Lack of class

Zola was sacked for “gross misconduct” according to today’s papers. This means he receives no compensation from the club and the case will now be in the hands of Franco’s lawyers.

This is a particularly shoddy way of treating the nicest man in football — a man who even made coffee for the reporters outside his house yesterday.

Apparently Zola’s gross misconduct is the extremely mild comments he made after Sullivan announced to the press that the whole squad was up for sale minus Scott Parker. Zola said that Mark Noble or Valon Behrami would not be very happy reading this.

Yes, there were some sound footballing reasons for sacking Zola. But if so, be honest about it and give him some compensation for breaching his contract.

The whole episode betrays a lack of class, as does the fact that Sullivan and Gold got Karren Brady to do the sacking rather than appear themselves.

Worse still, it’s surely an unfair dismissal case we’ll lose. Any manager in the country would have responded to the comments Sullivan made behind their back. Even if we save a few bob, is it worth the damage to the club’s reputation?

What has happened to the club that gave us John Lyall, Ron Greenwood and high principles? One thing West Ham fans appreciate is a sense of fair play.

This lot would probably dismiss Trevor Brooking as a troublemaker.