THE HUNT for Gianfranco Zola’s successor began in earnest this week, after the Italian was sacked by West Ham.

Club owners David Gold and David Sullivan wasted no time in removing the manager they inherited upon taking control of the Hammers back in January after witnessing a disastrous season at Upton Park.

To Zola’s credit, he achieved his mission objective, keeping West Ham in the Premier League, albeit with the club’s lowest points total in the competition’s history.

But he was always fighting an uphill battle to win over the support of his masters. That much was clear in the openly critical comments Sullivan made about both the team and the management, admitting they had fallen ‘below expectations’ in Sunday’s match day programme. Further revelations about his willingness to offload any member of the squad – except Scott Parker – for ‘the right price’, as well as the colourful language with which he described the team’s humiliating home defeat to Wolves in March – ‘shambolic’ was one word of choice – has not helped Zola’s cause.

Such comments clearly irked the amiable Italian, who flew home to Sardinia to consider his future after a sixth successive defeat against Stoke left West Ham mired in the relegation zone.

But he came back fighting, securing a last-gasp draw at Everton before guiding the team to home wins over Sunderland and Wigan, ensuring they lived to fight another day, avoiding what Sullivan described as ‘Armageddon’.

Gold’s revelation that he hoped ‘Franco’ would stay just weeks ago proved little more than a stay of execution as the axe was quickly wielded on Tuesday.

Zola admitted he was battling against the tide in a statement this week. “I am extremely disappointed to be leaving,” he said.

“Over recent weeks, I have been the subject of various adverse comments, from within the club, which have been widely reported in the media.

“Despite what has been a very difficult period for me, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at West Ham.”

A replacement for Zola has yet to be found, although a number of surprise names had been thrown into the hat, including former England boss Glenn Hoddle, Real Mallorca manager Gregorio Manzano and Portsmouth’s Avram Grant. Ex-Hammers defender and Croatia chief Slaven Bilic is understood to have ruled himself out of the running.

Go to www.guardian-series.co.uk/sport for all the latest developments at West Ham.