Zola Sacked as West Ham Manager...

[Kain]

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West Ham United have, as expected, parted company with manager Gianfranco Zola.

The Hammers have confirmed that they have sacked the Italian, following a meeting on Tuesday.

It comes as little surprise, as he has been at loggerheads with new owners David Sullivan and David Gold almost since the day they took charge at Upton Park in January.

Zola was popular both with the players and fans at West Ham, but despite guiding them to Premier League safety his tenure has ended less than 12-months after he took charge at the club.

The club confirmed Zola's exit in a statement, saying: "West Ham United confirm that they have terminated the contract of Gianfranco Zola.

"The Board of Directors would like to thank him for his contribution and wish him well for the future. The club will now be focusing its efforts on seeking a replacement.

"The club will be making no further comment on this matter."

 

[Stevo the Villan]

Werewolf and Pornodwarf doing themselves proud once again.

cuuuuuuuuuuuuunts

 

[James]

Avram would be a good appointment in fairness to them.

 

[Lord Dula]

i think they'll go bilic

 

[James]

Grant is 4/9 to get it. As some of us found out on Sunday, the bookies don't get it wrong

 

[Zico]

Bilic or Grant... won't be hard to get an upgrade on Zola.

 

[flobaba]

Being a jolly good fellow is just not enough is it Zola. I don't see him making a premiership return for quite a while. needs somewhere there's less pressure and that allows more time to prove himself with his own playing / coaching philosophy.

 

[Rorz]

I think this is probably best for West Ham. I reckon with Zola at the helm next season, their situation would not have improved and they may have struggled again.

Must say West Ham's board have got the timing spot on. Sacked him any earlier, the team may have collapsed and been relegated, and sacking him later in the summer would leave the new coach little team to prepare for the new season. This way they have plenty of time to decide a new coach and give him plenty of time to prepare.

 

[Klaus Daimler]

Werewolf and Pornodwarf doing themselves proud once again.

cuuuuuuuuuuuuunts

Indeed. Typical decision from a board to cover its own ass. Nobody would have done a significantly better job with West Ham under the current circumstances (really, his marquee signings were a striker from Serie B and a 33 year-old out-of-contract Mexican who couldn't get a game in Spain). The blame for their terrible season should be laid at the boardroom and the various owners who have ****ed the club up beyond belief.

 

[Stevo the Villan]

To be honest its not the sacking of him I disagree with, they weren't exactly doing well. Although personally I would have given him a few months of next season.

It's the way they go about it. They've been behind Zola all the way. Only 2 weeks ago they said they wanted him as their manager. Now they go and sack him. Good selling poin for any new managers "We'll be behind you, but in secret we'll work to get you out"

And they've gone and said they need to sell players to raise funds and cut wages. That's a surefire way to lower the prices of their players because people know they need to sell.
Apart from Scott Parker of course, he's the only player not for sale. I'm sure that'll encourage him to stay. "Please stay at our club, look how much ambition we have, we're selling everyone because we're skint"

Go back to selling dildos and barking at the moon you dickheads

 

[GoonerAG]

To be honest its not the sacking of him I disagree with, they weren't exactly doing well. Although personally I would have given him a few months of next season.

It's the way they go about it. They've been behind Zola all the way. Only 2 weeks ago they said they wanted him as their manager. Now they go and sack him. Good selling poin for any new managers "We'll be behind you, but in secret we'll work to get you out"

And they've gone and said they need to sell players to raise funds and cut wages. That's a surefire way to lower the prices of their players because people know they need to sell.
Apart from Scott Parker of course, he's the only player not for sale. I'm sure that'll encourage him to stay. "Please stay at our club, look how much ambition we have, we're selling everyone because we're skint"

Go back to selling dildos and barking at the moon you dickheads

Well the former they certainly do anyway

 

[Clrnc]

Zola have been quite decent, good bloke, unfortunately quite unlucky.

 

[bertlb2]

I don't know about this one frankly. That he is sacked was expected, but he really didn't receive any help from the owners. In the end, WHU was poor, and that he gave a lot of time to youngsters is surely a good thing for the next man to take charge. At this point, I don't think many manager with a currecnt job would go there, as it seems to be still quite a gamble: need to rebuild, financial difficulties (?). I am not sure Bilic is a good fit at this point in his career without much experience in club football. Bring Curbishley back lol!

 

[Kain]

Zola didn't have bundles of club football experience as manager either before this appointment, in fact he had none and was helping the Italian U21's. Not to sure Curbishley would return to West Ham but boringness aside he is an adept manager and understands the importance and what needs to be done to stay & survive in the Premier league.

It will be interesting to see what happens to Steve Clarke in all this, will he stay with West Ham or move on?

 

[bertlb2]

Well that is a good question. I understand he was in charge of the defensive aspect of WHU play, and it was a big reason why they had trouble. He is a great coach, no doubt, but I don't think it is fair to consider Zola a failure and Clarke a success at WHU.