Avram Grant אברם גרנט
Personal information
Full name	Avraham Grant
Date of birth	May 4, 1955 (1955-05-04) (age 53)
Place of birth	Petah Tikva, Israel
Teams managed
1986–1991 1991–1995 1995–1996 1996–2000 2000–2002 2002–2006 2007–2008	Hapoel Petah Tikva Maccabi Tel Aviv Hapoel Haifa Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Haifa Israel Chelsea
* Appearances (Goals)

Avraham "Avram" Grant (Hebrew: אברהם "אברם" גרנט‎; born Avraham Granat on 4 May 1955 in Petah Tikva, Israel) is an Israeli association football manager, most recently at Chelsea Football Club. Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) Petah Tikva (פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה "Opening of Hope" known as Em HaMoshavot ("Mother of the Moshavot " is a city in the For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Hapoel Petah Tikva is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is an Israeli Association football club part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv sports club. Hapoel Haifa Football Club is an Israeli Football club located in Haifa. Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is an Israeli Association football club part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv sports club. Maccabi Haifa Football Club (מועדון הכדורגל מכבי חיפה Moadon HaKaduregel Maccabi Haifa) is an Israeli football club and one of the leading football The Israeli National Football Team (נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל is the national football team of Israel and is controlled by the Israel Football Association Events 1256 - The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) Petah Tikva (פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה "Opening of Hope" known as Em HaMoshavot ("Mother of the Moshavot " is a city in the Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Coach (baseball|Coach (basketball|Coach (ice hockeyIn Sports a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction instruction and training of the operations Grant has spent the majority of his career coaching and managing in Israel, winning a number of national league and cup victories with different teams, and also managing the national team for a time. The Israeli National Football Team (נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל is the national football team of Israel and is controlled by the Israel Football Association

Grant moved to England in 2006 to become Technical Director of Portsmouth F.C. before being appointed Director of Football at Chelsea F.C. in July 2007. Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the south coast city of Portsmouth. Two months later, in September 2007, and following the departure of José Mourinho, Grant was appointed manager of Chelsea,and after getting the team into the final of Champions League,final of the Carling Cup and fighting the Premier League title to the last day ,he was still sacked because he didn't win any trophies. José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho, GOIH (ʒuˈzɛ moˈɾiɲu (born 26 January 1963 in Setúbal) is a Portuguese ^[1]

Career

Israel

Grant's professional coaching career started at age 18, in 1972, as youth coach of his home-town team, Hapoel Petah Tikva. Hapoel Petah Tikva is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. In 1986, After a 14-year spell in this job, he was promoted to first team coach, leading the club to two Toto Cup victories, in 1990 and 1991, thus bringing Hapoel Petah Tikva back to the top of Israeli football after nearly 25 years. The Toto Cup (גביע הטוטו is a minor cup competition in Israeli football but nevertheless carries the highest annual prize During this era Petah Tikva fought regularly for the championship against Shlomo Sharf's Maccabi Haifa. Shlomo Scharf ( Hebrew: שלמה שרף was an Israeli football manager. Maccabi Haifa Football Club (מועדון הכדורגל מכבי חיפה Moadon HaKaduregel Maccabi Haifa) is an Israeli football club and one of the leading football In his last season in Petah Tikva, Grant lost both the championship and the Israel State Cup within 3 days to Maccabi Haifa, in a chain of events which is commonly known in Israel as "the Double robbery". The State Cup (גביע המדינה Gvia HaMedina) is the second most important tournament in Israeli football after Ligat ha'Al the top division The Double is a term in football, which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season ^[2] The next year the club won its first major title in 30 years, by winning its second-ever Israeli cup.

The following season Grant moved to coach Maccabi Tel Aviv winning the Ligat ha'Al in his first season with them, with a 13-point advantage over the second place team. Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is an Israeli Association football club part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv sports club. Maccabi Tel Aviv lost out closely in the final of the Israeli cup and was thus denied a historic double. The cup was won by Maccabi Tel Aviv under Grant's control, however, in 1994, followed with another Ligat ha'Al championship in 1995.

Following this, Grant moved to Hapoel Haifa for what has been described as a short and unsuccessful spell, finishing fourth in the Israeli championship. Hapoel Haifa Football Club is an Israeli Football club located in Haifa. Grant returned to Maccabi Tel Aviv between 1997 and 2000, although this period was less successful than his previous one at the club, winning just the Toto Cup in 1999.

Grant moved to Maccabi Haifa in 2000, where he coached until 2002. Maccabi Haifa Football Club (מועדון הכדורגל מכבי חיפה Moadon HaKaduregel Maccabi Haifa) is an Israeli football club and one of the leading football There, he led the team to great success, winning the Ligat ha'Al 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. In 2001 the club participated in the 2nd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League competition against the Finnish team FC Haka. See also List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winners The UEFA Champions League, which evolved from the European Champion Clubs' Cup is a seasonal club FC Haka is a Finnish football club based in the industry town of Valkeakoski. Despite winning both legs (1-0 and 4-0) with an aggregate score of 5-0 the club did not progress further. The use of Walid Badir as a substitute in the final ten minutes of the second leg while under suspension caused disqualification on the grounds of "culpable negligence" and FC Haka proceeded to the next round against Liverpool FC. Liverpool Football Club are an English professional Association football club based in Liverpool England. ^[3]

Israeli national team

After leaving Haifa in 2002, Grant became the youngest team coach of Israel, replacing the former Denmark coach Richard Møller Nielsen. The Israeli National Football Team (נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל is the national football team of Israel and is controlled by the Israel Football Association The Kingdom of Denmark ( ˈd̥ænmɑɡ̊ (archaic ˈd̥anmɑːɡ̊ commonly known as Denmark, is a country in the Scandinavian region of northern Europe Richard Møller Nielsen (born 19 August 1937) nick-named Richardo, is a Danish former Football (soccer player and football manager The team participated in Group 1 of the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying round but finished third and so did not take part in the finals in Portugal. The finals of the UEFA Euro 2004, were held in Portugal between 12 June and 4 July 2004.

Although not qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Israel finished third in their qualifying group behind winners France and runners-up Switzerland. The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th instance of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament In the qualification process for the 2006 FIFA World Cup started with the preliminary draw held in Zurich in December 2003 197 teams from the six FIFA confederations were allocated Listed below are the dates and results for the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds for UEFA teams The French national football team represents the nation of France in international football. The Swiss national football team (also known as the Schweizer Nati in German La Nati in French is the national football team of Switzerland Israel missed on qualification to the finals, despite remaining undefeated in the group with four wins and six draws.

Management style

Grant is known in Israel for giving a chance to young players in almost every club he coached, such as Alon Hazan and goalkeeper Raffi Cohen in Petah Tikva, Avi Nimni and Itzik Zohar in Maccabi Tel Aviv, Gal Alberman in the Israeli team, and many more. Alon Hazan (אלון חזן born September 14, 1967) is a former Israeli footballer who currently serves as coach and general manager for Avi Nimni (born April 26, 1972) is Maccabi Tel-Aviv 's highest ever scorer and is regarded as one of Maccabi Tel-Aviv 's greatest players ever Itzik Zohar (איציק זוהר born October 31, 1970) is a former Israeli international Football (soccer player and currently a television Gal Alberman (גל אלברמן born April 17, 1983) is an Israeli football player Grant famously did not include Israeli star Eyal Berkovic in the national squad during 2005, saying he wanted to create "a younger team", but, nonetheless, retaining 34 year-old Avi Nimni. Eyal Berkovic ( also spelled Berkovich, born April 2, 1972 in Nahariya, Israel) is a former Israeli footballer In 2007, Berkovic described the way Grant became Chelsea's manager as "disgusting" and "disrespectful". ^[4] Another known critic of Grant in Israel is Shlomo Sharf, who was Israel's coach during most of the nineties. Shlomo Scharf ( Hebrew: שלמה שרף was an Israeli football manager. The 1990s collectively refers to the years between and including 1990 and 1999

Grant, as is also the case with another coach from Petah Tikva, current Israel coach Dror Kashtan, is considered one of the most successful Israeli coaches. Dror Kashtan ( דרור קשטן) (born October 1, 1944) is an Israeli football manager and currently the manager of the He has a reputation of a lucky winner in Israel, which caused the invention of the frequently used humorous term 'Hatachat shel Avram'. This means 'Avram's Ass', a reference to the allegedly large amount of luck Grant enjoyed during the 2006 World Cup campaign. ^[5][6]

Congolese forward Lomana LuaLua, presently of Olympiakos, stated that it was Grant's encouragement and emotional support that kept him from ending his career after the loss of his son Yoshuha to pneumonia. Lomana Trésor LuaLua (born December 28, 1980 in Kinshasa) is a professional footballer who plays for Qatar side Al-Arabi Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the Lung. Frequently it is described as lung Parenchyma / alveolar inflammation and abnormal Grant was director of football at Portsmouth F.C. during LuaLua's stint at the club. Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the south coast city of Portsmouth.

England

In October 2005, Grant announced that he would step down from the national team as his contract was due to expire in June of the following year. Subsequently, he took up the position of Technical Director at Portsmouth in June 2006, overseeing Harry Redknapp's side. Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the south coast city of Portsmouth. Henry James "Harry" Redknapp (born 2 March 1947 is an English former footballer who has had a long career in football management and is the current

Chelsea

Grant with Chelsea.

A personal friend of Roman Abramovich, on 8 July 2007 Avram Grant was appointed Director of Football at Chelsea FC. Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (rɐˈman ɐrˈkadʲjevʲɪtɕ ɐbrɐˈmovʲɪtɕ Рома́н Арка́дьевич Абрамо́вич born on 24 October 1966 Events 939 - The Major Occultation or Ghaybat el-Kubra of Muhammad al-Mahdi 1099 - First Crusade: 15000 Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[7] After the departure of José Mourinho from Chelsea on September 20, 2007, Grant was assigned the manager's role, with Steve Clarke, and later Henk ten Cate (on October 11, 2007) as his assistants, and becoming the first Israeli to manage an English football club. José Mário dos Santos Félix Mourinho, GOIH (ʒuˈzɛ moˈɾiɲu (born 26 January 1963 in Setúbal) is a Portuguese Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Stephen "Steve" Clarke (born August 29, 1963 in Saltcoats, Scotland) is a retired Scottish international footballer and Henk ten Cate (born December 9, 1954 in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland) is a Dutch football manager of Surinamese Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[8][9]

A number of Chelsea fans did not take well to Grant's appointment. They protested Mourinho's departure, holding banners at games, which read "Mourinho - The Special One", and chanting Mourinho's name. ^[10] Chelsea FC have stated that some of the protests directed towards Grant constituted abuse of a racist nature. Bruce Buck, chairman of Chelsea, claims they have received points of view which are racist and anti-semitic. Bruce M Buck is a founding managing partner of the London office of U Antisemitism (alternatively spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism; also rarely known as judeophobia) is the Prejudice against or hostility Buck stated: "[This] unfairly smears the reputation of the vast majority of the Chelsea fans who rightly do not want to be associated with such activity. " . ^[11] However, many Chelsea fans felt their objections against Grant being appointed as the team's manager are justified, citing his "lack of expertise at the highest levels of football" and Grant's lack of a formal UEFA qualification as manager. Several unnamed Chelsea players have been quoted as saying Grant's methods are "25 years behind the times" and "Chelsea deserve a bigger coach than him. Grant does not have the quality to coach a team like this. When we play big opponents we will suffer because of him. " At least one member of Grant's coaching staff told friends that they will consider leaving the club if there is no further change in management. ^[12]

Grant faced his first game only 3 days after taking up the manager's role, losing 2–0 to Manchester United on 24 September. Events 622 - Prophet Muhammad completes his hegira from Mecca to Medina. At his first UEFA Champions League match as a coach (with Chelsea and in general) he led Chelsea to a 2–1 away win over Valencia, replicating one of Mourinho's most celebrated wins. See also List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winners The UEFA Champions League, which evolved from the European Champion Clubs' Cup is a seasonal club Valencia Club de Fútbol (also known as Valencia or Los Che) is a Spanish professional football club based in Valencia ^[13] Chelsea went on to register a 16-game unbeaten run under Grant, including beating Manchester City 6-0 in one of Chelsea's biggest wins. Subsequently, Grant was offered and signed a four-year contract with Chelsea in December 2007. ^[14]

In January 2008, Nicolas Anelka from Bolton Wanderers F.C., Branislav Ivanovic from Lokomotiv Moscow, and Franco Di Santo from Audax Italiano were added to Grant's team. Nicolas Anelka (born March 14, 1979 in Versailles, France) is a French football Striker who plays for Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football club based in Horwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Branislav “Bane” Ivanović ( Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав Ивановић - Бане born February 22, 1984) is a Serbian footballer Franco Matías di Santo (born April 7 1989 in Mendoza, Mendoza Province) is an Argentine professional football player who plays as a striker CD Audax Italiano de La Florida, is a Chilean football club based in the city of Santiago, and plays in the Primera División de Chile.

In February, Chelsea reached the 2008 League Cup final, its first competition final under Grant's management. In Association football a League Cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in the top national league (some may include They lost 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium on February 24, with an extra time winner from centre-back Jonathan Woodgate. Tottenham Hotspur, ˈtɒʔnəm is an English professional football club which currently plays in the Premier League. Wembley Stadium is a Stadium in Wembley, located in the London Borough of Brent in London, England. Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the On March 8, at Barnsley FC, Chelsea were eliminated from the F. Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. Barnsley Football Club is an English football club based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, and nicknamed the Tykes, with Toby Tyke A Cup 1-0. On March 23, Grant secured his first win against one of the other big four clubs when Chelsea came from behind after two substitutions that were ridiculed by Chelsea fans to beat Arsenal FC 2-1. Events 1174 - Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose, is elected Bishop of Glasgow. On April 26, Grant got his second big win when Chelsea beat Manchester United 2-1, to pull Chelsea into a tie at the top of the Premier League with two games remaining in the season. Events 1467 - The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy. They eventually finished the season in second place, as the team had done the previous year.

Grant was chosen as FA Premier League Manager of the Month in April in his first season as Chelsea's manager. The Manager of the Month award is a prize of recognition given to association football managers in the Premier League.

On 30 April 2008, Grant's Chelsea beat Liverpool F.C. 3-2 (4-3 on aggregate) to advance to the UEFA Champions League final, something they failed to achieve under former manager José Mourinho. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Liverpool Football Club are an English professional Association football club based in Liverpool England. See also List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winners The UEFA Champions League, which evolved from the European Champion Clubs' Cup is a seasonal club Chelsea drew 1-1 with Manchester United in the final only to unluckily lose out on the UEFA Champions League trophy in a penalty shootout which United won 6-5. See also List of European Cup and UEFA Champions League winners The UEFA Champions League, which evolved from the European Champion Clubs' Cup is a seasonal club Chelsea had the opportunity to win the trophy but John Terry slipped on his team's fifth penalty clipping the ball off the post and wide. John George Terry (born 7 December 1980 in Barking, London is an English Professional footballer.

Three days later, at around 6pm on 24 May 2008, Chelsea announced in a statement on its website that Grant's contract had been terminated with immediate effect. Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common ^[15] Grant later revealed that he turned down the opportunity to return to the club in his former role as director of football. ^[16] Just as his predecessor José Mourinho had done, Grant completed his period as Chelsea manager without losing a single home game in the Premier League.

Personal life

Grant is married to Israeli television personality Tzofit Grant. They have a son and a daughter. ^{[17] [18]}

Grant's father, Meir Granat, was born in Mława, Poland and deported with his family by the Soviet secret police to Kolyma, Siberia during the Second World War. Mława is a town in north-central Poland with 30623 inhabitants (2004 Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland This is an article about the region commonly known as Kolyma For river it is named after see Kolyma River The Kolyma (pronounced koh-lee-MAH Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including His mother, Aliza Nisan, is an Iraqi Jewish immigrant who met Meir in Petach Tikvah^[19]. Iraqi Jews are Jews born in Iraq or of Iraqi heritage The history of the Jews in Iraq is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c Petah Tikva (פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה "Opening of Hope" known as Em HaMoshavot ("Mother of the Moshavot " is a city in the Most of his father's family were murdered during the Holocaust and died in Kolyma. The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as This is an article about the region commonly known as Kolyma For river it is named after see Kolyma River The Kolyma (pronounced koh-lee-MAH ^[20].

Days before the 2008 League Cup final, it was Grant's father's 80th birthday, and Avram bought tickets for Meir to go to Wembley to watch his son's first final as a manager. Grant said that Meir is his biggest idol because he is so optimistic even at 80, and even after surviving the Holocaust. On February 20, 2008, Chelsea Football Club announced that Grant had received anti-semitic death threats from unknown sources. Events 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a Dowry payment 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common One of the packages sent to Grant's home was said to have contained a lethal white powder and one of the notes said that Grant would "die a very slow and painful death". ^[21] There were also threats of a sexual nature outlined against Grant's wife.

Statistics

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
				G	W	L	D	Win %
Hapoel Petah Tikva		1986	1991
Maccabi Tel Aviv		1991	1995
Hapoel Haifa		1995	1996	30	19	4	7	63. Hapoel Petah Tikva is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is an Israeli Association football club part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv sports club. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Hapoel Haifa Football Club is an Israeli Football club located in Haifa. Year 1995 ( MCMXCV) was a Common year starting on Sunday. Events of 1995 Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) 3
Maccabi Tel Aviv		1996	2000
Maccabi Haifa		2000	2002	71	46	6	19	64. Maccabi Tel Aviv FC is an Israeli Association football club part of the Maccabi Tel Aviv sports club. Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. Maccabi Haifa Football Club (מועדון הכדורגל מכבי חיפה Moadon HaKaduregel Maccabi Haifa) is an Israeli football club and one of the leading football 2000 ( MM) was a Leap year that started on Saturday of the Common Era, in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. 8
Israel		2002	2005	33	14	6	13	42. The Israeli National Football Team (נבחרת ישראל בכדורגל is the national football team of Israel and is controlled by the Israel Football Association See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 4
Chelsea		02007-09-20 20 September 2007	02008-05-24 24 May 2008	37	26	2	8	70. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common 3

Honours

• With Hapoel Petah Tikva:
  • Toto Cup (2): 1989/90; 1990/91
• With Maccabi Tel Aviv:
  • Ligat ha'Al (Premier League) Championship (2): 1991/92; 1994/95
  • Israel State Cup: 1993/94
  • Toto Cup (2): 1992/93; 1998/99
• With Maccabi Haifa:
  • Ligat ha'Al (Premier League) Championship (2): 2000/01; 2001/02
  • Toto Cup: 2001/02

References

External links

• Avram Grant, Goal.com profile
• Avram Grant, BBC Sport profile
• Avram Grant, Telegraph profile