Zola on the brink at West Ham?
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Gianfranco Zola's future is on the line at West Ham following the shock home defeat to Bolton and the return of a genuine threat of relegation.
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Gianfranco Zola: Strained relations with new regime at Upton Park
If Zola does go in the summer, there would be a massive overhaul of the playing staff should a new manager move in, with Mark Hughes and Slaven Bilic the favourites to succeed him. And it is not just Zola's future that is on the line - it could be that half of the current squad might follow him out of the Upton Park door.
There are already murmurings within Upton Park that Zola is under enormous pressure and that he is feeling the strain of the club's demanding new owners David Gold and David Sullivan, and the indications are that few would be surprised to see Zola simply walk away at the end of the season.
Zola is wealthy in his own right after an illustrious career in Italy and England, as a legend with Chelsea and Napoli, where he played with Diego Maradona, though he has steadfastly insisted that he has a mission to complete at the club and wishes to see it through.
But much depends on the next few games, and whether West Ham can escape relegation and ideally avoid spending the rest of the season looking over their shoulder in fear of the drop.
While there is uncertainty about Zola's future, the players, some of them Zola's choices, will discover that several will follow the manager out of the door if the Italian does leave in the summer. The arrival of Hughes or Croatia coach and Hammers icon Bilic would result in the break-up of the current team, meaning many Hammers players may now be playing for their futures.
Zola has made no secret of his unease at the way Gold and Sullivan have taken over the club with a demanding attitude. In the past Zola has had a free rein while the banks have been trying to sort out the financial mess but he is now answerable to Karren Brady, the troubleshooter brought in by Gold and Sullivan due to her vast experience at Birmingham City. With the team's form dipping ahead of the match with Birmingham recently, Sullivan said that the players at Upton Park are vastly over paid - and so too is the manager.
Zola hit back in a public manner, criticising Sullivan for making openly provocative remarks on the eve of such a big game, but it worked, and seemed to motivate the players, who wanted to win for their manager and pulled off the desired result.
Those players will need to remind themselves of what is at stake, and what the future may hold, if they let down their manager again, as they did against Bolton on Saturday.
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He was seen as a possible future coach of Chelsea and now... Looks like no chance already.
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actually i find him okay leh
maybe the situation at west ham really quite bad
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the players just dont seem to play well together.
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That's his job, get the players to play well together... If they are not afraid of him or he can't motivate them, then that's the problem...
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I think its more like he doesn't have the necessary players.
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Originally posted by Y_Shun:
I think its more like he doesn't have the necessary players.
zola signed a lot of players didnt he?
or maybe he needs more time but i doubt west ham can afford the wait.
i hope they'll do better.
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Originally posted by Y_Shun:
I think its more like he doesn't have the necessary players.
he has but unfortunately they're all injured....
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west ham were terrible yesterday against chelsea.
i still believe they can avoid the drop as burnley and hull are in even worst form.