The papers and web sites are full of talk about Zola being offered a new contract and I must ask, why exactly? We only appointed the guy in mid September so why on earth are we offering a new contract? What did we say in September? We want you until the end of the season and we will see how the ground lies then? I know Tottenham appoint managers on a six month basis but at West Ham, we do things differently - the average tenure is close to a decade!
It's not as if the guy has pulled up any trees! We went out of the League Cup to the mighty Watford, courtesy of Zola selecting an understrength side, and thereby surrendering our best chance of winning a trophy this season. Our FA Cup run saw us triumph over the formidable Barnsley and Hartlepool but came to a juddering halt after a home draw against relegation threatened Miserableborough. In the Premiership, we have averaged a goal a game since Zola took charge, a return that stands unfavourable comparison with both Turds and Roeder. We are on 44 points at the moment with a very challenging run it. If we make it past 50 points, I will be pleasantly surprised. 50 points? That would be just one more than Turds managed last season!
So I ask the question, why are we negotiating a new contract at this stage? The guy is still wearing water wings as a manager and has proved nothing so far.
I agree with the surprise that a NEW contract has to be written up since he has just joined.. BUT you have to stop been so negative about everything else.. this can be classed a good season and next season will be better.. ONE day it will be great and it will be with Zola at the healm.
ReplyDeleteI though you were doing well TBH. Breaks my heart to say it, but you are in pole position for Europe. Maybe Zola was offered a sh*t contract to begin with and told to prove himself / meet targets and a better one awaits? UEFA cup qualification would be a good season for WH. Extra money, more games etc. You'd need a bigger squad though, and no-one cup tied :) Good luck, Iain COYS
ReplyDeleteYou have to be kidding me, Zola + Clarke have done wonderfully for you lot despite massive injuries and a young squad and no funds. Defensively almost as well organized as Hodgson's Fulham atm, which is certainly a sign of good coaching. Even turned Cole into a half-decent footballer, which is almost a miracle (not as big as Bramble into a defender though).
ReplyDeleteAlso another random and unnecessary reference to Spurs - I know it helps you get more hits since it shows up on Newsnow Tottenham, but I'd assume it's better to just have the attention of your own fans?! It just looks obsessive and bitter man.
Cheers Iain. Craig, I'm not saying he has done badly, just that he hasn't done enough to merit a new contract. Anything less and we would be in a relegation battle!
ReplyDeleteAnon, I enjoy the contributions of the Tottenham fans - adds some spice and some of you guys have some GCSEs!
ReplyDeleteYou only have to look at the number of articles with Tottenham in the title to see how jealpus and bitter you West Ham fans really are. Cocky on the back of ONE GOOD SEASON in the last 20 years?
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression he was on a short contract...? None the less, even though we may not be scoring that many goals right now - the way we're playing is better all round. As mentioned already, the defence has been excellent.
ReplyDeleteWe would have scored lots more too if our main strikers weren't out injured. Di Michele gets himself in some _fantastic_ positions, but ever since he took shooting tips from LBM can't hit a barn door.
Tristan... it's not worth the electricity to comment on.
Pete T (Sorry, cba to register its late!)
P.S.
I don't care if we win 1-0 every game so long as we play good football.
Zola signed a rolling contract which would be reviewed at the end of each season. So a new contract would had to have been discussed at this stage of the season.
ReplyDeleteThe fact it is going to be a 4year contract is in recognition of the fact that when all the circumstances of the season are measured and weighed Zola has done superbly.
I know your post is worded so as to invite debate but what the hell I'll bite.
Zola took over a side who for the latter half of the previous season had looked as far removed from a WestHam side as it was possible to get without ringing up Vinnie Jones and asking if he and his old wimbledon mates fancied coming out of retirement. Not only were our results shocking but the football we had played was turgid woeful crap that would make the average sunday league time cringe. Curbs had shown an ability to spend money badly, fail to motivate a team and as for tactics? Well he thought they were those little white minty things that "gave you a lift".
A number of high profile candidates were linked with the job and some were interviewed and when the board met Zola they found the one guy who had the ultimate quality, a quality so rare that it wasnt even on the list of requirements for the job. Duxbury didnt know it existed before he met the guy and to be fair neither did anyone else on the board.
GiannFranco Zola is the embodiment of WestHam United Football Club. He is the greatest player to never have played for the club. If you took the essence of what our club stands for, the sheer joy of playing football, the sense that principles matter more than trophies, that sportsmanship is a sign of strength not weakness and that dedication to the art of football is every bit as important as studying the science of football then it exists in a 5ft6 Sardinian.
There was only one other person on the medias list who could come close and that was Paolo DiCanio. Now dont get me wrong if PDC managed WestHam I would follow that man to the gates of Hell and if he told me to I would walk right through them and kick the Devil in the arse. When I was in Rome for the Ireland Italy 6nations game this year I tied a WestHam scarf to the railing of the Stadio Flaminio where he played his last season. But with Paolo there is an element of the flawed genius, there is a dark side, there is a temper, he and Zola are like fire and ice. They share the same spirit and skill and love of the game but Zola is calmer, more pragmatic, while Paolo is a raging inferno GiannFranco is cold steel.
The board gave us exactly what we demanded from our club in the form of a manager. This was in fact a bigger risk than simply giving us PDC, if they had done that me, you and every Hammers fan would have defended him to the death.
Zola took on a club with an identity crisis, the name The Academy of Football was becoming a snide comment from other fans. He came in and tried to give us exactly what we wanted, WestHam football and it looked against Blackburn and Newcastle that it would work like a charm, but it didnt, we stumbled, it was too far too soon.
This is when we see the pragmatism of Zola come through, he lets Clarke influence team affairs more, he ups the work level on the training pitch, goes back to learning to walk before trying to run, gives the players the tools to do the job he wants them to do. He then places himself squarely in the media spotlight, barely a month into his first job and accepts the blame for the teams failings. He allows a reputation as one of the most gifted players the game has ever seen take a battering in the press to protect his team, to draw the focus away from their short commings, to allow Clarke work unfettered from the press glare. He takes it week after week and every time he stands up to accept responsibility the team watch him go out of the dressing room to throw himself to the lions to protect them.
They know they may never be the player he was but for him, for what he is doing for them they will be the best player they can be, no more than that they will be the best player he can make them be.
Suddenly things start to change, the team stop the rot. As fortunes change Zola points to Clarke and the players and says its down to them. When we stumble he goes forward and again says its down to him, he picks us up by letting himself be knocked down.
With more strife off field than an Eastenders Christmas special he remains calm and dignified and never not once choses to use it as an excuse. He is resolute in defending the club, its position, its plans and its people.
He is brave enough to take the hard decisions, he lets players go in the window, he puts his trust in the players he keeps. When his first major signing isnt an istant success he doesnt let his ego force him to play the kid week in week out with the pressure mounting, he lets him find his feet, he puts the individuals needs above those of his own. He tells him he will be a great player and gives him the time to become one.
He is respectful of other manager, responding with good humour and honesty about their comments, he doesnt balme referees or linesmen, if they are wrong he says so but says it is part of football and doesnt use them as scapegoats.
Even now with the club in 7th he refuses any credit. As injuries mount he refuses to lower his expectations for the club, he will not take the easy option. Even Martin O'Neill has starting blaming Villa losing their champions league chances on injuries but not Zola and because of that what he says rings true. He is believable,if he believes then so can we.
The man gets offered a 4year deal for increased money and does he jump at it? No he agrees to it, so long as his assistant and backroom team get similar deals. Zola and Clarke will be the new Taylor and Clough, they will put our club where we want it to be and not force us to choose between success and the tradiitons that made us love this club in the first place. They will mould the next generation of WestHam players into a winning team by taking all that is great and good about WestHam and fusing it with the work ethic and dedication that was a hallmark of Zola himself, they will teach them the savvy of playing your game in the way that best suits the oppostion in front of you that has been a hallmark of Clarkes coaching.
They will make the Academy of Football a revered title spoken in hushed respectful tones by football fans all over the world. The will make ambition a part of our new tradition, they will take all that we love about the club and build a legacy on it.
Forget 4 more years they can have the job for as long as they want it in my book.
I am flying to Birmingham for the game tomorrow, its litteraly a brief visit as I will be on the ground for only 18hours but I cant wait, if I spend any time in the hotel I will post my thoughts on the trip and the game tomorrow night if not I will do so after I get back on sunday morning.
Yer i've got GCSE'S but your still a cock.
ReplyDeleteand look how successful west ham have been since the EPL was started... FAILURE
ReplyDeleteWhy so negative? not just this post but ALL posts. How has Zola done badly? he hasnt, he has done very well with a limited squad and limited quality. And he needs a new contract because other teams are going to be after him if he keeps this good work up. That and he and Clarke have EARNED new improved contracts. Im sure that majority of west ham fans are very happy to see Zola and Clarke signed new longer deals.
ReplyDeleteThink about the positives as well as negatives...but post about the positives instead.
Honestly, I'm a Spurs supporter, but Zola is a very good manager. You should lock him down for as long as you can or else Chelsea will come knocking. He's made Cole and Di Michele look good, which makes hime near a god for you in my book.
ReplyDeleteWhat is your problem with Zola, he has given West Ham their best season for years (not hard I know as you are perennial under achievers) but grab him while you can because there are not many good managers out there that would want to manage you......yet Spurs have their pick ;-)
ReplyDeleteWest Ham are better than Spurs/Spurs are better than West Ham. Isn't football great. Allows us to stay in the school playground all our lives. Spurs have a slightly better team because they have splashed more cash. It comes down to who's got the most money and who's clever enough to know how to spend it properly. Really, why argue over money?
ReplyDeleteBecause no other muppet wants the 2 bit job
ReplyDeleteSpurs fans - Have you noticed how many West Ham fans post on this blog? About 3 - that is the main man himself, his best mate and himself posing as 'Anonymous'.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think that is?
Maybe its because this blog is such inveterate crap. He tries to be an agent provocateur and you do yourselves no favours by responding to him.
As with all nutters - leave them in the corner with their Balti pie and don't establish eye contact.
He seems to get high up on search engines, etc but my advice is ignore - walk away there is nothing to see here.
west ham are in dire straits, with the news yesterday that the creditor banks are set to take over and kick out the mugs from iceland (Nurool from the Apprentice has got better business accumen!). Anyway, Zola is too big for west ham so you need to beg him with pots of cash. he'll soon nonce you off like everyone else does. good luck in the transfer market this summer with your 50 quid war chest. we'll muddle through i guess, spending another 50 million. You could do with Arry more than ever now.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteTo CelticHammer - 18 April 2009 02:16.
ReplyDeleteHats off to you mate, quite simply the best assessment I have ever read on Zola, Clarke, the team & West Ham's potential future.
I happen to agree with everything you've written and think all West Ham fans should back Zola & his staff - champions have faith in their leaders to deliver & I think we have now have a manager who can make us a real force in the EPL and on the European stage.
Good times ahead for all hammers fans!
LOL 0801 Up early or up all night? You really should be keeping an eye on the compound, not sitting on internet sites all night. Reduced to trying to warn off Tottenham fans now are we? How desperate is that? Still, another hit from you, keep them coming!
ReplyDeleteSorry, had to delete one. If you use the F word, I will simply delete it. Any West Ham fan who uses a racist term will also lead to the post being deleted. What's the point guys?
Celtic, great reply. I will post it in its own right. Have a fantastic day at Villa and email me through an account to run on here please. Big game today!
Typical comment from a wet spammer. I will tell you what though we are proud to be Yids and you lot need to look a bit closer to home. East London is wonderful, yeah right its that wonderful you have all fled to Essex and beyond because the place is now full of crap from all over the world.
ReplyDeleteHammersfan, if you are the guy in charge here could you do something regarding the language on here. I trust you are happy to receive constructive comments from non West Ham fans so please look into this for me. My take on Zola for what it is worth is that you should push the boat out in keeping him and Steve Clarke as from the outside they seem to be doing a great job. Rome wasn't built in a day as they say so stick with the little Italian guy and good luck, apart from 2 games a season! Spurs Jim
ReplyDeletei think zola and clarkey have done a magnificent job managing an understrength west ham side. They have bought free-flowing, exciting football back to upton park which is something every west ham fan has been craving in the past few years. A reason why we could be offering a new contract to zola and clarke is to probably fend off any unwanted interest from chelsea-somewhere why zola and clarke are likely to end up (again). So, okay, we could be doing better, but its still been a great season considering the injuries we have had to key players, so to be asking the question, 'why', is not giving Zola the credit he deserves. On another note, i am certatinly looking forward to see the arrivals that are going to be coming in in the summer. Hopefully someone who can put the ball in the net on a regular basis. Finally, craig, appreciate your comments as i enjoy seeing some friendly and unoffensive comments from spurs fans
ReplyDeletex
I appreciate your concern Jim and I do delete when it is just obscenities and / or racism. There are some dreadful morons out there sadly who take delight in using the F word and calling Spurs fans by the Y word - which I consider unacceptable. And to those that say Spurs fans use the word to describe themselves so West Ham fans can, go to New York, walk up to a 6'6 gangsta type and call him by the N word. You wouldn't because you know what would happen!
ReplyDeleteOf course you're not Tottenham
ReplyDeleteTottenham win trophies, beat West Ham twice a season and aren't on the verge of being taken over by banks due to massive debts
pmsl at jealous bitter Spammers