HAMMERS boss Gianfranco Zola has refuted claims that the club are keen to offload their star names and has reiterated his desire to hang on to his prize assets in what promises to be a turbulent month.
Craig Bellamy, Robert Green, Matthew Upson and Scott Parker are four of the most popular names to have been banded about the rumour mill so far this month, with the likes of super-rich Manchester City and Tottenham ready to pounce.
And with Matthew Etherington and Lee Bowyer already out the door, speculation is growing that West Ham are a club eager to trim their wage bill in order to lift the pressure on their cash-strapped owners.
With a further investigation by the FA and Premier League into the Carlos Tevez affair looming and the prospect of a points deduction or further financial punishment hanging over them if found guilty, dark clouds are beginning to gather over Upton Park.
But Zola refuses to let that interfere with his job, as he continues to lead the team's mini revival, which has seen them take seven points from a possible nine in their last three league games.
And he is confident he can keep the rest of his team on the bandwagon until the winter window slams shut at the end of the month.
“I’m confident [that I’ll get to the end of the month with Robert Green, Matthew Upson, Scott Parker and Craig Bellamy] because the club is determined to improve,” said the Italian. “It’s not true that we want to sell our players. We want to improve the team and we hope that we can do that.
“This team deserves to get better and better because of the way it’s training and playing.”
As a player, Zola was forced to tolerate his fair share of speculation, and he has been impressed by the way his troops have dealt with the attention.
“The players have been fantastic. Having been a footballer, I know that it’s not easy to concentrate and perform when you have so many rumours flying around but they have been outstanding. I have a lot of respect for them.
“It would obviously be disappointing if this team was broken up, it has grown up through very difficult and bad times but it has put a lot of problems behind it and it would be a pity if this team did not finish the season in the Premier League all together.”
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