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The Jewish Chronicle

Hammers in total chaos

May 13, 2010 12:44

By

Martin Samuel

2 min read

It is said West Ham United need a miracle next season, but their joint owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, have already performed one: they have made people feel sorry for Gianfranco Zola.

Indeed, they have gone one better. They have actually made people think Zola did a good job in trying circumstances and was unfortunate to be sacked. Hardly. The best thing that could be said about Zola's final season at Upton Park was that a good man handled himself with dignity. The rest of it, the worst points total in West Ham's Premier League history, misjudgements in the transfer market and a squad of players that appeared utterly unmotivated long before the owners started poking their oar in, was down to him.

The appointment was ill-conceived from the start anyway. Competent, experienced coaches do not need assistants earning £1 million annually. The reason Steve Clarke, Zola's right-hand man, was so extravagantly rewarded was that he was needed to coax his boss through unfamiliar territory. Sir Alex Ferguson does not pay an assistant anything like Clarke's salary, because Sir Alex Ferguson can look after himself.

So this was a flawed selection that produced a deeply flawed campaign with a set of results that would in most years have seen West Ham relegated. Apart from a winning personality, the only reason Zola continues to elicit sympathy is that his employers turned his drama into their crisis.