My last post, the Post Match Interview, set the scene for reviewing the performances of Ferguson and Grant after last night’s final in Moscow. In the event, during four hours of ITV coverage, the state of the actual pitch got more airtime than either manager.

The pulsating game overcame the bland cliche-ridden commentary and the experts’ platitudes.The lottery shoot-out robbed Chelsea, in my inexpert opinion, of  a deserved victory. It also denied Avram Grant some well deserved  recognition.

His has been a tough path ( setting aside any fortune being paid) with the media and fans resentful that a nobody from Israel, not a mighty footballing nation, should be allowed to manage alongside  the likes of Fergie, Wenger and our ‘Arry.

To put him in his place, much of the media say the team is effectively being run by the senior players, luminaries like Lampard and Terry. The alternative view is that his utterances are those of PR experts, with Matthew Freud’s name in the frame.

I don’t agree. Someone gave Chelsea one hell of a half-time talk and it wasn’t Freud.

Grant is a good example of someone who understands and plays to his strengths, not protesting too much. His quiet confidence as a communicator must, surely, be driving the team’s performance.