Zola Gives Reasons For Staying In Open Letter To The Fans

Ciao

I am happy to announce that I will remain the West Ham manager for the foreseeable future. After losing six games in a row, including three very winnable home games against teams in the bottom half of the table, I thought it advisable to take some time out to consider my options. Should I remain manager of West Ham United or resign.

The most important consideration was whether or not I wanted to continue. I have a contract you see, and so the Board are not able to remove me without digging deep in their pockets, and I know that money is tight at the club. So, as much as Mr Sullivan may wish to sack me, he is not really in a position to do so.

I also needed to consider the wishes of the fans. I heard their cries for me to go after the Stoke game and, for the first time, I had a sense that the fans no longer trusted me. That might have persuaded me to go, but then I thought, most of the fans had left the ground by the time the final whistle blew, so the malcontents who remained were not necessarily a representative sample. Had the majority wanted me out, they would surely have remained to join in the cries for me to go. How could I walk out on these wonderful fans when they wanted me to stay?

Then there was the issue of my salary. £1.9m a year is an awful lot of money and, after my performance as a manager at West Ham, I am unlikely to be offered a similar figure anytime soon. Then there is my dear friend Steve Clarke who, as a journeyman footballer, has never had the opportunity to earn the mega salaries of the Zolas and Beckhams of this world. I owe it to Steve to keep him in the style to which he has recently become accustomed. Had I resigned, I would have betrayed my friend and I am no Brutus.

But finally there is the issue of unfinished business. I took over a team in the top five of the Premiership and, in the space of 18 months, have guided them to the very brink of relegation. Hull are level on points with ourselves with a game in hand so our destiny is no longer in our own hands. Having nearly finished the job, it would be criminal to walk away now with the Championship so nearly in touching distance.

I have had a wonderful break and return fit and ready for the challenges ahead. I am confident that the players will still respect me despite the pathetic figure I cut in interviews after the Stoke game and know that my tactics will come good in the end. I have no intention of changing tactical direction for the Everton game. Why should I? It is not a game we expect a result in anyway.

Yours most sincerely,

Gianfranco Zola