West Ham unveil new boss Zola
Thursday, 11 Sep 2008 22:42
West Ham unveil former Chelsea star Gianfranco Zola as new boss
West Ham United have officially presented Gianfranco Zola as the club's new manager to replace Alan Curbishley, who quit last week.
The Hammers have moved quickly to replace the man at the helm after their former boss handed in his resignation after disagreements with the board over his role in player transfers.
Zola has signed a three-year contract at Upton Park after resigning from his post as coach of the Italy under-21s.
"It is a club that has tradition and is blessed with talents," Zola said.
"My job is to develop those talents, as individual players and as a team.
"I want to give the players all my experience and all my knowledge to help them to become better players. I will do everything I can to be a success in this job."
Despite officially taking charge this week, he will leave team selection and tactics for Saturday's trip to West Bromwich Albion to coach Kevin Keen, who is still in place at the club.
This means his first game in full charge of the club will be an intriguing contest against currently managerless Newcastle United on September 20th.
The Magpies suffered a similar fate to the Hammers last week when their manager, Kevin Keegan, quit the club shortly after the end of the transfer window because of transfer-related off-field issues.