Gianfranco Zola has been sacked by West Ham in a move that has really surprised no-one apart from the manager himself, if reports that Gianfranco was 'shocked' by the news are to be believed. Mind you, as that statement came from David Sullivan we'll take that with a pinch of salt and assume the little Italian clicked his heels on the way out. Frankly, he's probably best out of it.

Personally. I'm saddened but not at all surprised by the news. I've been a supporter of Zola from the off but once the Icelandic consortium were bought out by David's Gold and Sullivan and Karren Brady was brought in as Managing Director in place of Scott Duxbury, then the writing was well and truly on the wall.

The West Ham 'Project' - as it was dubbed by Duxbury - involved Zola and Steve Clarke working alongside Gianluca Nani and the MD in a kind of business triangle in which plans to move the club along European lines were put in place in a long-term strategy intended to mix the up and coming kids with experienced players in a pan-european transfer policy.

As a plan it wasn't bad, but the mark of Duxbury was always a worry and there were concerns over exactly what influence Nani had on the whole setup. Once Gold and Sullivan had dispensed with two of the points of the triangle then Gianfranco Zola's position was always untenable, as recent rumours regarding transfer offers to other players without Zola's knowledge showed.

I was glad that Zola had the chance to save West Ham from relegation and was pleased that the club were able to pull back from the brink they were teetering on when they lost at home in successive games to Wolves and Stoke. I thought the axe might fall then and even admit to thinking it might be the only way out for all concerned, but I was pleased to be proved wrong as the Italian managed to find enough home form and an away point at Everton to stay up.

Make no mistake though; this was a poor, poor season from West Ham and the paucity of their final points tally only proved just how bad the three below them were. The question has always been though, how much of the bad form was down to poor tactics and inexperience and how much down to boardroom shennanigans, interfering Chairman and undermining statements from the board. I guess we will never know.

With the club will now looking to make a quick appointment there will be much speculation as to who will make the shortlist with Mark Hughes, Avram Grant and Slaven Bilic all favourites to replace Zola in the tainted Upton Park hot seat.
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The official statement from Upton Park read "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."

I'd like to add my own best wishes to that. The man is a class-act in my book and I have no doubt at all - free from the curse of West Ham - Gianfranco Zola will go on to prove himself a fine manager.

As for the rest of us though: As you were!