Grant admits interest in Ten Cate
“It is not a secret. I have made it clear in the past that we have lost four coaches - one assistant coach, one fitness coach, one goalkeeping coach and one scout,” he added. “We are looking for replacements for them. We have checked many possibilities and I have checked personally. It will be my decision - I am in charge of my staff and my players.”I have the British assistant in Steve Clarke, who is doing a very good job. In the last two weeks, it has not been easy for him - he replaced two men not one. We are in a different way of training - the coach is coaching and I am manager. We are still looking for other assistants from Europe and one of them has been mentioned. We checked many coaches and possibilities but I don’t want to say anything because it is not finished yet. We are trying to do it as soon as possible but I don’t want to rush and not find good people. We will do the best for Chelsea.”Ten Cate has played down suggestions that he will walk out on Ajax though. Responding to speculation that he would be leaving the Amsterdam club after their Uefa Cup exit, he said: “Despite the fact that we are now out of the Champions League and Uefa Cup, I still feel secure in my position. I will be, as normal, on the bench when we meet Sparta on Sunday. I don’t want to say more about all the speculation about me and Chelsea.”But earlier today it had been reported that Ten Cate’s agent Sigi Lens claimed his client had an “agreement” with Chelsea. “It’s true, we have an agreement with Chelsea,” Lens was quoted as saying. “It’s an opportunity for him, a challenge for him to work with a big team and work with Avram Grant to build a new team. It’s a big opportunity for Henk with big players. Chelsea have spoken to Henk about the matter. There was a conversation and both the manager [Grant] and Henk are on the same wavelength. They invited Henk to a meeting to talk about technical matters and ask how he sees things and how he wants to play and that was good.”Meanwhile Grant has welcomed back fit-again Frank Lampard for Sunday’s Premier League trip to Bolton but is without striker Didier Drogba through suspension. “Frank has trained very hard in the last two weeks and he looks good. Of course I am happy that he could be ready for Sunday. Frank does a good job on the pitch not just in terms of goals, he does other things as well, and I will be very happy if he is fit,” he said.The manager also said he is happy for John Terry to continue playing in the mask that protects his fractured cheek. “We don’t know how long John will have to wear the mask but he felt good with it - better than we thought he would. He headed the ball many times, especially in the last 10 or 15 minutes against Valencia when they were using the long ball. I didn’t see any problem for him.”
Tags: ajax, assistant coach, avram grant, cate, champion, champions league, chelsea, europe, henk, job, john terry, lampard, premier league, steve clarke, ten cate