Grant could return to Chelsea

London: Rafael Bentez believes he retains the support of the Chelsea owner, Roman Abramovich, despite seeing his team endure a third winless match under his interim management at West Ham on Saturday, though the oligarch could yet offer Avram Grant a consultative role back at the club if results continue to deteriorate.

The loss at Upton Park extended Chelsea’s winless run in the Premier League to seven matches, their worst sequence since 1995, with Abramovich understood to have been infuriated by his players’ second-half capitulation. There are concerns that Bentez, who remains the subject of intense hostility from the club’s fans given his long-standing ties with Liverpool, has been unable to spark an immediate upturn in the side’s form with the Londoners now 10 points behind Manchester United in the title race.

While there is no great desire to instigate further upheaval within the coaching set-up following the abrupt dismissal of Roberto Di Matteo less than a fortnight ago, Chelsea will consider more changes to their staff if results do not improve swiftly. To that end the possible reappointment of Grant who had briefly been considered as an alternative to Bentez when the board deemed Di Matteo’s time to be up in an advisory role to assist the Spaniard has been discussed by the hierarchy.

The Israeli’s return to the club would represent further antagonising an increasingly disillusioned fanbase, though that he is under consideration reflects the chaos currently gripping the European champions. Grant, a personal friend of Abramovich and previously the club’s director of football, had controversially replaced Jos Mourinho as manager in the autumn of 2007 and went on to steer the team to the League Cup and, most notably, Champions League finals only to lose them both. His contract was terminated in the wake of the defeat to Manchester United in Moscow on penalties, with Grant later claiming he had turned down the chance to revert to his former position as director of football.

The 57-year-old has remained on good terms with Abramovich since and spent time in charge at Portsmouth, West Ham and Partizan Belgrade, but is currently available and in London having delayed a trip back to his home in Tel Aviv. While Grant has not been contacted formally over any potential involvement at Chelsea, it is understood he would be willing to take up an advisory role if the club came calling, though the specifics of any such position are as yet unclear.

Bentez brought in Xavi Valero, Paco de Miguel and Bolo Zenden upon his appointment on a seven-month contract 11 days ago, though Zenden, nominally his No2, is still to secure all his Uefa coaching badges and cannot enter the technical area during games. The interim manager admitted on Saturday he “cannot be 100% sure” he will see out his short-term contract, the 52-year-old has called for more time to make his own impact felt having benefited to date from only a handful of training sessions and three winless matches in a cluttered schedule.

Bentez has confirmed there were angry words exchanged by staff and players in the dressing room after the frustrating 3-1 reverse at Upton Park, but reaffirmed his belief that he can arrest the side’s slump in form. Indeed, having spoken face to face with Abramovich after his first two games in charge, against Manchester City and Fulham, and again at the club’s Cobham training base last week, as well as attending a board meeting last Thursday, he is confident he still benefits from the owner’s immediate support.

Bentez will hope to register a first win against Nordsjaelland in Chelsea’s final Champions League group game on Wednesday, though even victory over the Danes may not be enough to force passage into the knock-out phase. Should Juventus avoid defeat against Shakhtar Donetsk then Chelsea will be consigned to the Europa League, a reality they would still be digesting as they depart for the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan immediately after Saturday’s trip to Sunderland. Both John Terry and Frank Lampard will be on that flight to Tokyo with the pair due to play some part in training on Monday as they step up their recoveries from knee and calf injuries respectively.