Cup win will prove Grant is special

The Carling Cup was also Mourinho's first trophy at Chelsea and that is another reason why beating Tottenham has assumed such importance for Grant in a season which has trundled on quietly but could yet deliver rich reward.

There is always a defining moment in any great race. In a yacht race it might come with a subtle shift of wind. In football it could come with an intuitive signing such as Grant's £15million capture of Nicolas Anelka.Anelka is a class act, his movement perhaps silkier than any striker in the Premier League.The key for Chelsea is whether he can perform alongside Didier Drogba, whose return from the African Nations Cup, together with Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou, gives Chelsea formidable depth as they embark on the testing run-in to the season.If he can and both can stay fit then Chelsea at last might thrill a few footballing souls, rather than merely draw admiration for their power and efficiency.The irony is that the Carling Cup final has a team capable of playing the sort of entertaining football Abramovich envisaged when he spent his £500million on Chelsea. Unfortunately for Abramovich it is Tottenham.