Pressure firmly back in Grant's corner

THEY SAY that when you stand at the point just outside the gates of the Kremlin from which all distances from the capital are measured, throw a coin over your shoulder and make a wish then it's sure to be granted. If he's at all superstitious, Avram Grant might well have had Chelsea's bus driver stop there on the way back to the airport yesterday morning.

Barely was he through the tunnel after Wednesday's game than he was being asked again about his future and in the wake of Chelsea's failure, no matter how heroic, to beat Manchester United to either the Premier or Champions League titles this year, there is a fairly widespread expectation he will be shunted back upstairs at Stamford Bridge in order to make way for somebody regarded as better capable of delivering the game's biggest prizes.

That Grant failed to deliver any rather undermines his claim this was a "terrific season" for the club but his own position would have been at least marginally improved had the team even beaten Tottenham in February to lift the League Cup, as Jose Mourinho had done during his first season in charge.

Still, the steady improvement in the team's performances, culminating in a strong display here in Moscow have persuaded most observers and many of his players that a stint that began with one defeat by United back in September should not be ended by another. It is not, however, his narrow failures of the recent past that will probably cost him the manager's job but rather the enduring doubts about his ability to handle the squad's immediate future.

Though Frank Lampard sounded a little more convincing in the wake of Wednesday's defeat that he would soon be holding serious talks about a new deal, Didier Drogba's long, lonely walk to the tunnel after being sent off in the Luzhniki Stadium will probably be his last appearance in the club's colours. The hugely combative Ivorian has been a key figure for the club since arriving from France and supporters might well argue that had he been fit and available throughout this season then the league might have been won.

That his rash strike on Nemanja Vidic towards the end of extra time on Wednesday meant home-grown hero and club captain John Terry had to take a penalty ahead of schedule may take some of the sting out of striker's departure for some fans.

Drogba has made no secret of his dislike for Grant but is probably a lost cause even if the coach is replaced. Ricardo Carvalho, Petr Cech and Michael Essien, though, are amongst the other big names to be linked with moves away and while the coach has received public support from certain members of the squad and generous tributes this week from Alex Ferguson, it is far from clear that he commands sufficient loyalty to keep the nucleus of the team together.

Even if he managed that much, though, several players will have to be brought in as peripheral figures like Andriy Shevchenko, Shaun Wright-Phillips and possibly Juliano Belletti make way. Grant's rather dour personality may prove a stumbling block when it comes to persuading really world-class players to come while the impact made by his only major recruit to date - Nicolas Anelka - may not have done much to persuade Roman Abramovich that the former Israel boss is the best man to spend his money.

After spells when Frank Rijkaard and Guus Hiddink were endlessly linked with the job, Milan boss Carlo Ancelotti is the current favourite to be lured to west London and while the Italian has denied the reports so did the other two only for it to emerge later they had been approached.

Grant could be forgiven for quietly wishing it would all just end, as when he was asked on Wednesday night whether the Chelsea team should go to church together so as to ensure greater European success in the future.

The 53-year-old will know, however, that if he is not in charge of Chelsea next season then he is unlikely to manage at this level again. And in the wake of Wednesday's agonisingly narrow defeat, perhaps, the only silver lining is that the man Abramovich would probably most like to hire just now is unlikely to be leaving Manchester.