Chelsea defender Tal Ben Haim has attacked under-fire manager Avram Grant, claiming he would never have signed for the club had he knew who would be in charge.

"Jose Mourinho is the reason I came to Chelsea and if I knew Avram Grant was going to be the first team coach then I would have signed for another club," he said.

"It was Jose who brought me here and no one except he and I know the conversation we had when he tried to sign me the first time a year ago last January."

Mourinho eventually signed Ben Haim on a free transfer from Bolton last June, and immediately deployed the Israeli international in his first team line-up.

Following his acrimonious departure in September, however, Ben Haim has been overlooked more often than not by Grant and reduced to action with Chelsea's reserve team.

"The fact is while Jose was the coach I played most of the games and people know me know that I would not have come here to be a reserve," he said.

"I knew nothing good would come for me with Grant as Chelsea coach."

Ben Haim's attack comes in the wake of Chelsea's 1-1 draw with Wigan on Monday, a result which dented their Premier League title hopes and sparked fresh speculation over Grant's future at Stamford Bridge.

Will Tidey / Eurosport