Former Chelsea assistant manager Gianfranco Zola has revealed that he would like a top job in England. Zola who served as assistant boss of the Blues to Maurizio Sarri last season was axed by the West London club this summer after they opted to appoint club legend Frank Lampard as their new manager. Lampard is set to bring in new staff along with him which could be set to include a few other Blues legends.
“I was head coach before and my main ambition is to return to that. But to work for Maurizio and Chelsea was a great opportunity,” said Zola as quoted by Metro.
“I want to take the opportunity to say thank you very much to the players, all the coaching staff and all the supporters and the club for the wonderful year we have had.
“Chelsea is in my heart and I was so proud to achieve so much for the club.
“The most important thing is I want to get on with my future.
“I would like to stay in England. I will have to wait and see what happens now.”
The 52-year-old Zola has previous managerial experience in England after having led West Ham, Watford and Birmingham City. His prior English experience as well as the fact that he was Italian likely played a key role in why Sarri opted to appoint him as his assistant ahead of last season. Zola’s dismissal by Chelsea can be considered fairly harsh as he did not exactly do anything wrong.
All three of Zola’s managerial stints in England were not exactly successful and during his last stint with Birmingham, he only won two out of 24 games in charge. That would have certainly put off many English clubs from recruiting him. The best stint perhaps that he has had was with Watford between 2012-2013. He led the Hornets to 33 games from 75 games, boasting a win percentage of 44% which is modest. At the time of his dismissal by Watford, the club were in 13th position on the Championship standings.
His experience with Chelsea would likely have helped him
Sarri would have likely learned a lot from his experiencing as assistant with Chelsea and this could help him land future jobs. While it is difficult to see many Premier League clubs opting for him based on his prior record, he could attract offers from Championship clubs and perhaps from other mid-table clubs across Europe’s top five Leagues.
