Avram Grant launched a staunch defence of his eight-month reign at Chelsea yesterday, arguing that if he had been in charge for the entire season they would have won the Barclays Premier League.

In his first public appearance since being sacked as first-team coach on Saturday, Grant delivered a lecture to a Uefa coaching seminar in Tel Aviv, saying that he had changed the club's public perception and made them more entertaining. “For the last three months nobody said Chelsea were a boring team,” Grant said. “If we'd have played like that in the first three months we'd have won the title. When I joined, the club said I was a part of the club's future and my future wasn't dependent on winning trophies.

“One of my achievements was to change the environment of the club and also how people from the outside perceived it. My goal I set myself was at least to be in the Champions League final. It's not possible that a club that invested so much money couldn't reach the final.”

Grant, who reiterated that he had turned down the opportunity to revert to his former role as director of football, insisted that he remains on good terms with everyone at Chelsea, including Roman Abramovich, the owner. “My appointment was a decision of one person, Roman Abramovich,” Grant said. “For that reason I felt each training session and match was a cup final. Roman gave me the opportunity and what I had to say to him was that I love the club and now each of us goes his own way. It was a great time, I breathed the club 24 hours a day. More than this, I enjoyed the development of the club and, towards the end, the supporters, who were great. I understand the initial hesitancy over my appointment, but I'm happy that we ended up in this way.”

Chelsea say that they will honour the terms of Grant's contract, which included a severance clause believed to be six months' wages, approximately £1.2million.