To the victors the spoils, for the losers, a purge. For Avram Grant and Chelsea, the retreat from Moscow was about as cheerless as Napoleon’s in 1812, and like old “Boney”, Grant is headed for exile, aka Manchester City.

Condemned as a failure by his paymasters for finishing “only” second in both the Premier League and the European Cup, Grant’s contract was terminated yesterday. He leaves with his head held high, however, and will walk straight into another high-profile job. City, where Sven-Göran Eriksson is suffering a lingering death by a thousand cuts at the hands of owner Thaksin Shinawatra, see the Israeli as the man to lead them to the Champions League Promised Land. Shinawatra and his associates have been impressed not only by Grant’s results since replacing Jose Mourinho at Chelsea last September, but also by his quiet dignity. He gets on with the job with minimal fuss, never speaking out and biting the hand that feeds him, just what the capricious Thai autocrat needs. Eriksson is more mild-mannered than Clark Kent, but the stolid Swede is a firebrand in comparison with the sepulchral Grant, who guarantees his employers, and players, a quiet life.

What the two men have in common is that they are both capable managers, doing a good job unappreciated by money men whose demands are even bigger than their bank balances. That they both deserved a second season in which to build on promising starts is beyond question. Now, neither will get it.

Eriksson’s situation has had a good airing in recent weeks, since this newspaper revealed that he was to be sacked. At least he now knows one senior club he will not be joining. Benfica, with whom he has been linked, yesterday appointed Valencia’s former coach, the Spaniard Quique Sanchez Flores, as their manager. In Grant’s case, common sense, not to mention common decency, dictated that the rush to judgment should be delayed until the outcome of the domestic title race and Champions League final were known. If Chelsea had won both, it would have been impossible to be rid of the most successful manager in Chelsea history. Had they won one, the Brutus they call Peter Kenyon, the club chief executive, might have stayed his hand. Instead, they lost the league by one place and European glory on penalties. Grant was sacked last night.

As Petr Cech observed last week, Grant worked all season with players he inherited from Mourinho and deserved the opportunity to show what he could do with a team of his own making. Sir Alex Ferguson agreed, saying: “When Grant came to Chelsea, it was to help Mourinho. He was then thrust into the job at a difficult time. When a manager who has had big success leaves a club, he takes loyalties with him. That’s not easy for the next manager.”

Grant is not about to say anything inflammatory, at least not before agreeing severance compensation for his £2.8m-a-year contract which could cost Chelsea £9m, but would be entitled to point up the shortcomings of the signings made last summer. Mourinho had been denied the money to buy Kaka or Ronaldinho, and instead signed Steve Sidwell, Claudio Pizarro, Tal Ben Haim, Florent Malouda and Juliano Belletti. None has been a success. Excellent manager though he was, Mourinho was hardly infallible in the transfer market, and to the duds listed above can be added Khalid Boulahrouz, Asier Del Horno, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Mateja Kezman, Tiago and Jiri Jarosik, not forgetting Andriy Shevchenko [the last one was the owner’s fault, but the point is valid].

Grant was nevertheless bequeathed some marvel-lous material, a squad powerful enough to challenge on all fronts, which Chelsea duly did. It is to his credit that Grant coaxed more out of Michael Ballack than Mourinho was ever able to do. He also brought about a resurgence in Claude Makelele, whom Mourinho had wanted to move on, and showed faith, albeit largely misplaced, in Malouda. On the debit side, he allowed senior players such as Ballack, John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba too much influence, thereby undermining his own authority. There were several public displays of disrespect, with Ballack and Drogba ignoring instructions and even refusing to be substituted, and a stronger personality than Grant would have insisted somebody other than a centre-half take the potentially decisive penalty in Moscow. The revelation that Nicolas Anelka could refuse to take one is typical of manager and player and should spell the end of “Le Sulk’s” brief and ill-starred spell with the club.

Owner Roman Abramovich would say, if he could ever be persuaded to comment, that the attractive, flowing football allegedly behind Grant’s surprise appointment never really materialised. Chelsea continued to play in Mourinho’s pragmatic image, but they did have their moments, notably when thrashing Manchester City 6-0, seeing off Liverpool in the Champions League and beating Manchester United to throw open the title race last month.

In Moscow last Wednesday they were as close as it is possible to get to European glory in a top-class final. For longer than we care to remember, the Fourth Estate have had to bear condescending put-downs from our Continental cousins, deriding the lack of sophistication in English “kick and rush”. What a lovely turnabout, then, to have Italy’s La Repubblica trumpet: “European club football showed its strengths - class, tactical strategy and balance.”

Lest we forget, Chelsea might easily have won. United dominated the first 45 minutes, but Grant’s team hit back strongly, twice rattling the framework of Edwin Van der Sar’s goal, and the outcome of the shootout might have been different had not Drogba got himself sent off, thus precluding him from taking a penalty. Terry stepped up in his place and it all ended in tears, which was hard on Cech, Ballack and Lampard, who were outstanding throughout, not to mention on Grant. Whither now for the boys in blue?

Grant to Eastlands, it seems, and Chelsea back to the drawing board. A mass exodus of players is predicted, with Drogba leading the way and Shevchenko and Anelka not far behind. More significantly, it remains to be seen whether Lampard will commit to a new contract or head off to Italy. Mourinho would love to take the England midfielder to Internazionale, as soon as the Special One gets the job in Milan, but indicating that he was leaning towards staying on, Lampard said: “We’ve been an inch away from winning the Champions League and we pushed all the way in the Premier League. It is important the club realise what we have done and that we improve a bit to get back to winning ways, like when we won two titles in a row.”

Others deemed surplus to requirements probably include Wright-Phillips, Ben Haim, Belletti, Sidwell, Malouda, Pizarro, Makelele, Salomon Kalou and Wayne Bridge. The team’s most pressing need is for a reliable right-back - midfielder Michael Essien played there in Moscow and looked lost, especially when Cristiano Ronaldo evaded him to score. Jose Bosingwa has been bought from Porto for £16m to have first crack next season. In attack, Real Madrid are talking of selling Robinho to Chelsea for £28m and there is also keen interest in Valencia’s David Villa and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar of Ajax. In midfield, the vacancy on the left is likely to go to young Gio-vanni dos Santos, of Barcelona.

For the time being, however, interest centres on the managerial succession. There was talk yesterday of a rapprochement between Abramovich and Mourinho but the thaw does not extend anywhere near a reappointment. Genuine candidates include Frank Rijkaard, a European Cup-winning coach leaving Barcelona after five years, Guus Hiddink, who Abramovich would rather continue to subsi-dise as Russia coach, and Roberto Mancini, whose future at Inter Milan is clouded by Mourinho. Eriksson is a rank outsider. A Brit? Probably not, but what price Mark Hughes, the Stamford Bridge old boy, in partnership with Gianfranco Zola? The punters would love that.

Going, going, gone...

IN THE DEPARTURE LOUNGE

Didier Drogba

Good times Scored the winner in the 2007 FA Cup final Bad times Let the side down by being sent off in Moscow

THINKING THINGS OVER

Frank Lampard

Good times Scored in the Champions League final Bad times Two disappointing seasons may see him seek a fresh start

HEADING FOR THE EXIT?

Nicolas Anelka

Good times Looked promising on arrival, but marginalised after Drogba returned from African Cup of Nations duty Bad times Penalty miss cost Chelsea the European Cup

Wayne Bridge

Good times Dumped Arsenal out of the Champions League quarterfinal in 2004 Bad times Rarely hit top form since

Shaun Wright-Phillips

Good times Inspired Carling Cup semifinal win over Everton Bad times Never more than a fringe player

Steve Sidwell

Good times Scored just the one goal ... in a 4-0 Carling Cup win over Hull Bad times Hasn’t started a match since February

Florent Malouda

Good times Goal against Man United on his debut Bad times Flop in Moscow

Claude Makelele

Good times The midfield heart of Jose Mourinho’s Premier League winners Bad times Tormented by Ronaldo in Wednesday’s fi nal

Juliano Belletti

Good times Scored Chelsea’s goal of the season against Tottenham Bad times Upset at being left out in Moscow

Claudio Pizarro

Good times Scored a debut goal in the 3-2 win over Birmingham Bad times Only one goal since

Andriy Shevchenko

Good times Debut goal against Liverpool in Community Shield Bad times Just 22 goals in two years

Tal Ben Haim

Good times Chelsea went unbeaten in his fi rst fi ve games Bad times A training-ground collision with Petr Cech left the goalkeeper needing 50 facial stitches in April

Salomon Kalou

Good times Four goals in seven games in March 2007 Bad times Not asked to take a penalty in Russia