CHARISMA COMES from results, a sagacious Scottish football philosopher once surmised, and not vice-versa. If Avram Grant's Chelsea side steal past Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United on the Premier League finishing line, Craig Brown's words will resonate today.
Grant has certainly achieved the results, taking the title race into the last round of fixtures for the first time since Blackburn pipped United in 1995. Charisma, now apparently a prerequisite for being a top-class manager, has proved more elusive.
That may be about to change. Should Chelsea beat lowly Bolton Wanderers at Stamford Bridge, and United lose or draw away to a revitalised Wigan Athletic, the trophy will return to west London. Then, finally, Grant might just begin to be perceived as a manager of character and wisdom rather than merely a Roman Abramovich yes-man.
Even after the Israeli achieved what twice proved beyond Jose Mourinho, overcoming Liverpool to lead Chelsea to their first Champions League final, Chelsea supporters were calling a national radio phone-in to say they still didn't want a manager with "no personality".
A media seduced by his predecessor's quirky quotability has dismissed Grant on the basis of his poor communication skills. His jowly countenance and sombre clothing compound the crime in the eyes of some pundits. The players reputedly call him "Average Grant".
Hearing Frank Rijkaard and Guus Hiddink touted as successors was to be reminded of the critics who wanted Kenny Dalglish or Graeme Souness as Scotland manager in place of Brown. The man derided as a "schoolmaster" went on to secure qualification for Euro 96 and the World Cup finals two years later.
A more serious accusation against Grant – of inadequate tactical nous and inability to make decisive substitutions – has receded with each major victory, including a 2-1 win over United that points to a desperately close struggle for the European Cup in Moscow next week. Yet there are still many among the public and press for whom Grant will prove himself worthy of Mourinho's mantle only if Chelsea win a momentous double.
Even then, one suspects, the praise would be qualified: let's face it, Chelsea are effective rather than exciting like United, much as they were under Mourinho. Conventional wisdom would doubtless be that the players took the initiative, ignoring Grant, and succeeded despite him, not because of him. Ultimately, it is about players, yet it is self-evidently absurd to blame a manager for failures and then deny his contribution to triumphs.
Barely 25 years ago, when Liverpool ruled Europe, no-one diminished serial trophy winner Bob Paisley for having an almost subterranean media profile compared with his gallus predecessor, Bill Shankly. At Chelsea, the intense, tactically-driven Dave Sexton won more than the quip waiting to happen, the populist Tommy Docherty, had before him.
So who will it be, United or Chelsea? United must be considered favourites, despite playing away. Remarkably, given that they had not been champions for 27 years until 1993, this would be their tenth Premier League title. Players such as Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs, who will equal Bobby Charlton's club record of 758 appearances if he plays, know exactly what it takes to prevail on such tense occasions.
Intriguingly, so does Steve Bruce, who captained United to their breakthrough triumph 15 years ago but now lies in wait as manager of Wigan. Gary Pallister, his old central-defensive partner, might have chosen his words more carefully this week when he suggested Bruce had "United in his blood". Hastily, he added that he was sure Wigan would not lie down.
Whether Bruce's improving team will be good enough to exploit United's inevitable nerves is a different matter. When he arrived in November, having bequeathed Birmingham to Alex McLeish, Wigan looked doomed in second-bottom place and had lost 20 out of 20 to the Big Four. They have since drawn with Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool, leaving one hoodoo to purge.
Wigan possess individuals who could do Chelsea an almighty favour; goalkeeper Chris Kirkland, for one, and Emile Heskey, whose equaliser at the Bridge had the fans vilifying Grant. Ferguson will be equally wary of Antonio Valencia and Wilson Palacios, perpetual-motion midfielders from Ecuador and Honduras respectively, who Bruce may be hard-pressed to keep at the JJB Stadium this summer.
But it seems inconceivable that United will let the prize slip through their fingers. Ferguson has greater firepower than Grant, let alone Bruce, with three scorers in double figures, including 40-goal Cristiano Ronaldo, against Chelsea's one, ten-goal Frank Lampard. United also boast the best defensive record in the top flight and a back line that kept Samuel Eto'o, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry goalless for 180 minutes should have nothing to fear from Heskey, Marcus Bent and Marlon King, especially with Wes Brown imperious of late alongside Rio Ferdinand.
Part of football's enduring attraction, however, is that it seldom follows such a logical path. The fact that United have not conceded directly from a free-kick all season does not preclude the possibility of Jason Koumas curling one beyond Edwin van der Sar. It probably makes it more likely.
Chelsea, quite simply, must better United's result. Bolton manager Gary Megson has been dubbed "The Ginger Mourinho", an epithet intended to be ironic. But like the Portuguese, who continues to be romanticised by the Chelsea crowd, his instinct is to set out his side defensively and scrap like hell. While all but safe from relegation, Bolton promise to be obdurate opponents, Megson following Bruce in invoking the Premier League's "honesty and integrity".
Their Chelsea counterpart has dignity in spades. The day after his team – yes, his team -- put Liverpool out of Europe, he was at Auschwitz honouring the thousands of Jews, including family members, killed in the gas chambers there, rather than gloating on Sky.
Grant may never acquire charisma, an ill-defined term that Ferguson would surely treat with the scorn it deserves. A trophy at the expense of Manchester United, or even two, might prove an acceptable substitute.
The full article contains 1014 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
