Listen - Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal - Grant DOES know what he's doing!

It's fair to say that Avram Grant hasn't exactly taken to Chelsea fans' hearts so far. Despite a decent enough job, the appointment of an unknown to replace the much adored Jose Mourinho back in September stunned the footballing world. The Portuguese manager was liked by the vast majority of fans and a favourite of the media, with his frank and often humorous press conferences. So when Roman Abrahamovich wielded the axe and brought in the Israeli to succeed him, it did not sit easy with fans. As hard as it was to take, Chelsea fans weren't exactly gobsmacked by the dismissal of 'The Special One' as rumours had been flying around for 18 months about disputes between management & boardroom level, but they would have at least expected an accomplished name to take the helm and not a BBC (Bibs, balls & cone) man who'd made the breakthrough in England as Portsmouth's Director of Football last year before accepting a similar role in the summer at Stamford Bridge.

Grant hasn't proved that he is the 'New One' until now, with the 2-1 win over Arsenal his first notable victory. You see, Grant has won many a match so far, with an extremely comparable record to his predecessor, but it was on the big stage where he struggled to stamp his authority.

His first match & first loss in charge was a defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford, albeit with 10 men. His second came after the Blues' had racked up an impressive 16 game unbeaten run in all competitions, 12 of them wins, before succumbing to Arsenal in the reverse fixture back in December.

His third, and best publicised, loss came at the grandest of stages in England - Wembley. Another 16 match unbeaten run preceeded this loss in the League Cup Final to Tottenham Hotspur, the team which Chelsea have a spell over going on past results. Yet he failed to include Joe Cole, a decision which ultimately cost him as his side never seemed up for the fight. Cole showed his quality ahead of this Arsenal match, scoring twice at White Hart Lane in the remarkable 4-4 draw.

But that's the problem - Chelsea don't do 4-4 draws, let alone twice in the same season. Resilience has been a major factor in the Mourinho spell - something that seems to have come undone in Grant's tenure.

Add to this the embarassing exit to Barnsley despite a strong team fielded, and the man from Petach Tikva lost a lot of support from fans and pundits alike.

And with 70 minutes gone he received the ultimate insult ... his own fans chanting "You don't know what you're doing" followed by calls for the loved Mourinho after the Israeli removed Claude Makelele for Nicolas Anelka in a positive move whilst exchanging Michael Ballack for defender Juliano Belletti. Both those who came off were visibly upset at the decision, but within three minutes Grant was vindicated as Lampard's deflection and the linesman's failure to spot Drogba offside allowed the Ivorian to eventually smash the ball home and draw the Blues' level.

It was hardly a shock; afterall Chelsea' unbeaten home league record is now into its fourth year - they just seem to score no matter what. But just when Sir Alex Ferguson may have started to think another draw between his two London challengers was about to happen, Drogba had other ideas. Sub Anelka flicked on before the 29-year old mis-hit his volley. Manuel Almunia got a hand to it but couldn't keep it out, 2-1. Within 13 minutes of sections of his own fans lamenting his decisions, the team were heralded for their comeback.

And now the Blues' find themselves 5 points, and in their highest position of the season, from leaders' Manchester United, with Fergie's men yet to visit SW6.

Speaking after the match, Grant says he's happy to have finally beaten Arsenal and is even prouder of his decisions paying off.

Quietly, he's probably delighted that he does know what he's doing and that his decisions today at Stamford Bridge showed, to himself at least, that he does have the know-how to win the big matches, at least in the short-term.

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