Grant: We Deserve More Respect

Avram Grant wants to know what Chelsea must do in order to receive the respect he feels they deserve this season.

Chelsea are now just three points off the top of the Barclays Premier League, with a game in hand over second-placed Arsenal, whom they met at Stamford Bridge next weekend.

But manager Avram Grant still believes the Blues are unreasonably targeted by the media for criticism.

Saturday’s 1-0 victory at Sunderland maintained Chelsea’s challenge for a third Premier League title in four years. But unhappy Grant says there is myth being perpetuated about their so-called 'unattractive' style of football.

Grant insisted yet again that Chelsea are a big club, although it might be said that he doth protest too much - that the biggest clubs are widely recognised as such and do not feel the need to keep telling everyone that they are.

That, though, could reflect the relative unfamiliarity of Chelsea's situatuion - they became big overnight with the injection of Roman Abramovich's spending power. Yey although they may lack the trophy-laden heritage of Europe's traditional big guns (including their three English rivals, Liverpool, Manchester United and Arsenal), they have a record of success second to none in England over the last four seasons.

“Do I think that people have underestimated us? I think ‘yes’ in many ways,” Grant told The Sun.

“First in the games, the way we play and also in the behaviour of the club. We are a big club and sometimes we have difficulty.

“We behave like a big club and don’t go with wind.

“This is the situation we are in. We are near the end of the season and we are in a good position.”

Mark Hinton