Despite leading Chelsea into its first-ever Champions League final, manager Avram Grant was not able to gain a vote of confidence of returning next year from club owner Roman Abramovich in a recent meeting.
The Israeli was appointed in September to succeed Jose Mourinho after his surprising departure, and he has guided the Blues to Wednesday's Champions League final against the team that edged them for the Premier League title, Manchester United; the Red Devils are +125 money line betting favorites on WagerWeb.com for Wednesday's match in Moscow.
"It's obvious that I have something to prove in the final," Grant said. "Even if I won 10 titles in 10 years I'd still have something to prove. Its what I always tell my players, the second you think you don't have anything to prove, you're in trouble. That's sports."
A number of figures including Frank Rijkaard, Sven-Goran Eriksson, Guus Hiddink and Roberto Mancini have all been linked with the Chelsea job for next season.
Grant admits there may be changes following the final and said: "If the club is not happy with me, no problem. If I'm not happy with them and I want to leave, I don't think they will make any problems, either."
With Jose Bosingwa already recruited from Porto, Chelsea's is likely to undergo an expensive remodeling this summer as Abramovich insists on more attacking, creative football. Didier Drogba is expected to play his last game for the club on Wednesday, while several other players could leave including Frank Lampard.Grant will not be cast adrift by friend and boss Abramovich, but a replacement coach is still being sought with Grant likely to revert to the director of football role he occupied before Mourinho's departure. Grant had never managed outside Israel and it was suggested he only got the job because of his friendship with Abramovich.
Mancini, fresh from leading Inter Milan to a third consecutive Serie A title, already reportedly has made it clear that he would like to be considered for the job.
Grant believes that it will take something extraordinary in the Champions League final to change his fate.
"At this club, at Chelsea, every draw is a tragedy," Grant said. "You need to win every game. It's good, for sure, to want to be the best and to have that pressure. You know when you're at a top club. We won nine games in a row, which was a record, and then drew - and it was a disaster.
"We'll talk about next year after the final."
Meanwhile, UEFA has announced that that Slovakian referee Lubos Michel will take charge of the Champions League final.
Michel was the referee who awarded a highly controversial goal to Liverpool against Chelsea in the semifinals of the competition in 2005.
Then Chelsea manager Mourinho always insisted the shot from Luis Garcia had never crossed the line.
Michel is one of the top referees in the world, however, and is highly experienced having officiated at both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup, including the Germany-Argentina game in the first knockout round.
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