Zola is West Ham Manager - Official

West Ham held a press conference this afternoon (4.30 pm) in which they unveiled Gianfranco Zola as the new West Ham manager.

First off Scott Duxbury welcomed Zola to the club,

"The board is very pleased that Gianfranco Zola has joined us. He was the board's unanimous choice. He has signed a three year contract."

Zola then introduced himself and answered questions from the media,

"Im very delighted. This is a great honour for me. It is a club with tradition. This is a great club. I couldn't say 'no'. This is a great opportunity. I'm going to do my best.

I'm not the most experienced manager around but I have been in football many years. I trust my knowledge of the game.

My first duty is to develop the players and develop the team. I'm going to play with ten defenders ... no! ... my philosophy is to play offensive football. We have to make it enjoyable. The idea will be to play offensive football.

I will being in a fitness coach, Antonio Pintus, who has worked with Chelsea, Juventus and Monaco and I will start working with Kevin Keen."