelsea have clearly ended and, if the players can realise the Israeli’s belief that the first responsibility for a team is to play pleasing football, the only drama in the Grant era will take place on the Stamford Bridge turf. As the former Israel national coach said, “We need to fight for the trophies but the way we do it is important. Football is also entertainment.”

That much of the conference focused on his predecessor helped Grant today. Eventually, though, reporters tired of demanding the truth behind the ’mutual agreement’ that led to Mourinho’s departure and questioned the Israeli’s suitability for his new job.

How, one asked, can a coach who has not managed a side in a major European league or international tournament adequately replace a manager who twice won the Premier League? More pertinently, can a man who has coached a team in only six Champions League qualifiers and never in the group stage return two European Cups in six seasons - the requirement that Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, confirmed the club expect?

”Maybe yes, maybe no,” replied Grant with a shrug, a purse of the lips and not a flicker of emotion from his hangdog eyes. “I have been in football for 20 years and coached at many levels I think I have enough experience.”

So, will a man of such experience bow to the will of an owner who many suspect wants a controlling hand in first-team affairs? “Look, I am a person with my own view,” he said. “I will take all the decisions for good and for bad. If he wants to pick the team, it’s not...,” and there the sentence ended, though you guessed it’s meaning.