Poll: the final four

[woodford]

I
I just hope if it is Zola, he doesn't bring that Scottish **** from Chelsea that's being rumoured he's going to cos i despise the Man..

now who do you suppose he meant

[dapablo]

I just hope if it is Zola, he doesn't bring that Scottish **** from Chelsea that's being rumoured he's going to cos i despise the Man..

magical

[clawhammer]

Glad we got him now.....

Too late to curry favour mate because you are winning the exit poll in the snug by a mile

[Fionn]

Looking at the four on that list, you would of thought that none of them (maybe with the exception of Zola, being his first job) would come if they knew there would be no money available?

How true this was by Herts...

[Super_Paolo]

I still feel sorry for Roeder

[prince_huggy]

Glad we got him now.....

I love it when people dig up old threads. I've done it plenty myself.

I never managed to vote when this was 1st doing it's rounds, so I've just voted Zola. Do I win £5?

[Big_Russ]

I love it when people dig up old threads. I've done it plenty myself.

I never managed to vote when this was 1st doing it's rounds, so I've just voted Zola. Do I win £5?

Yeah Chuck will pay you from his happy bank..

[mankytoes]

To be honest i'd still probably vote Slavan. Still, he might not be so keen on making profit for the Icelandic bank creditors.

[IIIronss]

I just see I voted for Laudrup but can't remember why though.

He is at Spartak Moscow.

Donadoni is at Napoli.

Mancini still can't find a job.

[Herts Iron]

He is at Spartak Moscow.

Didnt he leave/get sacked shortly after joining them?

[Chuck D]

Jon

It is interesting.

Who is to say though, that Bilic wouldnt have sussed our problems/best side after three games, instead of thirteen?

Or Donadoni wouldnt have been able to persuade a better calibre of player to join the club, with his prestige as former Italy manager?

Or Collins wouldnt have already uncovered the new Dalglish from his Scottish connections?

Or Mancini wouldnt have allowed Duckers to sell Bellamy, and replace him with no one?

Or Laudrup would have insisted on strengthening the side in January, and we'd be looking forwards to visits to Lithuania?

Or we might have got relegated. Who knows?

[FDiMcA]

Who is to say though, that Bilic wouldnt have sussed our problems/best side after three games, instead of thirteen?

CHUCK!

this is IMHO a libelous statement.
Your indication is that Zola took 13 games to work out our problems and to deliver our best side.

IIRC
He spotted the problems from watching DVD's and the game before he took charge. He knew every problem after game 1.
He then had to COACH players notably converting Parker from a crap impersonation of David Platt into being a passable version of David Batty.
Managers at Charlton, Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham before Zola had all understood Parker was a good player (even an England player) but had not got the best out of him. In 13 games Zola did for Parker what no-one else had been able to do in 13 years. A miracle.
In 13 games Zola took the underachieving wasted oppportunity of Carlton Cole that the likes of Pardew, and Mourinhio had never quite got right and turned him in to a World Cup lynch pin.

Zola took less than 13 games to axe Etherington, something Roeder, Brooking, Pardew, Curbishley had fumbeled.
Zola fixed the obvious things in the blink of an eye. "Etherington is my only winger!" OK we have no wingers.

He then re-invented whole players minds, and playing styles, stripping them down and re-building them with no pre-season, before our very eyes over a run of games.

Lesser men would have made do and mend untill the following July when they could use a pre-season pit-stop. Zola basicly stripped the engine melted down the parts and rebuilt them in new moulds fitted in a new configuration WHILST WE WERE DRIVING ROUND THE RACE TRACK

And he only took 13 x 90 minutes.

The man is a God.

Bow your head, and delete your rascal post.

[Chuck D]

Ha ha, you are funny Fiddy.

[Iron Spine v2.0]

Apparently I voted for Laudrup.

[btajim - mcfc]

Bilic seemed the obvious choice, I think. Ex-Hammer and doing very well with the Croatian side. Choice of the people, definitely.

From what I've heard, Zola gave a fantastic interview and was really enthusiastic to get his chance in English Football as a Manager. He was a fantastic player and is now another Italian making his living out of our game.

[Korea Hammer]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Any sane West Ham fan who at the beginning of last season watched us get overwhelmed and outplayed by pre-hype Man City without having had a single shot on goal knows what an incredible job Zola did. I voted Bilic.

[btajim - mcfc]

I was at the Match. You were still holding us to 0-0 when Noble got sent off and changed the course of the game. It was also Hughes' first Home Premiership Match in charge.

[Korea Hammer]

You've got a point about the sending off, and we did tend to crumble a lot at the first sign of trouble last season (hello Bolton), but we were still horribly unimaginative that day. As I said - not a shot on target the whole game.

[sendô]

Na we were dire in that game even before Noble got sent off.

Zola was never going to win that poll. He had no managerial experience to speak of and no connection to West Ham. If anything it was just a vote on reputation. As a former hammer who had recently out qualified England with Croatia for the Euros Bilic was a shoe in to win that poll.

[btajim - mcfc]

Na we were dire in that game even before Noble got sent off.

Zola was never going to win that poll. He had no managerial experience to speak of and no connection to West Ham. If anything it was just a vote on reputation. As a former hammer who had recently out qualified England with Croatia for the Euros Bilic was a shoe in to win that poll.

Hmmm... We did everything apart from score in the first half and I saw it happening again in the second. No Blue I know was predicting a 3-0 win because the resentment over the Sven sacking was still at large. I don't think we managed to get 40,000 in the place on a hot Sunday Afternoon.

But Zola was managing Italy Under 21's and doing quite well, I think.