VALENCIA - Chelsea manager Avram Grant felt the Champions League triumph over Valencia was a vindication of his attempt to find "another way" of playing after the departure of Jose Mourinho.
The Blues recovered from going a goal down early on to win thanks to goals from Joe Cole and Didier Drogba after going four Premier League games without scoring.
Grant appeared to confirm reports that part of his remit was to make Chelsea more attractive to watch than they had been under Mourinho, and believes this result could be the catalyst for better times ahead.
"I want the Chelsea fans to respect what Jose Mourinho did for them and what (Claudio) Ranieri did before, I think it's good," he said.
"For me, I understand that I'm new to them but I was chosen to lead the team in another way and I think this is the right thing to do.
"Finish the way of football Chelsea have been playing and try to do another way of football, which I think will be very good for the club.
"I think Chelsea fans will be very happy today with not only the result but with the way we played, which is very important to me.
"I am very pleased for this result because I feel it is the start of a new good way," said Grant.
Grant was taking charge of only his fourth Chelsea match since replacing Jose Mourinho last month, with his three previous outings in the hotseat bringing about a win, a draw and a defeat.
That sole victory was a 4-0 Carling Cup triumph over Hull, and while the win over Valencia trumped that result, Grant shrugged off any suggestion that it was his greatest-ever night in football.
"I cannot say that. It was good but I cannot compare it to other wins, I've had good results before," the former Israel coach said.
"People have told me that it was one of Chelsea's best away games. I can only say that it was my best game in the Champions League as a Chelsea manager," he joked.
"I'm not surprised (by the win), I told you before that I was very happy with the attitude of the players in the last two weeks, in a very difficult time.
"I think we played well in the last two games, I am happy for the win, but I am more happy with the way we won.
"We have tried over the last two weeks to make things very calm because the players know how to play football, but when you see the players in the last game you know that the attitude is good.
"We want to keep that attitude because at the end of the day we also need results."
Grant will look to build on Wednesday's triumph over Valencia when Chelsea go to struggling Bolton on Sunday seeking to close the seven-point gap to Premier League leaders Arsenal.
