Chelsea To Appoint Ten Cate As First-Team Coach

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Chelsea will appoint Ajax manager Henk ten Cate as first-team coach at Stamford Bridge next week, according to reports in several English newspapers this morning. He will work with Avram Grant, who will remain as team manager

Ajax boss Henk ten Cate will be appointed as first team coach at Chelsea next week, to work with team manager Avram Grant.
The Sun said it could reveal 'exclusively' that Dutchman ten Cate has accepted the role, and other papers are carrying a similar story.
"Ten Cate was behind Barcelona’s Champions League triumph two seasons ago and believes in the beautiful game, like [Chelsea owner] Roman Abramovich," says The Sun.
It quotes 'A Blues insider' as revealing: “This is Rom’s [Abramovich's] attempt at making Grant’s appointment work. Ten Cate will fill the gaps. He’ll be the coaching brain, he’ll wind up the players and motivate them.”
Avram Grant will be team manager and still have an input on selection and tactics, as well as dealing with the media and remaining the public face of Chelsea.
But ten Cate will sign a three-year contract worth £2.1million a year after meeting Roman Abramovich last week, according to the report.
Ten Cate has a reputation for producing teams that play football in the classic attacking Dutch style, and was recommended to Abramovich by Chelsea's Academy director, Frank Arnesen.
And it is claimed that the Dutchman will bring technical expertise to Chelsea that has been missing since Jose Mourinho and his staff left Stamford Bridge two weeks ago.
The Sun's insider claimed: “Some of the players have complained training hasn’t been the same since Jose left. The sessions seem to lack a bit of sharpness.”
It is also claimed that Grant has given his backing to ten Cate’s appointment - but that the current assistant manager, Steve Clarke, "might feel the time is right to move on."
Meanwhile, ten Cate himself has said he does not want to talk about the speculation linking him with Chelsea.
Dutch football magazine Voetbal International also claims that Arnesen has held talks with ten Cate about a move to Stamford Bridge, but Sky Sports say ten Cate "is adamant he wants to remain fully focused on Ajax's Uefa Cup match with Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday."
Sky quotes ten Cate as telling Dutch media, in response to questioning: "I only want to answer questions about the game of Ajax against Dinamo Zagreb.
"I can't say if the interest of Chelsea is right or not. I thought I was clear.
"But I want to say it again. I only answer questions about the Ajax versus Dinamo Zagreb game."