Chelsea boss Avram Grant

Avram Grant last night begged for time to build the fantasy football team of billionaire boss Roman Abramovich’s dreams.

Grant is a dead man walking after Chelsea followed their Carling Cup Final loss to Tottenham by crashing out of the FA Cup at Championship side Barnsley on Saturday.

But he wants Stamford Bridge’s Russian supremo Abramovich to show the same patience Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were given by their clubs.

And Grant claims silverware may have to be sacrificed this season if he is to build a Roman empire of great entertainers.

He said: “Is it unacceptable for Chelsea to win nothing? We want to win a trophy and we are still in two major competitions, but this club wanted to change to another kind of football and I’m sure we’re going in the right direction, even if we lost.

“Stability’s important, especially when the club has a vision. You choose the right person and go with them for the long term.

“Of course, big clubs need to win trophies, but take the other big clubs – Manchester United and Arsenal don’t win every season.

“In the long term, when they changed their way of playing, it was good for them, and Chelsea, with their new way of playing, will win a lot of trophies.

“If someone tells me I can’t take the team forward, I’ll accept that, but I believe in what I’m doing.

“When a club changes its way of playing there are difficulties.

“It happened to Arsenal and United, but if you have the right players who have plenty of character and quality, it brings you trophies.”

Grant held crisis talks with his players after the Barnsley defeat and says they have a point to prove against Derby tonight.

Victory over the Rams would cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to just five points and Chelsea would still have a game in hand.

He added: “There’s no crisis at Chelsea.

“We have two games in hand on Arsenal and one on United.

“If we win them, we will be very close to them at the top of the table.

“It was disappointing to lose the League Cup Final and embarrassing to lose to Barnsley in the FA Cup, but cup matches are one-offs.”