Findcate

By the time Chelsea’s managerial pursuit had officially begun, with the sacking of Avram Grant in May, it appeared that they had limited options to choose from. Sven Goran Eriksson, thought to be Roman Abramovich’s first choice back in 2003 after ‘purely a social meeting’, had already been courting the Mexican FA after being axed by Thaksin Shinawatra. Frank Rijkaard was mentioned, but he hasn’t enjoyed as much success as he did whilst Henk Ten Cate was involved with the coaching at Barca.

Ten Cate is also a man who, ironically, has also just been sacked by Chelsea. Marco van Basten had already signed a contract to take over at Ajax after this summer’s Euro tournament, back in February. Similarly, Jurgen Klinsmann was already in line to replace the retiring Ottmar Hitzfeld at Bayern Munich, a deal that was arranged at the turn of this year. AC Milan claim that Carlo Ancelotti has been pursued by Chelsea, yet would he have even been the right man for the Russian owner so adamant on his footballing investments playing an attacking brand? Ancelotti has come under fire for favouring a defensive style of football, and could well have ended up like Capello under the Madrid regime of you’re out if you win ugly.

You have to give credit where it is due though, and Scolari did mastermind three successive international tournament knock-outs to the English national team. It just strikes me as odd that if you are scouting the Euro internationals for footballing talent, in terms of both players, and managers, then why not go for one of the up and coming coaches who are certain to have successes in front of them given the right opportunities.

In the English leagues stability and success seem synonymous. Look at Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, and even, to a lesser degree, Hereford United and Graham Turner. All at their clubs for 22, 12, and 13 years respectively. Wenger was a little known French coach with experience in the Japanese J League and French Ligue Une, and Ferguson had enjoyed successes in the Scottish Premier division.

Tags: ac milan, ajax, arsene wenger, avram grant, bayern munich, boise, carlo ancelotti, cate, chelsea, defensive style, first choice, ford, frank rijkaard, french coach, french ligue, goran eriksson, graham turner, henk, hereford united, j league, jurgen klinsmann, knock outs, manchester united, marco van basten, ottmar hitzfeld, roman abramovich, sir alex ferguson, ten cate, thaksin shinawatra

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Dutchman Henk ten Cate, who was Avram Grant’s right-hand man at Chelsea last season, was named as the new coach of Greek side Panathinaikos on Friday.

“Panathinaikos’ organization, history, ambition and attitude match those of the greatest clubs in Europe, so I’m confident that we will achieve our goals. I’m looking forward to coming to Athens and meeting my players.”

Ten Cate, 54, was assistant manager at Chelsea under Grant last season where the Londoners finished runners-up to Manchester United in the Premier League and the Champions League.

Grant has now been replaced by Brazil’s Luiz Felipe Scolari.

During the 2005-2006 season ten Cate was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona which won the Champions League title and the La Liga crown.

Ten Cate was a former player in the Dutch league and briefly had a stint with North American Soccer League side Edmonton Drillers in Canada.

Tags: ambition, american soccer, athens, attitude, avram grant, boss, cate, champion, champions league, chelsea, dutch league, dutchman, edmonton drillers, europe, felipe scolari, frank rijkaard, greek side, henk, londoners, luiz felipe scolari, manchester united, new boss, north american soccer league, organization history, panathinaikos, premier league, right hand man, stint, ten cate

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The Dutchman had a contract until 2010 but he follows in the footsteps of Avram Grant, who was dismissed last weekend.

A statement on Chelsea’s confirmed ten Cate’s exit following a meeting this morning.

“As a result of the team management changes at Chelsea FC, and in the light of any forthcoming appointment, it was clear this was the correct decision for all parties, ” it said.

“Everybody at Chelsea would like to thank Henk for his contribution since coming to the club last year.”

Earlier this week, ten Cate dismissed fears that he would be leaving Chelsea.

“He informed me that the departure of Grant will not affect me. I’d rather go on that than all those newspaper reports.”

However, the club’s Champions League final defeat in Roman Abramovich’s home city has clearly left a mark on Chelsea’s owner.

Ten Cate joined Chelsea from Ajax in October last year when he was released by mutual consent.

The Dutchman’s sacking now raises questions as to the future of Steve Clarke, Chelsea’s former player and current assistant coach.

Grant was dismissed just three days after the Champions League final defeat to Manchester United and reports soon after suggested whether Ten Cate and fellow assistant Clarke would survive a summer of change at Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, the contenders to replace Grant continues with Luiz Felipe Scolari heading a long list in the race to take over at Stamford Bridge.

Tags: ajax, appointment, assistant coach, avram grant, cate, champion, champions league, champions league final, chelsea, contenders, correct decision, dutchman, felipe scolari, footsteps, ford, grant successor, henk, luiz felipe scolari, management changes, manchester united, mutual consent, roman abramovich, steve clarke, team management, ten cate

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Roman Abramovich has told Chelsea’s board to find a managerial hard man to replace the sacked Avram Grant. The club have yet to identify who will become their third manager in nine months, but they have put together a shortlist focusing on renowned disciplinarians, believed to include Guus Hiddink, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Marcello Lippi, with Mark Hughes the home-grown candidate.

Pini Zahavi, who for several years has acted as a buying agent for Chelsea, is pushing the credentials of his friend Sven-G?ran Eriksson, whom Abramovich has attempted to hire on two previous occasions, but the former England manager’s reputation for indulging his players would appear to rule him out this time. Frank Rijkaard and Roberto Mancini, who have won domestic titles with Barcelona and Inter Milan respectively, also fall into this category.

However, the intervention of Abramovich could change that. Hiddink has not signed a two-year contract extension that was agreed with the Russian FA in March and, as a guest at the Champions League final last week, told a packed Luzhniki Stadium in English that he still hoped to work in the Barclays Premier League.

Hiddink is perhaps the only candidate to fulfil all of the criteria that the Chelsea board have been given in their search for a manager. His track record, coaching skills and tactical acumen are impeccable he has taken four countries to leading finals and won the Champions League with PSV Eindhoven as is his English.

Tags: acumen, avram grant, barclays, barclays premier league, cate, champion, champions league, champions league final, chelsea, contract extension, disciplinarians, domestic titles, england manager, felipe scolari, frank rijkaard, hard man, hiddink, inter milan, luiz felipe scolari, luzhniki stadium, marcello lippi, mark hughes, premier league, roberto mancini, roman abramovich, shortlist, zahavi

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John Terry’s bravery has brought him concussion, broken bones and painful wounds, but nothing as painful as the emotional trauma he suffered last night when, having stepped up to take the penalty that would have won the Champions League final, the Chelsea captain slipped and shot wide, off a post. As the tears flowed stronger than the Russian downpour, he looked inconsolable. He was a man in grief.

Avram Grant, the Chelsea first-team coach, has a perspective on life because of the traumas his family suffered in the Holocaust, but even he was struggling to find the words to ease the pain of Terry, who was white with shock.

It is hard enough for any player to miss a penalty, but the pain can only have been heightened for Terry, brought through at Chelsea, their captain, their leader and a man who had been deeply hurt by three semi-final failures in the Champions League.

The sympathy will only heighten at the revelation that Terry was not meant to be among Chelsea’s first five takers and would not have been had Didier Drogba not been sent off for his gentle but idiotic slap of Nemanja Vidic, the Manchester United defender, in the second half of extra time.

“He was not supposed to be in the first five,” Henk ten Cate, the Chelsea assistant manager, said. “John stepped up when he wasn’t supposed to. It’s unbelievable it happens to him. He slipped. We practised penalties so much all last week and he was very confident. We were all very confident. Penalties is a lottery and we got the short straw.”

We associate the English with a woeful lack of nerve when it comes to penalty shoot-outs, but it appears that it is only in the national colours. Liverpool won the Champions League in Istanbul in 2005 from the spot and there was a high quality last night, including from those Englishmen such as Michael Carrick, Lampard, Owen Hargreaves and Ashley Cole.

Indeed, the only miss before Terry’s left ankle turned over, Beckham-style, and he slipped as he took the kick had been, remarkably, from Cristiano Ronaldo with United’s third effort. It was an awful penalty, his stuttering run confusing himself rather than Petr Cech. The Chelsea goalkeeper held his nerve and Ronaldo’s shot was saved by the Czech Republic player, diving to his right.

Edwin van der Sar knew that he had to pull off something special and he thought he had done so with Chelsea’s fourth, from Ashley Cole. “I had been close to one or two, especially that one,” he said. But it was not skill that thwarted Terry. “It is our luck that he slipped,” Van der Sar said. Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, felt a rush of good vibes at that moment. “The slip from Terry gave us an opening and I felt from there we were going to win it,” he said.

Anderson scored United’s first in sudden death, Salomon Kalou struck back for Chelsea. Then Ryan Giggs, on the night he broke Sir Bobby Charlton’s record of appearances, stroked his home to leave Nicolas Anelka needing to score to keep his team in it.

Tags: ashley cole, avram grant, broken bones, cate, champion, champions league, champions league final, chelsea, downpour, emotional trauma, englishmen, extra time, henk, john terry, lampard, left ankle, manchester united, michael carrick, national colours, nemanja vidic, owen hargreaves, painful wounds, penalty shoot outs, short straw, sir alex ferguson, team coach, ten cate, traumas

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With two games to go, his team are joint leaders of the Premier League. On top of that, they are only one night’s work away from the Champions League final. Not bad going, that, for any grade of manager, but a doubly impressive achievement for someone still getting to grips with his first big job while being condemned as an imposter, supposedly only given a chance because he is mates with the club’s owner.

Maybe it is time, then, that we gave Avram Grant the benefit of the doubt, embraced the theory that the Chelsea manager might actually have something going for him, even if he does sometimes give the impression of being out of his depth when it comes to rallying the troops or making the right decisions in the heat of battle.

He wasn’t out of his depth on Saturday. On the contrary, everything clicked for the Israeli coach on a day when each of his players rose to the occasion to stop Manchester United leaving Stamford Bridge as certain champions. No question that John Terry, Michael Ballack and everyone else wearing blue had been sent out in the right frame of mind. From start to finish, Chelsea played with poise and purpose, not to mention fire in their belly. So can we give Grant credit for that? Or do we simply assume that any professional worth his salt will be pumped up anyway for such a huge match?

That’s the thing with Grant - the default reaction from us outsiders is to look elsewhere for reasons and heroes, assuming that this mild-mannered character with the hangdog looks couldn’t possibly be responsible for what happened on that pitch.

More likely, we might imagine that Grant’s more vocal and aggressive assistant, Henk ten Cate, had wound up the players with a stirring team talk. It is difficult, after all, to picture Grant in Churchillian mode. Mind you, if Ten Cate did do a lot of the motivating beforehand, what’s wrong with that? That’s what partnerships are about - blending different attributes to cover all the bases.

As for Grant’s attributes, it is difficult from this distance to see exactly what he brings to the party himself. But he must bring something, otherwise his team wouldn’t still be in with a chance of writing their name in the record books.

Tags: avram grant, cate, champion, champions league, champions league final, chelsea, ford, henk, hero, job, john terry, manchester united, ten cate

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When Jose Mourinho left Chelsea he did it in the certain knowledge that he, like Ronson, was irreplaceable. It would’ve required a manager with the looks of George Clooney, the brain of Richard Dawkins and the charisma of Charles Manson to assuage the sentimental tumult inspired by his departure. I do not like Chelsea but I was sad to see him leave and I think that I exemplify a common phenomenon in my admission that I put aside my disdain for the Blues whilst he was at the club. He made Chelsea palatable.Figuratively the scenario is reminiscent of a girl I once dated who had an atrocious personality (cruel, racist, joyless) but a really nice arse. She was like her own arse’s irritating best mate - I had to tolerate her to get to the arse. The arse in its spellbinding beauty made her many flaws tolerable - she later revealed she’d only gone out with me because she liked my cat so don’t feel too sorry for her.Mourinho was like that girl’s beautiful arse - while he was at Chelsea few cared that they played stifling football for a humourless billionaire, we were too busy ogling the arse. Now that gorgeous set of buns has been replaced by the saggy rump that is Avram Grant no one gives a monkey’s that the results are quite impressive, we still mourn the departure of the tanned hide of the Special One - “I hate it that you’re leaving but, boy, do I love to watch you walking away.”I hear that some regulars at the Bridge would prefer Chelsea to be knocked out of the Champions League and to drop out of the title race just to be rid of Grant. Astonishing. As he himself pointed out, who would’ve thought when Mourinho wiggled off that Grant would still be in the running for major honours this late on in the season?One suspects that Chelsea will win nothing, naturally. That United will wrap up the title in the next few games and that Liverpool will bounce them out of Europe but none of this matters to Roman Abramovich, who is apparently poised to give Grant a hundred million to reinforce his squad over the summer.What’s going on? Why does that seem so absurd? Why are we so unwilling to accredit Grant? I’ve a friend who’s a season ticket holder in SW6 who swears blind that during matches Steve Clarke and Henk Ten Cate conduct tactical powwows, literally, behind Grant’s back as if snogging out of sight of an unwanted chaperone. Players are breaking ranks to announce to the press that they never would’ve joined the club to play for him and more childishly that they call him “the professor”; not in the way Ars%26egrave;ne Wenger is called “the professor” - affectionately, because of his keen, tactical mind - but because they think he is a right dickhead. A dickhead professor who no one likes.Didier Drogba is said to be leaving, only delaying his decision on destination until old sweet cheeks has picked a club, and many more, reportedly, will follow. Quentin Crisp said, “Charisma is the ability to influence without logic”, and this is the key to Grant’s problem - he can do all the publicity he likes or sit through a press conference issuing only yes or no answers but he’ll never manipulate the manner in which he’s perceived because he cannot make us put aside logic in the way that Mourinho could. The only thing I can remember from all the press I’ve read about Grant is that his wife once drank urine on an Israeli TV show. It’s gonna take a lot more than that.

Tags: avram grant, cate, champion, champions league, chelsea, europe, henk, roman abramovich, steve clarke, ten cate

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The lovestruck Frenchman is patently a hopeless case as, clearly distracted by matters of the boudoir, he suggested during his address to parliament that his country’s ‘entente formidable’ with England was ‘not a one-night stand’ and he still felt they could still ‘go to breakfast as well’. Was he really lying back and thinking about England, or was Petit Nicolas day-dreaming about the fair Carla? The Mill certainly was. As was just about every other newspaper editor who has plastered pictures of the new Jackie O from cover to cover. He just about stopped short of saying: “This isn’t a celebrity marriage, I’m not too short for her and she has changed her views on monogamy.” Le Pauvre …The protective glances Sarkozy was firing in the direction of Gordon Brown as he chatted up his Missus at Windsor Castle, are nothing, though, compared to the hand-grenades of hostility Mark Hughes has been unpinning and hurling towards Anfield this morning. Hughes, who not so long ago found himself jilted by Craig Bellamy in favour of a move to Liverpool, is clearly concerned that lightning might strike twice with David Bentley becoming the latest muse to fall under Rafa Ben韙ez’s spell.”We have contract protection and we don’t have to sell anybody,” fumed Sparky, before U-turning wholly unconvincingly. “We only sell our assets when we’re forced to.” This has not been a good week for Sparky, who might also have to go without star striker Roque Santa Cruz, injured on international duty in midweek by none other than his Blackburn team-mate Aaron Makoena. The defender is known in his homeland as ‘the Axe’ for his tackling prowess; Hughes is calling him the Axe for very different reasons.Hughes’s old team Chelsea are having no such relationship problems, of course, unless you count John Terry’s scrap with Henk Ten Cate or Didier Drogba’s imminent - according to Il Corriere dello Sport - move to Inter next season, where he will team up with his first love Jose Mourinho. To soften that blow, though, Avram Grant intends to pip Barcelona for the services of %26#163;12m-rated Croatia playmaker Luka Modric. “He wanted to go in January but Dinamo [Zagreb] wouldn’t let him leave,” explained international team-mate, Portsmouth agent provocateur Niko Kranjcar. “Now if the money is right he will go.”Another agent doing overtime at the moment is the one and only Pini Zahavi, who met with Barcelona director Txiki Begiristain to discuss his desire to buy a new yacht and the not unconnected matter of Ronaldinho’s future. The Bar鏰 star has been linked with a move for Chelsea but it seems that Tottenham would not be averse to giving the goofy-toothed one a run out or two at the Lane. “Ronaldino would fit into Spurs in every aspect. The truly great players fit into any team, including Tottenham,” said Juande Ramos, who almost said “even Tottenham.”And another Spanish-based player so desperate for first-team football he might actually end up booting a ball in freezing-cold Blighty is none other than Jos?Antonio Reyes. Yes, that’s right, the forward who despised life in England so much that by the end of his stay his only friends were his garden gnomes, could be on his way back to the Premier League, having convinced Kevin Keegan he is the man to solve Newcastle’s goalscoring problems. The fact that Reyes has not scored for Atlé– ico Madrid all season has not dimmed Special K’s enthusiasm.Newcastle meanwhile, have loaned Shola Ameobi to Stoke City in a deal that could become, and you’ll like this, a permanent %26#163;3m move. And after moving on loan to Charlton for first-team experience, Scott Sinclair has not persuaded Alan Pardew that he is any better than Chris Iwelumo. So he’s done one to Crystal Palace.

Tags: avram grant, cate, chelsea, david bentley, henk, john terry, mark hughes, premier league, roque santa cruz, rumours, ten cate, zahavi

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A league flooded with players from every corner of every continent had provided a collision of two sides boasting nine England players between them at the kick-off. Each had cause to hope they would make the Italian’s provisional 30-man squad to be announced this lunchtime. If Capello was wavering on some, keen to assess them first-hand, then this was a timely opportunity for them - although in practice it was no occasion to provide a rational judgment. Rather, as an introduction to the ferocity of a Premier League derby, it must have taken Capello’s breath away.One first-half incident summed up the frenzy. Nearing the interval, Ashley Cole leapt into a challenge on Alan Hutton within feet of the home dugout, the left-back missing the ball as it skipped up off the turf and crunching high into the Scot’s right shinpad. The reaction from Spurs’ coaching staff was instantaneous and livid, Gus Poyet springing from his seat to confront the Chelsea player as Hutton writhed on the turf. In the melee that ensued, with players squaring up to one another, even the normally placid Avram Grant had to be restrained as he remonstrated. The yellow flashed by a panicked Mike Riley provoked howls of disbelief. “That’s a red and you know it,” screamed Poyet at the fourth official, Steve Bennett, who had been within feet of the incident.The Uruguayan sought out Cole as the players departed a few minutes later, berating the full-back with one arm draped threateningly round the Chelsea player’s neck while the left-back blanked him and shook his head. John Terry, having spied that altercation, charged after the pair down the tunnel. Henk ten Cate scurried after them all. Capello, watching in the stand, must have been dumbstruck. Welcome to the Premier League’s crazy world of tunnel scraps and touchline rucks.Cole could count himself fortunate still to be involved in the second half. This was a spiteful helter-skelter, the memory of last month’s Carling Cup final still simmering. Capello is used to club management but will be aware that his England players will be tearing into one another before the World Cup qualifiers in the autumn. Of the nine candidates who started, Jermaine Jenas departed by the interval, possibly as a result of a sliding challenge on the edge of the centre circle - deemed legal - performed by Frank Lampard moments before the Cole controversy.Jenas had set up Tottenham’s first equaliser, taking his time to find his range with a series of free-kicks before finding Jonathan Woodgate at the far post, the centre-half leaping above Didier Drogba yet again to thump in his second for the club. He has a liking for Chelsea’s otherwise stingy defence. Yet if that was a moment of clarity amid the fury, picking out the calm heads was more problematical.Capello will have been worried by Terry’s inability to rise in aerial challenge as Dimitar Berbatov scored the home team’s second, but impressed by the lofted pass sumoned by the centre-half to supply Drogba with his first league goal of the year. Paul Robinson’s absence as that cross looped into the middle will also have raised eyebrows.Then there was Joe Cole’s quick-footed dart through muddled defenders - including English defenders - and slipped pass for Michael Essien to stab a lob over Robinson to restore the lead. It was this Cole who caught the eye most consistently. He was outstanding, his superb goal after skipping across the area and away from Pascal Chimbonda, the ball clipping Robinson’s leg and spinning in, having edged Chelsea further towards a win, and his even better second almost securing it again. The midfielder’s wonderful recent form demands inclusion for club and country.For Robinson this was painful at times. The goalkeeper had been troubled by an ankle injury in the build-up and is aware that Juande Ramos is looking for replacements, and the Chelsea fans were bellowing “England’s No4″ in his direction long before the end. Capello will have made up his own mind. This game will have opened his eyes to the brutal entertainment offered up by the English game.

Tags: ashley cole, avram grant, cate, chelsea, henk, john terry, lampard, premier league, ten cate

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Chelsea are considering a
sensational offer to former Real
Madrid and Barcelona star
Michael Laudrup to become
their first team coach next
season if Avram Grant is
elevated to a more senior
administrative role.

Tentative unofficial inquiries
have already been made about
whether the 43-year-old former
Danish international would be
available and interested in
moving to Stamford Bridge.

OFFER: Michael Laudrup

Tags: avram grant, chelsea, ford, team coach

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