West Ham win shows that Zola is the man for the job

I have no axe to grind with Portsmouth or Hull or Burnley but I was absolutely thrilled that West Ham won their game at home to Sunderland. That win puts them four points clear of the drop zone and gives them a fighting chance of staying in the top flight.

Deserved

Portsmouth are now officially relegated and to be fair, they had no chance of staying up from a long time ago. Hull and Burnley look likely to join them and whilst both clubs have deserved their time in the Premier League, neither of them are good enough to stay there.

West Ham are a proper Premier League team who have been through some tough times but are where they should be amongst the big boys of English football.

Difficult

Gianfranco Zola has had an incredibly difficult season and as an inexperienced manager he could easily have buckled. As a player he was known for his wonderful skill and his liking for fair play. As a manager he has tried to get his team playing the game properly and has shown himself to be a really nice bloke.

What none of us knew was whether he had the character, spirit and strength of personality to get his team playing with passion and desire in the midst of a tough relegation struggle.

Meekly

When his side surrendered meekly at home to Wolves a few weeks ago and followed that with a home defeat to Stoke, it started to look as though the answer to that question might just be no.

With the new owners David Gold and David Sullivan publicly supporting Zola but being very critical of the players it looked as though time was running out for West Ham in the top flight and for Zola in his job.

Crucial

In the last two games West Ham have picked up a crucial four points and showed a fight and spirit that proves that the players are playing for Zola and shows that the boss can motivate them to battle when they need to.

The 2-2 draw at Everton last week was an excellent result. They came from behind twice, even when conceding with just five minutes left. To do that against a very good and in-form Everton, was a great effort.

Decent

That point would have meant nothing if they hadn’t followed it up with a decent result at home to Sunderland yesterday. The fact that they did speaks volumes for the character of the players and the manager.

OK, it wasn’t a great game and it wasn’t a vintage performance but it had passion, pride and spirit. If the two Davids wanted evidence that their manager was the man to take the club forward, they have had more than enough in the last seven days.

Heights

Zola was a truly great player and it is too early to say whether he will reach the same heights as a manager. If he leads West Ham to safety this season he will have learned an awful lot about his trade and he will move on with confidence in his ability.

There is too much publicity about the darker side of the game and the bad and silly things that some of those involved get up to. It is great that a genuinely nice man is a manager at the top level and that he can achieve what he needs to achieve without upsetting anyone.

I hope he keeps West Ham up and I hope that the two Davids show faith in him and give him another chance next season. He is a really top bloke.