Grant’s results a pleasant surprise, but Chelsea’s league is over

Looking back on the announcement last September of the appointment of Avram Grant as Chelsea manager, the emotional devastation experienced by their fans was of a magnitude rarely felt outside of made-for-tv movies. “Stunned,” said one, “embarrassed” said another. “Lunacy…like a bereavement,” whispered a third, speaking from an emotional place so dark that few ever safely return. It seemed the sobs of “Leave Chelsea alone!” were set to echo through the winter. Yet six months on, the daffodils are here, and Mr Grant has not only done an excellent job, but shown himself to be a bit of a player, mingling effortlessly with the Russians and their wealthy pals, and Chelsea are bobbing along in third place, full of hope. The fans might still want to hang onto their tougher emotional shells, however, as they are about to be disappointed again. For while it may feel that they are still alive in the race for the Premier League, history says they have no chance of winning it. The worst may be over, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still some tears ahead.

Here come the stats:

» In the two seasons that they won the title, Chelsea had 66 points and 65 points (in 2005/06 and 2004/05 respectively) at this stage. They currently have 54 points.

» In the last four seasons, the eventual league winner was leading at this point.

» Only twice in Premier League history have the eventual champions come back from more than a six point deficit - Arsenal were nine points behind Man United in February 1998, and Man United were nine points behind Newcastle in 1996.

To see the rest of the reasons and to bet on the Premier League title race, click here.