Dynamic duo: Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke on the 'insanity' of their rescue mission at West Ham

15 August 2009 14:38
Colleagues at Chelsea and now West Ham, Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke have also been the closest of friends for 13 years. This is the first time they have agreed to  be interviewed together[LNB]Matt Lawton: When you arrived here 11 months ago, there were those who thought everyone involved was mad. You, Franco, for walking into a club in financial meltdown, and you, Steve, for leaving Chelsea. And West Ham for turning to someone with no managerial experience.[LNB]Gianfranco Zola: It was insane. Totally insane.[LNB]ML: You're joking, right?[LNB]GZ: I'm not joking. I couldn't believe West Ham were asking me to be their manager, because it amounted to a massive gamble for everyone. The Premier League is very competitive and you have to be prepared for that. They took a gamble, and I have to say they have been very good to me and I hope it is going to be successful for them. But before I took the job I had to give it a lot of thought. I spoke to Steve, and if Steve had said 'No' I'm not sure I would have taken it. [LNB]Steve Clarke: I wish I'd never taken the phonecall. When I saw his name, I thought: 'What does he want?' It came after one of the first summers in a long time when I hadn't gone across to Sardinia to see Franco. Most did a lot of good work in a very difficult year (2007-08) under Avram Grant. We went very close to winning the Champions League.[LNB]But this was an opportunity for me at the right time. A chance to challenge myself. I could have sat at Chelsea. I could have had the easiest life. But I think every success under a different manager would have been diluted for me. It wouldn't have felt the same.[LNB]With each change it would have become less about me and more about them. So for me this was a chance to push myself. I knew what Franco wanted. What he expected. It was a chance to work with a different group, see if I could get the respect of those players as a coach. I'm quite ambitious. I want to see how good I can be. [LNB] Sofa, so good: Zola and Clarke are smiling through the financial crisis at West Ham after turning round the club's playing fortunes in the second half of last season[LNB]ML: What did you learn from Jose Mourinho?[LNB]SC: I think you learn from every manager you work with. But I would say more from Mourinho than any other manager. I'd never seen preparation that was so meticulous. The attention to detail was staggering, at first. Then over a period of time you get used to it. You think, 'OK, that's the way to work.' It was a good schooling. [LNB]ML: Now Chelsea have Carlo Ancelotti. The man, Franco, who sold you to Chelsea when he was at Parma. After years of upheaval will he bring stability to the club?[LNB]SC: Good question. Based on their track record, probably not. It depends how the team do. I don't think they have shown themselves to be very patient. They are always chasing success, and if you are chasing success somewhere along the way there are casualties.[LNB]GZ: Carlo Ancelotti is a good coach and a good man. I worked with him for just three months at Parma, before I left for Chelsea, although I had worked with him before with the national team. In my first game for the national team I played with him.[LNB]But I agree with Steve. Much depends on results at Chelsea. The club is very ambitious and they want to achieve a high level of results.[LNB]SC: It goes with the job at Chelsea. It's a job in which you have to be successful. And you don't get long before you have to be successful. [LNB]Open relationship: In their first season, Zola and Clarke guided West Ham into the top half of the Premier League[LNB]ML: You arrived at a club in crisis. You've had to sell players, drastically reduce the wage bill, operate without the kind of money now at the disposal of so many of your rivals. And yet amid all that you managed to guide West Ham to ninth place last season.[LNB]SC: There were difficult moments. October and November were tough. It required a lot of strong characters. There was a big cloud over the club but inside it was very strong. And Franco should take a lot of credit for that. It was down to his character. He kept everyone positive. We made a point of being bright and bubbly in front of the players and they responded. [LNB]ML: But look at what you're up against. Manchester City have spent £93.5million this summer. You guys have spent nothing.[LNB]GZ: We do have a tough job. We are not competing with Manchester City on a financial front but on the football pitch, you never know. Money is important but it's not everything. Sometimes good work is done with passion, enthusiasm presence can be as valuable as many millions of pounds. A job can be done.[LNB]As long as the people realise the difficulties and understand that you cannot compete for the first five places. But if people back us, and everyone stays positive, and we believe in ourselves[LNB]ML: You don't feel, then, that the rug is being pulled from under you? [LNB]GZ: I don't think anybody at the club is interested in undermining us. We can't cry about the financial problems the club have endured. I'm sure the club are trying hard to strengthen the team. I'm sure players will arrive before the transfer window closes. But, in the meantime, we have to make sure the players we have are ready. We have some good players. Some exciting young players.[LNB]ML: You appear to have worked wonders with Carlton Cole.[LNB]GZ: It is mainly down to the player.[LNB]SC: He's starting to grow up. The season before we came he had to work very hard. The West Ham fans were not sure about him, and he worked hard to get their respect. And then we came in and gave him a little bit more. We trusted him, we played him, never questioned him. And he just got more confident. I had Carlton as a youth-team player. Some players mature at 18. Others at 28. I think Carlton comes towards the higher end of that scale.[LNB]Chelsea sent him out on loan for a couple of years but he spent that time just waiting to get back to Chelsea. When he left he started to realise it was down to him, and if he gets 20 goals this season I think he can make it on to that plane to South Africa with England. I want 20 goals, though! [LNB]GZ: We haven't seen the best of Carlton Cole yet. He is starting to realise the potential he has. Trust me on this.[LNB] Double act: Cole has flourished under Zola's tutelage, with the Italian demanding 20 goals this season[LNB]ML: John Terry, Franco, is someone who has spoken of your qualities as a mentor. Do you have a talent for that?[LNB]GZ: I've been doing this job for just 11 months, so I don't know if I'm good yet. But I like to spend time with the players. Talk to them. Share information with them. Try and add something to their game. I think you have to be honest. And when I say honest I mean you have to be yourself. Knowledge is the key, and if you are giving them knowledge, players will respect that. You can do it by being a nice boy or a dirty b******. But the key is to provide them with knowledge. As long as you are fair with them, that you show you want to improve them, then players will respond to that.[LNB]ML: Some might consider you to be too nice for management.[LNB]SC: I think there's a side of Franco people don't always see. There's a steely determination. He knows what he wants and he normally gets it. And there are different ways of getting the same result. You can scream and throw tea cups, or you can speak to people in a more pleasant manner and gain respect that way.[LNB]GZ: You just don't know me very well. I am a nasty piece![LNB]SC: He just keeps all the bad stuff under the radar.[LNB] Succesful past: Clarke (second left) and Zola (centre) win the Cup Winners' Cup against Stuttgart in 1998[LNB]ML: Here people clearly don't think so. You remain the only player to win Footballer of the Year without playing a full season (he was crowned in the season he joined Chelsea, having signed in the November). And you were awarded an OBE.[LNB]GZ: There was a ceremony at the embassy in Rome. It was one of the most emotional days of my life. It was something I didn't expect. I came to this country simply to play football and it has touched me the way people have been with me.[LNB]I was 30 when I came here and I played until I was 37, and I don't think I would have played for that long had I not moved to Chelsea. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. [LNB]ML: Was it always your intention to move into management?[LNB]GZ: No, not really. When I stopped playing it wasn't my intention to stay in football at all. To be a manager you need to have certain qualities and I wasn't sure if I had them.[LNB]ML: Just out of interest. Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?[LNB]GZ: Messi. They are both fantastic players. But I like Messi. Ronaldo is a fantastic goalscorer but I don't think he is as good as Messi when it comes to creating chances for others. [LNB]SC: He's only saying that because he's the same size.[LNB] England hopeful Upson rejects City talk to focus on Hammers futureAndy Townsend's Boot Room: Manchester City's billions add spark to the season ALL TEAM NEWS FOR THE BIG PREMIER LEAGUE KICK-OFFWEST HAM UNITED FC

Source: Daily_Mail