Perhaps it’s too easy for commentators to become misty eyed when considering Gianfranco Zola’s managerial potential. The universally popular Zola delighted neutrals as a sporting, professional and classy forward, and the image of him unfathomably eluding four Liverpool defenders in his last appearance for Chelsea is as enduring as any Premier League memory, alongside Cantona’s nonchalant chip against Sunderland, or Stan Collymore’s finest moment in a Liverpool shirt.
Happy days at Chelsea
Zola is so revered on these isles that you’ll be hard pressed to find someone who wants him to fail as a coach, and it’s therefore unsurprising that the media and many neutral fans are ready to make excuses for the Sardinian’s unremarkable record as West Ham’s manager. True, the club were left in financial disarray after the contractual extravagances dished out by Eggert Magnússon and Alan Curbishley. And true, this has limited Zola’s dexterity in the transfer market. It’s also been the case that West Ham have struggled with injuries this season, a legacy of the previous reign signing players with poor injury records – the notoriously unlucky Kieron Dyer may never play again, and although the Hammers may receive an insurance pay-out if he does call it a day before his contract runs out, his wages have undoubtedly prevented them from bringing extra players in to aid their fight against relegation. They already lost one important player to early retirement this season in the shape of Dean Ashton, who was forced to hang up his boots at the age of just 26. It would be fair to say that the cards Zola was dealt when he joined the table in September 2008. But West Ham’s lowly league position, 17th with two games to go at the time of writing, still exposes failures on the part of the managerial team.
Certainly Zola’s first season was positive on the whole. At times it looked like he and his assistant Steve Clarke, another ex-Chelsea man, might be the dream ticket for the East Londoners. Zola implemented a solid 4-3-2-1 formation with a lone front-man, which echoed that used by José Mourinho at Clarke’s old club. Zola’s encouragement got the best out of Carlton Cole, who was considered something of a joke before the new manager arrived, but ended the season with 12 goals. The side was a mix of experienced seniors and young British talent, with Jack Collison, Junior Stanislas, Mark Noble and James Tomkins looking like the future of the club. They were strong defensively, results were good, and they finished in 9th place. Unfortunately for Zola, that is as good as it has got for him at Upton Park.
Zola has found management tough and unforgiving
In the transfer market, Zola has been hit and miss. The January signings of Benni McCarthy, Ilan and Mido were inexpensive and covered his bases as far as forwards were concerned, but only the Brazilian has found the net with anything approaching regularity. McCarthy still cuts the jaded figure he was during the last two years of his spell at Blackburn, while at £1k-per-week, Mido looks a rip-off. Teenage left-back Fabio Daprelá is showing promise and looks a good signing, Alessandro Diamanti has shone intermittently, but one transfer in particular was a colossal error. The German-Ugandan Savio Nsereko was signed from Seria A side Brescia as a 19-year-old for a reported £9m, including add-ons, in January 2009. The winger, who Zola said he could “see my own reflection” in, played ten games, didn’t score once, and departed for Fiorentina in the summer. With transfer funds at a premium, the club could not afford waste like that.
The Hammers have occasionally shown fight this season, such as when they rallied to recover from two goals down at home to Arsenal early in the season, and more recently when they twice refused to let the points slip away in their must-win game with Wigan that ultimately ensured their survival. But too often they have put in soporific displays, a miserable 4-0 loss at home to Manchester United only beaten to the season’s nadir by a desperate performance in a 3-1 reverse to Wolves at Upton Park. Zola’s motivational qualities have come under scrutiny, and he appeared to come close to resigning after that damaging defeat to Wolves, taking a sabbatical back home to Sardinia to ponder his future. When he returned he vowed to see his side to survival, and in that respect he has succeeded – but it seems unlikely he will remain in the hotseat beyond the current season.
The Hammers have disappointed this season
If he does resign (or even get the sack) in the summer, Zola’s failure at West Ham will have been self-inflicted. When he joined, he didn’t even possess the necessary coaching badges to become a Premier League manager – the league itself gave him special dispensation to lead West Ham while studying for the requisite qualifications. His intelligence and qualities have been evident to commentators throughout his reign, but so has his inexperience. Errors in the transfer market, peculiar team selections and a failure to instil defensive discipline this season almost cost West Ham dearly – it is their good fortune that the three teams below have been as poor as they are, because the Hammers have been the Worst of the Rest, and Zola is not blameless. He should not have jumped straight into such a high-pressure job with no previous managerial experience.
It doesn’t take a great leap to see how it should be done. Envisage an Italian who signed for Chelsea under Gullit. Towards the end of his playing days, he studied for a coaching license and was granted all the necessary qualifications to become a manager when he retired. After a few years of studying the game, he took over at an unfashionable League One club and took them to the play-offs. The season after, he was approached by a Championship club, and he took them to the Premier League at the first time of asking. This is not Zola in another dimension, but the reality for his ex-team mate Roberto Di Matteo, whose achievements with MK Dons and West Brom have taken him to the English top flight after only two full years of management. If only one of those makes it to the end of next season, do not be surprised if it is the man whose playing days will be remembered as the more pedestrian of the two.
