Zola set for Hammers job, Donadoni pulls out

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Gianfranco Zola is expected to be named West Ham boss on Thursdayafter the club's directors made him the favourite to take over fromAlan Curbishley, who resigned last week.
Gianfranco Zola: One of the favourites for the job.



WestHam hope they will unveil their first foreign manager at a newsconferenceon Thursday, but may face a slightdelay as the former Chelsea midfielder is joint coach of the Italyunder-21 side and they are in action in Croatia on Tuesday night.
Theclub have also been in talks with fellow Italian Roberto Donadoni, butreports suggest that he is dismayed at the Hammers' handling of therecruitment process and has ruled himself out of the job.
Theex-Italy boss, who was sacked from his post with the Azzurri after adisappointing showing at Euro 2008, is unhappy that the Premier Leagueclub appear to favour Zola - Donadoni's former junior in the Italy setup - for the role.
Donadoni said in a statement: ''I would like to thank WestHam United Football Club for approaching and speaking with me in relation to thevacant manager's position at the club.
''I welcomed the opportunity of speaking with such a prominent Premiership cluband of course, the opportunity of coming to the English Premiership.
''However, is does appear that the board have not yet, after some time, come toan agreement and a conclusion on who the successful candidate should be.
''It is important for me to feel that I have the full support of the club and Ihave therefore this morning taken the decision to withdraw myself from thecandidate shortlist for the club.''
Donadoni has more managerial experience than Zola but he does not have the 42-year-old's long association with Englishfootball and another on the Hammers' radar to take himself out of the running is Croatian coach Slaven Bilic.
Bilic's hopes of succeeding Alan Curbishley floundered on the complicationssurrounding his release from his current job as coach of Croatia, though he wasnever top of West Ham's wish list.
The Hammers' chief executive Scott Duxbury and technical director Gianluca Nanihave led the selection process and the pair provided a detailed report toa meeting of the club's board.
They outlined the merits of as many as 30 names who were initially consideredand then the reasons why they were whittled down to a shortlist of six.
WithZola and Donadoni heading the list, it now appears Zola will take thejob, especially as Michael Laudrup, the Danish former coach of Spanishside Getafe, was due to have an interview but was ruled out after itemerged he was setto accept an offer from Spartak Moscow.
Kia Joorabchian, who works as an advisor to West Ham, said both Zola andDonadoni had impressed.
He told Sky Sports News: ''Zola has a lot of experience in the Premier League,he was admired by every fan in the league irrespective of which club theysupported.
''He has built a big reputation for himself in Italy. He hasn't Premier Leagueexperience as a manager but he understands the Premier League very much.
''They are moving fast. They would like to appoint a new manager before theweekend but it is a process they will consider carefully.
''It is a different system, a more European system of working and it will be amanager who will be working under that style in order to minimise and avoiderrors which have occurred in the past.''