Source: Daily_Mail
West Ham to axe underfire Gianfranco Zola in the summer after miserable defeat at Liverpool
[LNB]Gianfranco Zola will be sacked atthe end of West Ham's increasinglydesperate bid to avoid relegation fromthe Barclays Premier League.[LNB]The under-pressure manager saw his strugglingside's survival hopes suffer another setback atAnfield last night, apparently unaware that hisfate had already been sealed. [LNB]Alarmed at the way West Ham folded at keymoments, such as the recent home game withWolves, Upton Park bosses have decided a changeis needed at the end of the season. [LNB] Pointing the way: Sotirios Kyrgiakos celebrates Liverpool's third goal[LNB]Sportsmail understands Zola has yet to beinformed, though the news will not come as asurprise after his team put up little resistance andwere undone by Yossi Benayoun, David Ngog and an own goal by RobertGreen.[LNB]West Ham want formerEngland coach SteveMcClaren to take over butwill have to stay up tostand any chance oflanding him after the wayhis reputation has beenrestored at FC Twente.[LNB] Changing fortunes: Gianfranco Zola (right) on the touchline with Rafa Benitez[LNB]McClaren's Twente teamare one win away fromclinching the Dutch title. [LNB]Travelling West Ham fanstaunted their own teamwith chants of 'It's just likewatching Brazil' afterthey finally went close ininjury time, and Zolaadmitted: 'We can'tpretend it was our bestperformance and theplayers know that.[LNB][LNB]Looking down: West Ham keeper Robert Green feels the pain of defeat at Anfield last night[LNB]'The first goal changedeverything and, for somereason, they didn't seemto think they could comeback from it. But this isn'tthe moment for dwellingon things, because weneed a reaction againstWigan on Saturday.[LNB]'How do I cope with thepressure? By workingeven harder. That's whatwe did when the pressurewas on against Everton,and we will do it again onSaturday.' [LNB]Liverpool manager RafaBenitez admitted he wassurprised by West Ham'slack of fight, saying: 'Itwas comfortable in theend. Once the first goalwent in, it was easy, andperhaps we should havescored more. [LNB]'We have along trip coming up forthe Europa semi-final inMadrid, so it wasimportant we were ableto control the game.[LNB]'We will be going by trainto London and it will be acase then of seeing if theairports are open. It is notideal, but there are nottoo many options.[LNB]'It is justa pity that it may causesome difficulties for oursupporters. I will be reallydisappointed for them ifthey cannot travel.'[LNB]
