The Guardian says Shevchenko demanded to know why he had remained an unused substitute. Not for the first time, Grant's skills as a Stamford Bridge diplomat were tested.

At Bolton yesterday, with Didier Drogba suspended, Grant had the opportunity to restore Shevchenko and potentially score points with Roman Abramovich, who did more than anybody to oil the wheels of the striker's £30m transfer from Milan last year.

Instead, Grant started with Salomon Kalou as a lone spearhead and the Ivorian troubled Bolton before the interval with his tireless running, scoring Chelsea's goal in a 1-0 win. Grant twisted the knife further into Shevchenko at half-time by replacing Kalou, who had a hamstring strain, with Claudio Pizarro. Shevchenko's place in the attacking pecking order appeared to be confirmed.

"They pay me to be in charge; I have to be in charge and make the decisions," Grant said. "When I got this job nobody said I had to pick the friends of Peter Kenyon or anyone else at the club. Every player has good times and bad times and I'm sure Sheva will be a great player for us. But I need to make decisions for the good of Chelsea."

Shevchenko did not shed any tears when Jose Mourinho departed but, to his chagrin, his situation now seems even worse.