Zola launches astonishing attack on new West Ham owners

Gianfranco Zola has blasted West Ham owner David Sullivan and insists he will not be undermined by anyone at the club.

Zola was fuming when he read comments from Sullivan that the club is heading for 'Armageddon’ if they get relegated, and wants his manager and players to take a 25 per cent pay cut.

Even if West Ham manage to avoid the drop, Sullivan and his co-owner David Gold will have to slash the £60million wage bill to keep the east London club in business.

Zola clearly wanted to let his feelings be known and showed it passionately during an emotional press conference at the training ground.

But the Italian coach is adamant he will not walk away from the job and has sent a clear message to Sullivan and Gold that he will not tolerate interference.

Zola said: “I am too connected and too tied up to the players. I have a relationship with them, I have a relationship with the supporters.

“I don’t like to leave situations unfinished but I am a person with principles and I won’t allow anybody to walk over my principles or my person. I hope that gives you an idea.

“Personally I can say I’m not here for the money. When I signed a contract I didn’t even know how much I was going to earn.

“I came here because I had a plan and a project and I liked what I was going to do. After a while the club called me in and proposed me a new contract. It’s not about money, it’s about working for something positive.”

Despite the crippling financial situation at Upton Park, Zola is incensed by the timing of Sullivan’s comments.

The West Ham boss insists he knew nothing about a potential pay-cut and had to hold showdown talks with his players to keep them focused on tonight’s game against Birmingham.

Zola said: “I think that article should have been done at another time.

“Before a match like this it would have been better to say that at another time, and maybe to talk to us first before talking to a newspaper.

“They can talk about players as much as they want. But when an article comes before a match like this, I’m not happy about that.

“I don’t think it’s any good for the whole team. I haven’t spoken to them (the owners) about it.”

And he was defiant about speaking out against his bosses at this time. “I don’t really care which way it will be taken. For me it’s important I get the team in the right way.”

With West Ham sliding back into the bottom three following their defeat at Burnley on Saturday, the last thing Zola needed was his owner trying to destabilise the team ahead of such a big game.

He is confident he has the full backing of his players and hopes they will not be affected by a possible pay cut at the end of the season.

“We just had a quick chat to remind them our job is to play football and focus on the matters that really count on the pitch. Scoring goals and not allowing the other team to do that.

“Fortunately the players are focused on the match and I know they will do a good job tomorrow. Simple.”

Zola is regarded as one of the nice guys in the football world, but was also angry to see Sullivan compare him to Ossie Ardiles, who took Tottenham to the brink of relegation in the 1990s.

The former Chelsea player admits he will not change his management style just to suit Sullivan and believes he can still become a top manager in England.

“Do I have to be horrible to do the job? If you want me to be horrible I can be horrible as well. I don’t understand this. I have known a lot of people I have treated with respect and they have given 100 per cent. I have seen people being horrible to others and they receive nothing. I stick to my philosophy and this won’t change it.

“Whether my way is correct and is the best way, I don’t know. But if I were different, and doing my job in a different way, I think I would be a failure because I have to be always what I am. Then the results will judge me.”

And he even compared the web of intrigue at the club to a Matryoshka, the Russian dolls that come one inside another.

“We have been dealing with so many problems it is like a Matryoshka. You open up a box and there’s another box then another box and another box. For me it has been the same with problems; you sort one and then another one comes out.”

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