Zola and Hughton rivals for Brum post
Published 00:01 20/06/11 By James Nursey
Gianfranco Zola has emerged as Chris Hughton’s main rival for the Birmingham City manager’s job.
The pair have now been interviewed as relegated Blues have stepped up their search for a new boss after Alex McLeish defected to local rivals Aston Villa.
City owner Carson Yeung’s acting chairman at St Andrews Peter Pannu has spoken with both Hughton and Zola. Former Newcastle manager Hughton, 52, impressed in talks on Friday and has experience of promotion from the Championship.
But he was sacked as manager at St James’ Park with the club 11th in the Premier League after a 3-1 defeat to West Brom in December.
The ex-Republic of Ireland and Spurs assistant is keen to return to football as a boss after rejecting the chance to be Martin Jol’s No.2 at Fulham.
Hughton has done his homework on the St Andrews post compiling a detailed dossier on the squad.
But Hong Kong tycoon Yeung would ideally prefer a more high-profile appointment as he tries to grow the club’s brand in Asia.
Zola, 44, remains a household name after playing for Italy, Parma and Chelsea with distinction.
His managerial career has seen him undertake a brief spell in charge of the Italian U-21s and then boss West Ham.
Zola was axed at Upton Park in May 2010 following the club’s takeover by David Sullivan and David Gold in January.
Zola commanded a huge £1.9million-a-year salary at the Hammers and would have to lower his demands to take charge at Brum.
City hope to boost their resources by continuing to pursue McLeish for compensation following his exit from the club.
McLeish walked and joined Villa as a free agent after claiming constructive dismissal with the LMA’s backing.
But Brum’s board insist they gave McLeish their full support by investing £40m in new signings and salaries.
The club’s no-nonsense chief Pannu is an ex-barrister and cop from Hong Kong.
He successfully sued Sullivan and Gold to secure an out-of-court settlement after Yeung bought them out at City and was unhappy with the club’s finances.
Pannu has vowed to drag McLeish through the open courts to secure the £5.4m compensation clause detailed in the Scot’s contract.
A fired up Pannu is also willing to trash McLeish’s reputation in public if necessary in the process to secure Brum their pay-out.
