What had started as a disastrous week for Chelsea finally ended on a happier note for Avram Grant and his team, with yesterday’s 4-0 win at West Ham. Twenty four hours earlier, the Israeli manager’s calm exterior had finally given way to a rare display of emotion as he caustically chided the media for failing to show him sufficient respect, during Friday’s press briefing.

After overseeing a better than expected start - just three defeats in 37 games in charge – following the turmoil of Jose Mourinho’s departure in September, Grant had to face the backlash that followed the dismal Carling Cup final defeat to Spurs last Sunday. Whether yesterday’s emphatic win will silence the critics and end the speculation around the club in the past few days remains to be seen.

It is understood that Grant, who signed a new four-year contract in December, will be given until the end of the season to prove that he can find the right blend for the luxury ingredients at his disposal. Wednesday’s home Champions League clash with Olympiakos is now crucial to his survival, though informed sources believe he won’t necessarily be kicked out of the club. As a friend and ally of Roman Abramovich, a return to the director of football role for which he was originally hired last summer is a strong possibility.

Senior club figures were as dismayed as supporters by Grant’s hands-off leadership style at Wembley, which, combined with poor results against the big guns – Chelsea have not even scored a goal in key games against Arsenal, Manchester United, Liver-pool and Olympiakos - and a lack of tactical flexibility, have set alarm bells ringing. There is also concern about how much respect he commands from the likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack. Only John Terry shook the manager’s hand in the immediate aftermath of the Spurs defeat.

Grant got solid results against all but the top sides when he didn’t have the full squad at his disposal. But the test of his skills at player rotation is now, with no shadow of Mourinho to hide behind, no casualty lists and no African Cup of Nations. As one Chelsea source says: “For three months Grant didn’t have to make any decisions. His team was picked for him.”

Joe Cole, Alex, Ballack and Claude Makelele had particularly good reason to be disappointed at being left out of the Wembley starting lineup and one of the manager’s main tasks now is how best to ensure bruised egos don’t collide. Attention has focused this week on Chelsea attempting to lure Frank Rijkaard in the summer but the name of another big hitter continues to surface: Guus Hiddink. When assistant first-team coach Henk ten Cate was interviewed for the post last autumn he was asked if he would be willing to work with his fellow Dutchman.

There are also issues involving the backroom staff and the players. Steve Clarke, who has been part of the coaching set-up for nearly a decade and was rewarded with a new contract to serve as a bridge between the Mourinho and Grant regimes, still runs training sessions, but feels he is being sidelined by Ten Cate, whose chief responsibility is to formulate tactics and systems for matches.

There is also unease about the long-term futures of Alist players. Should Mourinho get a job at a top European club, as seems inevitable, the Portuguese is likely to target a cabal of senior players who served him so well at Stamford Bridge, chiefly Drogba, Lampard, Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Essien.

Even without Mourinho stealing the cream, the unsettled Drogba is certain to move on and so are Steve Sidwell, Tal Ben-Haim and Claudio Pizarro, last summer’s free transfers. Lampard only has another year on his contract at the end of this season and, although publicly he says he wants to stay, privately he is ready for a new challenge. There have been enquiries from the Continent’s leading clubs but they have been put off by Lampard’s salary demands. The mid-fielder might guarantee 20 goals a season but he is 30 in June and believed to want a hike from his current wage of £100,000 a week to around £130,000 a week.

Chelsea’s recent buys have been disappointing. The jury is out on Nicolas Anelka and the other new boy, Branislav Ivanovic, but only Alex can be judged to have been a success of the eight players who have come through in the past two transfer markets. Florent Malouda, particularly, has underperfomed and failed to provide the spark Arjen Robben once offered.

There are also question marks about how united the squad is on and off the pitch. Grant has deliberately distanced himself from Mourinho with his understated persona but, if anything, the football is of lower quality without the togetherness. Should Chelsea be eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday - and victory against a limited Olympiakos side is far from guaranteed - the club’s best and perhaps only hope of a trophy this season would be the FA Cup. A very winnable quarter-final trip to Barnsley awaits next Saturday, but the Championship giant-killers will relish the prospect of turning over another fat cat.

Capello’s verdict

After losing in the Carling Cup final Chelsea will be determined and this game will be extremely difficult for Olympiakos. It’s good for Chelsea that they now have Drogba and Essien back after the African Cup of Nations.