He won’t have heard of him, but Avram Grant - or Average Grant, as his players call him - is earning a reputation as the footballing equivalent of cricket’s Graeme Hick. A flat-track bully. Under Grant’s minimalist management, Chelsea routinely make short work of the likes of Derby [6-1], West Ham [4-0] and Manchester City [6-0], but fall short in the big games, such as the Carling Cup final, where they lost to Spurs, and in top-of-the-table combat with Arsenal [0-1] and Manchester United [0-2].

In the Premier League, Chelsea are unbeaten in 13 matches since their defeat at the Emirates on December 16, and dogged tenacity has brought them back into the title race after they had seemed to be out of it three weeks ago. Grant, however, needs to start winning the big ones, beginning at home to Arsenal this afternoon, if his team are to overhaul the top two, and if he is not forever to be compared unfavourably with his chalk-and-cheese predecessor, Jose Mourinho.

In the second half of the season the feeling has grown that Grant’s management is as dour and uninspiring as his lugubrious mien, and that he says so little because he has so little to say. The CV he brought to the job was modest, at best, and the players were unimpressed and in show-us-your-medals mode from day one. Grant’s behaviour at the Carling Cup final, when he made no attempt to rally Chelsea before extra time, shocked his employers and disappointed all concerned. His team selection and substitutions that day, and throughout the season, have been in stark contrast to Mourinho’s clever rotation and habit of transforming games with radical changes of personnel.

Didier Drogba was at first baffled and then incensed by the substitutions Grant made during the 4-4 draw at Tottenham in midweek, when the man of the match, Joe Cole, was withdrawn in favour of Michael Ballack and Alex was brought on in place of Salomon Kalou, to play as a sweeper – a defensive system with which the team is not familiar. It was not the first time Grant’s charges have had cause for complaint. The players tell a tale from the Champions League tie away to Olympiakos in mid-February, when the poverty of Chelsea’s performance in a sterile goalless draw caused consternation on the bench. “We’ve got to get Frank Lampard on,” Grant was told. “Yes, who for?” the manager said, turning to his coaching staff.

“Ballack,” said Henk ten Cate. “Essien,” said Steve Clarke. Grant then took an eternity making up his mind and, to Lampard’s disgust, the change [Ballack went off] was delayed until the 86th minute, much too late to have the desired effect. The omission of Joe Cole from the Carling Cup final was contentious – a decision Grant tried to justify, dubiously, on Friday by suggesting that the England midfielder had needed to work harder, something he was now doing. “Joe now covers up to 11km per game,” he said. “If I think a player needs to run more, I show him the statistics.” It is the first time that Cole, enthusiasm personified, has ever been accused of laziness.

Embarrassment at Barnsley in the FA Cup further diminished the morose Israeli’s standing in the dressing room and with the fans, and although nobody at the club is prepared to say so, he needs to win something this season to save his job, with covetous eyes being cast towards Barcelona’s Frank Rijkaard.

Grant would be transformed from Mr Average to the dog’s wotsits, of course, if he could bring home either the domestic title or the European Cup, both of which are attainable. Fenerbahce over two legs amounts to a gimme in the Champions League quarter-finals, and victory over Arsenal today would open an avenue to the Premier League, with Manchester United at home still to come [April 26]. At the moment, the force is very much with United, the current leaders, who are looking to confirm their primacy with victory at home to the old enemy, Liverpool, this afternoon.

That result will be known by the time Chelsea and Arsenal meet, and anything other than a win for United would provide London’s finest with a massive incentive. Arsenal, who were five points clear four weeks ago, have hit a wall at the worst possible juncture, with four successive draws against relatively undemanding opposition [Birmingham, Aston Villa, Wigan and Middlesbrough], and need to improve dramatically on that form if they are to get back to winning ways on a ground where Chelsea are unbeaten in 77 league games. Arsène Wenger and his players will draw encouragement from events at White Hart Lane last Wednesday, when the team with the best defensive record in the Champions League [only two goals conceded in eight games] twice let slip two-goal leads in shipping four against Tottenham, but Spurs are currently more likely to inflict that sort of damage than Arsenal, for whom Emmanuel Adebayor has suddenly stopped scoring.

Grant sought to put a positive spin on the 4-4 draw, pointing out that Chelsea had scored 15 times in their past four league games. “We did a good job until the Carling Cup final and it was important to see what happened afterwards,” he said. “The reaction was very good. We scored many goals. I don’t think anybody could say Chelsea have been boring this year. I think we are an exciting team, playing good football. It’s no secret that we set out to play in a more attacking style. We are going the right way and if we continue it will be a big success.”

Questioned about his record in big games, he countered that Mourinho had not managed to beat United or Arsenal last season. “We drew all four matches,” he said.

Wenger, too, was stretching credibility on Friday when he claimed: “Everyone says we are not winning, and we had a little dip, but we’re over that now.” Really? On what evidence? Arsenal’s last result was a scrambled 1-1 at home to Middlesbrough. No matter, their manager said: “I believe we will win [the league] in the end because we are the most consistent team.” Really? Four draws on the bounce is hardly the sort of consistency that wins titles. More convincingly, Wenger added: “It is fantastic to be in this position in March because nobody expected us to be in contention at the start of the season. To win the league we need to beat Chelsea. Even then they will not be out of it because they still have Man United to play. What we have to do is get back the speed of our passing around the box. That’s when we can be lethal.”

Grant admires Wenger’s football, but sees no reason to replicate it. “All over the world, people want to watch Arsenal – me too,” he said. “But a big club like Chelsea don’t need to copy how Arsenal or Barcelona play. Of course we want to provide entertainment, but our supporters have enjoyed Chelsea this season and like what we’re doing.” Was he saying he deserved more credit? “What is praise?” he asked, with a sardonic smile. He’ll find out if he wins today.

Don’t worry, Ashley, the fine won’t hurt

Even before Wednesday’s Ashley Cole-Mike Riley incident, Chelsea had a history of intimidating referees. But it hasn’t hurt them in the wallet...

APRIL 2006 Mark Halsey is surrounded after West Brom’s Ronnie Wallwork’s tackle on Claude Makelele Fine £10,000 Cost to players A good night out at San Lorenzo

MAY 2006 Following the dismissal of William Gallas in the defeat against Fulham, assistant referee Andy Williams is surrounded Fine £10,000 Cost to players An evening’s Cristal

MARCH 2007 The Carling Cup win is marred by a brawl the FA describes as ‘unacceptable and damaging’ Fine £100,000 Cost to players Equivalent to one man’s weekly wage

OCTOBER 2007 Grant’s fi rst match in charge sees his team censured for their reaction to referee Mike Dean’s decision to send off Jon Obi Mikel Fine £30,000 Cost to players Plastic surgery for wife/girlfriend/mistress

JANUARY 2008 Blues captain John Terry and others round on referee Andre Marriner after Michael Essien is sent off against Derby Fine £40,000 Cost to player Less than a third of John Terry’s weekly wage

TV match Chelsea v Arsenal

Today, Sky Sports 1, 3.30pm, kick-off 4pm. Highlights, Match of the Day 2, BBC2, 10pm