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The man in the spotlight has truly been a tragic hero. A man who has just about reached every possible epitome of triumph and glory,only to fall off from the final hurdle. He is none other than the ex-Chelsea, ex-Portsmouth and now the West Ham manager. He is Avram Grant. Now,before you start fuming about my bizarre choice of a tragic hero, I would request you to kindly go through the full article and let me justify my rather ‘unconventional claim’.
The classical definition of a tragic hero reads thus-“The tragic hero is a man of noble stature. He is not an ordinary man, but a man with outstanding quality and greatness about him. His own destruction is for a greater cause or principle.”
Well, I would like to differ and go with the more modified and the modern version proposed by a certain Jay Gatsby and Willy Lowman-“The modern hero, it seems, does not necessarily have to be of a high estate – but rather an ‘ordinary person’. The new tragic hero is kind of a ‘anti-hero’”.
Doesn’t it sound more like Grant now? The “anti-hero” and an “ordinary person”!! That’s exactly what he has been through out his managerial career so far. Hasn’t he? Born in Israel, he started his modest managerial career as the youth coach of Hapoel Petah Tikva at the tender age of 18. Citing his amazing work as a youth coach, he was promoted to the TOP-JOB in 1992. He led his team to become one of the elite clubs of Israeli football and soon managed to give fierce competition to the monopoly of the more celebrated and fancied team of Maccabi Haifa. But what followed was the start of one of the most incredible stories of “luck-less” managerial career. In his last season in Petah Tikva, Grant lost both the championship and the Israel State Cup within a gap of just 3 days to Maccabi Haifa. An incident which was later famously called as the ‘The Double Robbery‘!!
After a few brief spells in smaller clubs,Grant moved to Maccabi Haifa in 2000.There, he led the team to great success, winning the Israeli Premier League in 2001 and 2002, as well as the Toto Cup in 2002, whilst narrowly missing out on the Israeli Cup, to miss winning the treble.He also guided his team to the UEFA Champions League Qualifier where he had a very memorable win over the Finnish Club of FC Haka on both the legs with a final aggregate of 5-0.But “Luck” was something that had always deserted him! In a rather bizarre and careless incident,Maccabi were denied a chance to play in the group stages. The introduction of Walid Badir (a player who was on suspension)as a sub on the dyeing minutes of the second leg, paved their way to disqualification.
In 2002,Grant was made the national coach of Israel. And as if all of the above incidents weren’t enough,Israel failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup Finals despite remaining undefeated in all the 10 group matches. Many teams probably have played a lot worse and have still managed to qualify for the World Cup Finals (A faint reference to France)
In 2007, Grant reached his career’s pinnacle as he was made the manager of Chelsea after the untimely departure of the “Special one” Jose Mourinho (Now that’s a bit of good luck,you may say). After the initial stick from the Chelsea fans and players(due to his evident lack of experience in the highest level),he guided Chelsea to the Carling Cup Final, kept them in the title race and more importantly managed to qualify Chelsea in the champions league final- a feat that even the Special One could not achieve.
But there you go again! Chelsea lost the Carling Cup Final to Tottenham courtesy of an extra time winner by Woodgate. They lost the EPL title to Manchester United on the final day. And things got worse when Manchester United again got the better of Chelsea in the Champions League Final in a heart-breaking penalty shootout after John Terry missed probably the most important penalty kick in the history of Chelsea Football Club. Grant’s contract was, as a result, terminated.
Ironically,Grant was just a kick away from conquering Europe in 2008 but since then he has never spent more than just ONE week above the dreaded relegation zone with both the clubs he has managed after Chelsea.
In 2009, he was made the manager of bottom club-Portsmouth. A club trapped in off-field and financial problems, he inspired the side to a memorable FA Cup Final but there again he was beaten by his former Club Chelsea after Jerome Boateng missed a penalty that would have given Portsmouth the crucial lead on the hour mark.
Its not just about the losses but the manner in which he has managed to find the most heart-breaking of ways to falter in the final hurdles,is what amazes me the most!!
Portsmouth got relegated and Grant resigned. Now he is with West Ham United. Having won the first leg of the Carling Cup semifinal, he has his one foot in the final. But what has concerned the owners is their poor run in the league where they are languishing in the relegation table.
With yet another possible Cup final in touching distance, will Grant be able to defy all odds? Or will it be the same old ‘Avram Grant Story’ again? Well,It remains to be seen. I doubt whether he will be able to turn around his fortunes.
A little too late perhaps.
But something deep inside me compels me to think there must be a poetic ending to this tale somewhere. After all, you can never count out the possibilities in this beautiful game of football.
