A few days at home in Sardinia seem to have decided Gianfranco Zola that he has unfinished business at West Ham, announcing his decision to not walk away from Upton Park but to see the job through to the end...whatever the 'end' may be!
Following the devastating loss at home to Stoke, the Hammers boss gave the team 3 days to recuperate and jetted home to Italy to consider his future with media speculation that the pressure of the job and a run-in with co-owner David Sullivan had caused Zola to decide to walk-away from the job in which he quickly become marginalised following the boardroom take-over and the subsequent loss of his friends Nani and Duxbury.
But Zola announced later that he had decided to carry on, issuing a statement which said "Losing on Saturday was emotional for everyone but I know we can turn it around and we have the ability to achieve our objectives."
Zola is expected to return to London on Tuesday to take training, with there seeming to be a softening in the attitude of Sullivan towards the beleagured boss. Both Sullivan and David Gold are now said to be 'supportive' of his leadership and that the club are now 'focused on staying in the top fligh.t'
"They have backed me and I am grateful,'' added Zola. "My only thought for now is to keep this club in the Premier League and that remains my goal. I'll give everything I can to make this happen between now and the end of the season.
"I have had time to think and we will have to work harder than we have before. I know we can get the results we need and it is just a question of making it happen. The performance was better on Saturday but it is still not the level we should be at. We can, and will, do better as a team.
"I have a great staff and we will work together to find the solutions. We have a responsibility to turn things around and that is what we will do. I am here and I am ready to do what I need to do to get the results. There is no doubt about that. We have seen before we are capable of playing at a high level.
"We will go to Everton determined to get a result. People might not expect us to get something from the match but we will be positive. No-one should write us off. Although we are in a serious position we have time to sort things out and be in control of our destiny at the end of the season.
"We said before Stoke that one game would not define the season but we know each of the games left will be cup finals. They will be massive and I know the fans will once again get behind us starting with Everton and we will give everything to reward their support. They have been brilliant and we owe them.''
Fighting words: let's hope they transfer to the pitch.
Comments
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Posted by T on 03/30/2010
Toon fan in peace.
Your lot are a historic club and they deserve their place in the PL much more than rugby towns like Wigan do. Unfortunately, as we found out to our own dismay last season, "deserving" a place doesn't translate to keeping one. You have that same aura of doom and gloom that permeated our season last year. Hull have Dowie to keep them up - who will do it for you?
I'm not really sure that Zola is the man for you. He seems too nice to be a manager, too accommodating, and he bought a boatload of weak strikers in January without realising where the team really needed strengthening. But he isn't the root of your trouble - from the outside, it seems as though that blame can be placed on the Icelanders. Gold and Sullivan don't look too much better - trust me when I say we at NUFC know all too well about owners who run their mouths constantly and interfere with the manager.
I hope your fortunes improve and that we will meet in the PL next season.
Blagg: Nice sentiments and, as someone who has a cartload of Geordie in-laws thanks to Lady B's Northumbrian roots, I hope we meet next season too!
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Posted by p kraj on 03/30/2010
I am quite surprised that Zola has not yer lost his job, as that would seem to be the norm for managers these days, but I am glad that he hasn't. Sir Alexander Ferguson himself wasn't too good in his first season, now one must only look at the success of Manchester United to see why they kept him. They recognized his potential, and it paid off. Having said that, I cannot justify West Ham United's predicament. I have not been following too much recently, though the last thing I would have imagined them to be a few years ago was a club fighting relegation. Tevez, Ashton, and Mascherano are all quality players, and didn't become so overnight. No, they were made to be this way, and helped West Ham United avoid relegation. I can only hope that West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers FC will avoid relegation, and will continue to entertain fans for a long time with good football.
Blagg: There's a lot of love for WHU right now. Should I be worried?
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Born at an early age a mere defenders' spit from the Boleyn ground, Billy Blagg has seen every West Ham game from 1898 onwards. Blagg was mentioned by Kenneth Wolstenholme in 1966 as one of the people on the pitch during the famous Hammers win over West Germany that lifted the World Cup and he returned to the pitch again for the 1975 FA Cup Final but stayed on the terrace for 1980 FA Cup victory. Blagg, 26, now lives with his eighth wife and innumerable children in a small semi-detached with chintz curtains in Dagenham, Essex and still attends every Hammers match and training session.
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