Gianfranco Zola Managing WHUFC

[RUPERT]

Gianfranco Zola has signed a 3 year managing deal with the Hammers.

How do you think he will go?

[Bomber]

Will get "Hammered".

[FerrariTifosi27]

He will use David Di Michele and finally the Hammers will do something.

[Piola]

Gianfranco Zola’s West Ham move has got James Horncastle pondering the different criteria English and Italian clubs use when selecting a Coach

If anyone has any doubts about Gianfranco Zola’s ability to replace Alan Curbishley, they should remember Napoli entrusted him with filling Diego Maradona’s boots once the Argentine star fell by the wayside.

It’ll be interesting to discover over the next few days what exactly West Ham fans expect from Zola. His coaching experience is relatively limited, confined to helping Pierluigi Casiraghi out with the Italy Under-21 side, which have played some delightful attacking football over the last two years yet rarely delivered.

One has to ask whether the 42-year-old would have been given the same opportunity so soon in Italy. Of the Italians who played in the 1997-98 Chelsea squad and later coached, not one has got a job in Serie A. Why, for instance, did Cagliari pass up the chance to appoint Sardinia’s favourite son after a deal with Davide Ballardini fell through during the summer?

The answer is relatively simple. Coaching positions are earned in Serie A, wannabe tacticians have to show a commitment to the profession and work their way up through the ranks, which I suppose is what Zola has done with the Under-21s, though West Ham is his first job in charge of a club.

All of which leads one to compare and contrast the criteria Premiership and Serie A clubs use to select a Coach. Premiership sides appear more willing to take a punt on someone with powers beyond the chalkboard.

Middlesbrough chose Gareth Southgate more for his history with the club than his proven ability as a trainer. Sunderland likewise bet on the inspirational bull in a china shop qualities of Roy Keane who not only pulled the club from the bottom of the Championship, but also kept them in the Premiership with a degree of comfort.

West Ham’s board, which includes the Italian Gianluca Nani, has no doubt followed the same line of thinking. Zola is charismatic, a legend in England and all of London, and players will look forward to working with and for him.

Serie A clubs go on experience, they rarely play the maverick and employ a recently retired fan favourite with little or no tactical background. The average Italian Coach has to have worked at three clubs before he is given a shot at the big time in Serie A.

Having said that, England manager Fabio Capello and his Republic of Ireland counterpart Giovanni Trapattoni started their careers on Milan’s bench, having served apprenticeships coaching the Rossoneri’s youth sides. Both had of course played for the club and knew it inside out.

At the end of the day, it depends on the personality of the man at the helm. A Coach doesn’t have to have been a player to be successful. Arrigo Sacchi once said: “You don’t have to have been a horse to be a jockey.” He doesn’t have to have served an apprenticeship or earned his coaching badges. He merely has to convince his players they can win and show them how to do it.

Interesting read, and correct too, but will Zola's experience help him in his time in England?

Depends on just how high the WHU team is capable of reaching IMO.

and I doubt that Di Michele will just walk into the first team, and Zola won't favour him just because of his nationality.

[pires7]

So he wouldn't have a chance in hell of coaching a Serie A side? At the moment or possibly in the future?

[pires7]

Good article above also. In America the best B-ball coaches weren't all gun players, they do the tough work most of the time to get the big gigs, college records. The duds come to Aus etc. to get a straight up senior role without an apprenticeship and usually leave with their tails between their legs. Why give an inexperienced coach a 100 million dollar team?

[Hawkesy]

arsene wenger - great manager, crap player
Jose mourinho - great manager, crap player
Bryan Robson - Great player, crap manager

Just being good at the sport doesn't mean you are a good manager. Zola was a superb player but i really hope he falls flat on his face. It's a risk by the scum, taking on a completely unproven coach. A risk that could be amazing and work, obviously I hope it fails and he bankrupts them with some of the worst signings in the world on huge salaries for many years. a bit like agent roeder tried to do with christian dailly.

[sweeps]

Very interested to see how he goes as a coach, but dont know how he will do.
But will be watching very closely!

[Hawkesy]

Very interested to see how he goes as a coach, but dont know how he will do.
But will be watching very closely!

You have to watch him closely, he's so short if you don't he'll hide below the grass.

[delfino_1936]

Very interested to see how he goes as a coach, but dont know how he will do.
But will be watching very closely!

You have to watch him closely, he's so short if you don't he'll hide below the grass.

you keep paying him out Hawkesy but he's probably better than most English players that have ever played the game ;)

this what soccernet said

But Zola, who today became Chelsea's 12th permanent manager after agreeing a three-year contract, does not envisage any difficulty working with Nani.

[Hawkesy]

you keep paying him out Hawkesy but he's probably better than most English players that have ever played the game ;)

apart from one piss take about him being short, when i have "paid him out". He was a class player and one of the best I have ever seen.

[delfino_1936]

you keep paying him out Hawkesy but he's probably better than most English players that have ever played the game ;)

apart from one piss take about him being short, when i have "paid him out". He was a class player and one of the best I have ever seen.

hook line and sinker

i'm glad you owned up to him being one of the best ;)

[diegom]

arsene wenger - great manager, crap player
Jose mourinho - great manager, crap player
Bryan Robson - Great player, crap manager

Just being good at the sport doesn't mean you are a good manager. Zola was a superb player but i really hope he falls flat on his face. It's a risk by the scum, taking on a completely unproven coach. A risk that could be amazing and work, obviously I hope it fails and he bankrupts them with some of the worst signings in the world on huge salaries for many years. a bit like agent roeder tried to do with christian dailly.

How can u forget the GREAT man - Diego Armando MARADONA??
BEST player ever to grace the hallowed turf, shocking coach, tbh

[Hawkesy]

How can u forget the GREAT man - Diego Armando MARADONA??
BEST player ever to grace the hallowed turf, shocking coach, tbh

can't remember him ever gracing the hallowed turf, pele would have played there in '66 though.

[Piola]

Carlo Ancelotti - great player, great manager
Roberto Donadoni - great player, decent but not the best manager
Roberto Mancini - great player, decent but not the best manager

then Arrigo Sacchi, who didn't actually play at a high level at all, served only a short coaching apprenticehip with Parma (who were in C) at the time, and got the Milan job only cause his Parma beat them in a Coppa Italia game and Berlusconi was impressed

so I don't think you can judge yet, he could be great or shiiite

[Bomber]

IMO - the most exciting Italian player to play EPL, De Canio a close second. Good luck to him but what are the expectations in reality? If they finish mid-table, he'll have done well. He will need a thick skin for the media alone.

[Hawkesy]

IMO - the most exciting Italian player to play EPL, De Canio a close second. Good luck to him but what are the expectations in reality? If they finish mid-table, he'll have done well. He will need a thick skin for the media alone.

Curbishley got them mid table and it wasn't enough. west ham have many similarities with newcastle - the first being illusions of grandeur.

[Facts and Stats]

Wess Ham have won some cups since the 50's.........What have Newcastle won?

Back to the manager/player thing

Ferguson....crap player
Benitez....crap player
Dalglish.....just great at everything
Barnes...crap manager

So much is now computer aided, diet related, etc , I dont think it matters at all if you were a good player or not.

[Hawkesy]

Wess Ham have won some cups since the 50's.........What have Newcastle won?

Some but not many, nothing since 1980 yet still think they're a big side. They are a back street east london club that if it wasn't for the fact that Brooking is a senior role in the FA wouldn't even be in the premiership.

[Facts and Stats]

I am not trying to wind you up, but I do have a soft spot for your rivals. I think I explianed why before.

I think the Brooking quote is a bit extreme, but I know where you are coming from.

In all seriousness I dont think West Ham and Newcastle are the same, one thinks they are big and great and deserve to be up with the real big teams. The other strives to be a regular top tier team. Most West Ham fans would settle for years of upper mid table seasons I think, without worrying about the drop......

[Hawkesy]

I am not trying to wind you up, but I do have a soft spot for your rivals. I think I explianed why before.

I think the Brooking quote is a bit extreme, but I know where you are coming from.

In all seriousness I dont think West Ham and Newcastle are the same, one thinks they are big and great and deserve to be up with the real big teams. The other strives to be a regular top tier team. Most West Ham fans would settle for years of upper mid table seasons I think, without worrying about the drop......

Brookings role in the FA is surely the only explanation as to why they were never deducted points over the Tevez/Mascharano saga. They're not the same but the similarity is there, they've both just sacked their manager over their delusions of grandeur, i mean curbishley got them to that mid table .

they both think they've got great fans but both forget when their fans forgot about them in their years in the wilderness. They both think they're big clubs when really in this day and age if you've not got a billionaire backing you're NOTHING!!