Zola joy at new contract

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola has revealed his delight at signing a new contract with the club. Zola joined the Hammers in the first few weeks of the current season and has since manged to lead his side to a high of seventh in the league, with the club still in the running to qualify for the inaugural Europa League next seasonThe Italian is believed to have put pen to paper on a four-year contract alongside assistant manager Steve Clarke, and Zola has told Sky Sports that he believes West Ham to be a club with real ambition."I have just signed a new contract and I'm very happy," the 42-year-old announced."At the club we have a very good project in my opinion. The coaching staff along with (chief executive) Scott Duxbury and (technical director) Gianluca Nani are trying to build up something which I'm sure has a future."I'm committing to it and we're going to be working very hard to make it successful."Narrow lossZola's contract news was somewhat tempered though by the 1-0 defeat at Upton Park to local rivals Chelsea.A solitary goal from Salomon Kalou clinched the win for the away side, while Hammers fans also had to suffer the pain of seeing Mark Noble miss a penalty that would have drawn the game level.However in the aftermath, Zola was understandably philosophical about losing so narrowly to one of the country's top teams."We certainly didn't play to our normal standard but I can't really blame anybody for this because things have gone fantastically so far and it was difficult today," Zola reflected."It was a big task we were asking from the players today, so they have all my appreciation for what they are doing and I'm sure we are going to have better opportunities."

Source: SKY_Sports