Former Chelsea favourite Gianfranco Zola is busy preparing for his first day as manager of West Ham United.

The 42 year Italian was unveiled as the club’s first ever foreign coach at a news conference at Upton Park yesterday. And he spent most of it insisting that his lack of experience wouldn’t be an issue.

Despite coaching the Italian under 21 team, this will be Zola’s first time coaching a club side and as such, he’s still to obtain the Uefa Pro Licence.

However, Zola was in a confident mood when he met reporters saying: “I know I am not the most experienced manager, but I have ideas and have been involved in football for 20 years.

“It’s a great opportunity and I am sure I can do a great job for this club.”

Zola has signed a 3 year deal and the Hammers have agreed with the Premier League that he will have the required Pro Licence within the next 15 months.

Meanwhile, Zola refused to confirm that Chelsea assistant Steve Clarke, who coached him at Stamford Bridge, will be his number two although it was announced that Antonio Pintus would be coming in as a fitness coach and that caretaker manager Kevin Keen would remain part of the club’s coaching staff.

Hammers fans will hope that later events won’t be an omen for things to come. Hours after Zola took the job, one of the club’s main sponsors, the XL Group, announced it had gone in to administration.

» Comments