'Glorious failure' may save Grant as Ten Cate is warned about conduct

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The pressure is on the Chelsea manager Avram Grant to try to save his job but the role of his assistant, Henk ten Cate, is under equal scrutiny at the club. There has been an angry reaction to the coach's outburst over the weekend when he spoke to the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and accused players of "deliberately leaking stuff" to the British media.

Relations between Ten Cate and the players have been strained for some time and that erupted before the Carling Cup final in his row with John Terry over his treatment of midfielder John Obi Mikel and his own selection for the match. Now the Dutchman is understood to have been told, by the club's board, that he must toe the line in future.

It adds to the strained atmosphere at Chelsea with Grant effectively on warning that he needs to win either the Premier League or Champions League to save his job. However, "glorious failure" may suffice especially as the owner Roman Abramovich is keen to have the Israeli in place for the start of next season.

The Russian billionaire, however, understands that it would be foolish to stick with Grant if results are poor and the manager appears to be out of his depth.

However, he will give him every chance of succeeding although the so-called "Dutch faction", which includes Chelsea's head of youth development Frank Arnesen and the unofficial scout Piet de Visser, are believed to be sceptical as to whether Grant can succeed. If he does carry on, there is likely to be a major overhaul of the squad this summer, starting with last year's free signings – Juliano Belletti, Tal Ben Haim and Steve Sidwell – and including Florent Malouda, who cost £13.5m from Lyons, and Carlo Cudicini. The futures of Frank Lampard, with one year left on his contract, and Didier Drogba are also in some doubt, as both are "big personalities" in a dressing room that may need to change.

Grant may also try to bring in an Israeli coach to work alongside his backroom staff. The two names mentioned by sources are Eyal Lachman and Ronny Levy. Lachman works for the Ghanaian club champions, Hearts of Oak, and it is thought that he has already done some scouting for Chelsea. Levy is with the Israeli club Maccabi Haifa.